• About Me
• Emailing Me
• Sandy Shorthand
  • Remember or Remind
    • Snooze Reminders
  • Dates and Times
  • Lookup
  • Update
    • Update and Recurrence
  • Forget
    • Forget and Recurrence
  • Tags
    • Special Tags
    • To-Dos
    • Goals
    • Replies
    • Reminders
    • Recurring Events
    • Other Special Tags
• Working with friends
  • Introducing me
  • Sharing
  • Your Friends list
• Extra goodies
  • Daily Digest
  • PIM Attachments

About Me

Hi! I'm Sandy, your new assistant. I'll remember the details so you can focus on what's important.

Like a real assistant,I help you keep track of information, appointments, contacts, and to-dos — and make sure you have them when you need them.

Emailing Me

When you signed up, I sent you a "Welcome" message containing your own personal Sandy email address. You send me stuff by writing to me at that address, either directly or by Cc'ing me on a message to someone else. You can write to me in the subject line or the body of an email message — I pay attention to both.

Sandy Shorthand

I understand a simple shorthand that feels natural to read and write.

A single email message can contain any number of details. As long as you place each one in its own paragraph and point it out using this shorthand, I'll pick it up.

Remember or Remind

Sometimes, the hardest part about getting organized is simply remembering the flood of details that come at you each day. Think of me as your backup brain: send all those little details to me, and I'll file them away, ready for retrieval when you need them.

To have me remember something for you, start a sentence with "remember" or "remind" like this:

Remember that I lent our Pride and Prejudice DVD to Mike

Remember Mark Levino's cell number is (503) 555-1212

And then sometimes a friendly nudge is all you need to stay on track. I'll remind you about anything you like — meetings, important dates, or that your parking meter's about to expire.

Mention a date or time and I will put it on the calendar and email you a reminder (and, if I know your cell phone number, send a text message to your cellphone) when the time comes. I understand a number of date and time notations, for example:

Remind me about yoga class on Friday at 8am

Remember to pick up dry cleaning in 3 days

Simple, huh?

When you send me something to remember or remind you about I'll take note of it and email you a confirmation. (To turn off confirmations, adjust your Email settings.

I also keep a running list of everything you've asked me to remember on my Web site.

Snooze Reminders

Need a little more time? Sure thing! Take all the time you need.

To snooze any reminder (that is, ask me to remind you about the same thing again later), reply to the reminder email and let me know when would be a more convenient time, like this:

remind me in 1 hour

remind me tomorrow

remind me next thursday morning

Dates and Times

I understand a number of date and time notations:

• 12- and 24-hour time (1:30pm; 13:30)
• Specific dates (May 14, 2007; 5/14/07; 5.15)
• Relative dates (today; tomorrow; next Thursday; Thu; next week)
• Relative times (this afternoon; tomorrow morning; next thursday evening)
• Relative date intervals (in 2 days; in 3 weeks; in a month)
• Relative time intervals (in 15 minutes; in an hour; in 4 hours)
• Date ranges (May 14-16; 10/14-10/22)
• Time ranges (1-4pm; 8am-5pm)
• Time zones (4pm Europe/London; 5/1 7am PDT-2pm EDT; noon GMT+10)

If you specify a time interval like "in 15 minutes" or "in an hour," I'll remind you at that time. Ask me to remind you about an appointment (something with a date and time) and I'll send the reminder 15 minutes before the scheduled time. If you don't specify a reminder time (only a date), I'll send you a reminder at 7:00am that day.

To fiddle with your default reminder time, visit your Date and Time settings. You can also customize the reminder time for individual items on my Web site.

Lookup

The beauty of asking me to remember things for you? I can look them up when you need them!

To ask me to look something up, email me with:

lookup [any text or tags you want me to look up]

For example:

lookup parked

lookup Tim Mahoney

lookup @sf_trip

If you ask me to look up text, I'll reply with everything you've sent me that contains that text.

Lookup becomes especially powerful when you use it in conjunction with tags. If you ask me to look up a category tag (in the example above, @sf_trip), I'll reply with everything you've tagged with that category.

If you'd rather browse than search for the information I've filed away for you, I keep a running list of everything we talk about on my Web site.

For much more detail on lookup, visit the Lookups help page.

Update

In your daily digest and in my replies to you with lookup results or confirmations, I number each item I list. I do this so that you can refer to a specific item you want me to update.

To ask me to update something, reply to any email I send you containing numbered items with:

update [#number of the item you want me to update] [text, date, time, and/or tag you want me to update]

For example:

update #1 12/2/07

update #2 @family

update #3 -@read

update #1 Marketing meeting

You can also update items anywhere they appear on my my Web site.

Update and Recurrence

If you've had me create a series of repeating appointments, reminders, or to-dos (see Recurring Appointments), you can ask me to update either the current occurrence or all future occurrences.

Let's say today is a holiday and the garbage people will be by tomorrow instead. To ask me to update just the current occurrence (ex. today's reminder to take out the trash), do just as you would a non-repeating item, like so:

update [#number of the item you want me to update] [text, date, time, and/or tag you want me to update]

For example:

update #1 tomorrow

Perhaps, however, garbage day has changed permanently. To have me update all future occurrences including the current one (ex. all future weekly reminders to take out the trash), reply with:

update [#number of the item you want me to update] [text, date, time, and/or tag you want me to update] [recurrence tag]

For example:

update #1 tomorrow @weekly

(Notice the @weekly tag in there? That's how I know to update all future occurrences rather than just the current one.)

Forget

You can tell me to remove something from the collection of stuff you've sent me...just ask me to forget it.

To ask me to forget something, reply to any email I send you which contains numbered items with:

forget [#number(s) of the item(s) you want me to forget]

For example:

forget #1

forget #2, 4

forget #1,2,4

You can also ask me to forget things using my Web site: any time you see a list, hover your mouse over any item and click the "forget" link that appears.

Forget and Recurrence

If you've had me create a series of recurring appointments, reminders, or to-dos (see Recurring Appointments), you can ask me to forget either the current ocurrence or all future occurrences.

Let's say you've a regular weekly "marketing meeting" that's been cancelled for today. To ask me to forget just the current occurrence, do just as you would a non-repeating item, like so:

forget [#number of the item you want me to forget]

For example:

forget #1

Perhaps, however, the weekly meeting has been cancelled permanently (don't you just wish it were so?). To have me forget all future occurrences including the current one, reply with:

forget [#number of the item you want me to forget] [recurrence tag]

For example:

forget #1 @weekly

(Notice the @weekly tag in there? That's how I know to forget all future occurrences rather than just the current one.)

Tags

Tags work like labels, keywords, or folders — they group related items together. Tagging allows me to better organize and retrieve things you send me.

To add a tag to something you send me, type the @ symbol followed by a tag word — any word from @friend to @groceries will do — in the same paragraph as the detail you're tagging. You can add more than one tag, separated by commas or spaces.

For example:

remind me to call Hazel tomorrow @phone

remember Jim Broadstreet's number is (503) 555-1212 @friends @bookclub

(See Update for details on updating (adding and removing) tags on existing items.)

Special Tags

I've reserved a few special tags for triggering special features, toggling functionality, and otherwise tweaking our interactions.

To-Dos

@todo

Tagging something with @todo tells me that you want to put it on your list of things you really want to get done.

remember project plan @todo

I include items tagged with @todo in your daily digest every morning until you tag them as @done.

@done

Tagging an item with @done will tell me that it is done and no longer @todo.

update #1 @done

In fact, if the item was previously tagged as @todo, I'll go ahead and remove the @todo tag for you.

To-dos tagged with @done will stop showing up in your daily digest's to-do list.

Goals

@goal

IF you're among those of Sandy's clients who have already set a goal (Click the "Customize" link on your Daily Digest page) and are having Sandy keep it front-and-center, you'll love the new @goal tag. Simply tag something with @goal and it'll replace your prior goal and appear in both the web and email versions of your digest. For example:

Remember "The difference between theory and practice is far greater in practice than in theory" @goal

Replies

Let me know if you'd like me to reply — or not — to any particular message.

While you can turn email replies on and off generally, you can also specify that you'd like me to email a reply — or not — to a particular message you send.

@reply

Tag an item with @reply and I'll email you a reply even if you have email replies turned off. For example:

remember to replace the back-porch lightbulb @todo @reply

@noreply

Tag an item with @noreply and I'll skip the reply even if you have email replies turned off. For example:

remember Pride and Prejudice @books @noreply

Reminders

Let me know how you'd like me to remind you about something: via email, SMS/text, or Twitter, or not at all.

While you can turn email, mobile (text/SMS), and Twitter reminders on and off using your settings, you can also specify how you'd like me to remind you on an item by item basis using these special reminder tags.

@email

Tag as item with @email and I'll be sure to remind you by email — even if you've turned off email reminders. For example:

remind me to pick up a pizza on the way home from work this evening @email

@sms

Tag as item with @sms and I'll send a text message to your mobile phone — even if you've turned off mobile reminders. For example:

remind me to call Susan during my commute at 7:30am @sms

You need to have already set up mobile reminders or I won't know where to text you.

@twitter

Tag as item with @twitter and I'll send you a reminder tweet — even if you've turned off Twitter reminders. For example:

remind me to head downtown by 9:30am for my coffee date with Brad @twitter

You need to have already introduced me to your Twitter self or I won't be able to remind you via Twitter.

@noreminder

Tag an item with @noreminder to make sure I know not to remind you — even if the item has a date or time. For example:

remember to mow the lawn on Sunday @noreminder

You can mix and match any of these reminder tags to have me remind you in more than one way, for example:

remind me to leave work at 5pm @email @twitter

remind me about the Marketing meeting tomorrow 9-10am @sms @email

Note that reminder tags override all of your reminder settings; so I'll only remind you by SMS/text if you tag something with @sms — even if you have email and/or Twitter reminders turned on by default.

Recurring Events

Recurring appointments, reminders, and to-dos are a snap thanks to these special tags:

@daily

Tag an item with @daily and I'll schedule it for every day at the same time, for example:

remind me to leave work at 5pm @daily

@bidaily

Tag an item with @bidaily and I'll schedule it for every two days at the same time, for example:

remind me to walk home a different way at 5pm @bidaily

@weekends

Tag an item with @weekends and I'll schedule it for every Saturday and Sunday at the same time, for example:

remind me to sleep late at 11am ;-) @weekends

@weekdays

Tag an item with @weekdays and I'll schedule it for every Monday through Friday at the same time, for example:

remind me to wake up at 6:15am @weekdays

@weekly

Tag it with @weekly and I'll schedule it for every week on the same day of the week at the same time, for example:

remind me to take out the trash on Sunday evening @weekly

@biweekly

Tag it with @biweekly and I'll schedule it for every two weeks on the same day of the week at the same time, for example:

remind me to take out the yard debris on Tuesday evening @biweekly

@monthly

Tag it with @monthly and it'll appear on your calendar for the same day of the month at the same time, for example:

remember to turn over the mattress tomorrow morning @monthly

(Any month that doesn't have such a day — February 31st, for example — is skipped.)

@bimonthly

Tag it with @bimonthly and it'll appear on your calendar for the same day at the same time every two months, for example:

remember to check the scooter's oil tomorrow evening @bimonthly

(Any month that doesn't have such a day — February 31st, for example — is skipped.)

@quarterly

Anything tagged with @quarterly will appear on your calendar and remind you on the same day at the same time every three months, for example:

remember to prepay taxes on Monday @quarterly

(Any month that doesn't have such a day — February 31st, for example — is skipped.)

@yearly (@annually)

Tag it with @yearly and it'll repeat every year on the same date and at the same time, for example:

remember to get started on the garden 2/1 @yearly

(You can use @annually if you prefer.)

@birthday and @anniversary

Never forget a birthday or anniversary again:

remember Mimi's birthday 7/8 @birthday

remember our anniversary Aug 15 @anniversary

@biannually (@biyearly)

Tag it with @biannually and it'll repeat every two years on the same date and at the same time, for example:

remember to re-seal the back-yard fence 5/1 @biannually

(Any year that doesn't have such a day — February 29th in a non-leap-year, for example — is skipped.)

Working with friends

Staying organized with friends, family, and coworkers is effortless when I work with them, too.

• send shared reminders (the movie premiere Friday night)
• add stuff to each other's calendars (the dentist appointment)
• share a to-do list (get those to-dos done together)

...and so much more. No more fussing with different organizing systems and calendar applications — just bring me into the conversation and I'll take care of the rest.

Other Special Tags

@archive

Archive any item you no longer consider active by tagging it with @archive.

update #1 @archive

Any items tagged with @archive will simply recede into the background: they won't show up in lists on my Web site, in lookups, or in your daily digest — and I won't send you reminders about them.

Introducing me

The easiest way to introduce me to your friends is to Cc: me on email to someone else, like this:

To: Jim <jim@example.com>
From: Marla <marla@example.com>
Cc: Sandy <yoursandy@username.iwantsandy.com>
Subject: Our coffee date

We're on for our coffee date tomorrow afternoon!

Sandy, remind us about Coffee at Frank's Diner tomorrow at 3pm.

Take care,
Marla

(When you Cc: me on a message, put "Sandy," before the keyword you want me to pay attention to.)

When you bring me into the conversation, I will automatically introduce myself — if I've not already done so — to the other recipients (anyone else in the To: or Cc: fields). I'll also share any details you've asked me to take note of; more on this in a moment.

If your friends are already working with me, all the better! I'll just take care of the details for them.

Sharing

When you make me part of an email conversation, I will automatically email the other recipients (anyone else in the To: or Cc: fields), with appointments, reminders, to-dos, contacts, or bookmarks you had me create — along with iCal and vCard attachments for those appointments, reminders, to-dos, and contacts. I'll also set email reminders for them and remind them when the time comes — just like I do for you.

If you have email confirmations turned on in your Email settings, you'll notice that I make note of having shared details with a friend like this:

"I've also shared this detail with Russell Square."

And you can always see what you're sharing and with whom on my Web site. Any shared detail listed on my Web site will include your friends' names in pink if they've accepted your sharing offer.

Your Friends list

I'll keep track of all the people you're sharing with or who have shared with you on your Friends list.

Your Friends list is also the place to tweak individual sharing settings: receive a prompt each time JJ shares with you, automatically accept anything from your significant other, and so on. You can also edit your friends' names (e.g. change "Jennifer Jones" to "JJ") in your Friends list.

Extra goodies

I'm always thinking of extra ways I can help you stay on top of the details.

Daily Digest

I'll help you get a jump on your day by delivering a daily digest to your email inbox. Your daily digest includes any reminders or events for that day, as well as anything you've tagged with @todo that's not yet @done.

If you'd rather not receive a daily digest, let me know by changing your Email settings.

PIM Attachments

If you use a Personal Information Manager (PIM) such as Microsoft Outlook or iCal, I can help you get the information you share with me into those programs as well.

Whenever you send me something that looks like a contact, appointment, to-do, or list I'll create a vCard, iCalendar, or ordinary text file (whichever is appropriate) for that item and send it back to you as an attachment.

I'll always attach vCard, iCalendar, and text files to the results of any lookups. And you can also grab attachments any time you'd like from my Web site.

This service is particularly handy if you want to turn a bunch of plain text email signatures into contacts or address book entries.

If you'd rather I don't include attachments in my replies and reminders, let me know by changing your Email settings. (Those of you emailing primarily from your BlackBerries or other mobile devices will probably want to turn off attachments as they can interfere with the proper display of my email messages.)