Your lists

How do retrieve and browse my lists?

By email, Twitter, or Jott

To have Sandy look up and return any list you've asked her to remember, email her with:

lookup [any text in the name of the list or items on the list; any tags associated with the list]

For example:

lookup grocery list

lookup eggs

lookup @groceries

To look up all of your lists, email Sandy with:

lookup lists

Sandy will return the latest 25 lists you've asked her to remember for you (and link to all of your lists on her web site).

On the web

You'll find all of your lists on Sandy's web site.

Making lists

How do I make a list?

To have Sandy make a list for you, email her just as you would with anything else to remember:

remember [name of list]

* [item one]

* [item two]

For example:

remember groceries

* eggs

* butter

* cheese

Sandy will keep all the bulleted items (anything starting with a bullet in the form of an asterisk * — that's Shift-8 on your keyboard) together for you.

How do I ask Sandy to remind me about a list?

You can schedule or set a reminder on a list just like you would any other reminder or appointment:

remind me about [name of list] [when to remind you]

* [item one]

* [item two]

For example:

remind me about my New Year's Resolutions on January 1st at 9am

* Spend more time reading

* Keep up my correspondence with far-away friends

* Be more understanding of Liz's need to "veg out" after work

How do I tell Sandy when to remind me about a list?

Sandy understands quite an assortment of date and time notations. For a complete list, grab a copy of Sandy's handy cheat sheet and look under the "Tell time" section.

How do I know Sandy actually remembered my list?

Trust ;-) — and confirmation. Sandy will email you a confirmation (along with a text attachment you can double-click to open and read in any text editing program — and print if you wish).

And you can always check out all the lists Sandy's remembering for you on her web site under "Your stuff: Lists".

If Sandy's confirmations are too chatty for you, turn them off in your Email settings »

Lists as attachments

When you email Sandy a list to have her remember it for you, look that list up later by email, or have it appear in your Daily Digest, Sandy will attach a copy of that list as an ordinary text file to her email message.

Double-click the attached text file to open it up in Notepad (Windows), Text Edit (OS X), or with your preferred text editor.

Changing lists

How do I add something to a list?

To add something to a list Sandy's already keeping for you, you can either start with a copy she's already sent you by email or you can ask her to look it up for you.

Let's say you started with this list:

#1 Groceries

* eggs

* butter

* cheese

(In any email Sandy sends you she numbers each item she mentions so that you can refer to a specific item you want her to update or forget. In this case the list is first in Sandy's reply so it is #1.)

To add something to the list, just update it as you would anything else you've had Sandy remember for you and include a new bulleted item like so:

update #1 * bread

Of course you can add more than one item to the list at a time:

update #1

* bread

* Vegemite

* toothpaste

Sandy will email you a confirmation (along with an updated text attachment you can double-click to open and read in any text editing program — and print if you wish).

How do I remove something from a list?

To remove something from a list Sandy's already keeping for you, you can either start with a copy she's already sent you by email or you can ask her to look it up for you.

Let's say you started with the list we just created and added to above:

#1 Groceries

* eggs

* butter

* cheese

* bread

* Vegemite

* toothpaste

(In any email Sandy sends you she numbers each item she mentions so that you can refer to a specific item you want her to update or forget. In this case the list is first in Sandy's reply so it is #1.)

To remove something from the list, just update it as you would anything else you've had Sandy remember for you and delete (using the minus sign next to the 0 on your keyboard) one of the bulleted items like so:

update #1 -* Vegemite

You can even remove more than one item from the list at a time:

update #1

-* Vegemite

-* toothpaste

Sandy will email you a confirmation (along with an updated text attachment you can double-click to open and read in any text editing program — and print if you wish).

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Power moves

When you're comfortable with the basics of making lists and are up for something more adventurous, read on...

Create multiple appointments and to-dos without repeating yourself

Ever find yourself sending Sandy a flurry of things to remember? For example:

remember to pick up the dry cleaning @errand

remember to stop by the paint store and find a nice color for the bedroom @home @errand

remember to pick up my macbook @errand

Around the third item you're no doubt wishing for a shortcut.

Try writing that list as, well..., a list:

remember +

* [first thing to remember]

* [second thing to remember]

...

The power is in that plus sign at the end of the first line: it tells Sandy to treat each item in the list as an independent item, as if it were written out long-hand as "remember [first thing to remember]."

For example:

remember +

* pick up the dry cleaning @errand

* stop by the paint store and find a nice color for the bedroom @home @errand

* pick up my macbook @errand

Sandy reads this list as "remember" + [each item in the list].

Useful, eh?

And there's more...

If all the items in your list have tags in common, simply drop those tags into the first line before the plus sign like so:

remember @common_tag +

For example:

remember @errand +

* pick up the dry cleaning

* stop by the paint store and find a nice color for the bedroom @home

* pick up my macbook

Sandy reads this as "remember" + [each item in the list] + @errand. She reads the second item as "remember" + "stop by the paint store and find a nice color for the bedroom @home" + "@errand" and so tags it with both @errand and @home (and the same for the rest of the items in the list).

But wait, there's more...

Anything all of the items in your list have in common can be dropped into the first line before the plus sign.

For example, you can schedule all of those errands for the same day like this:

remind me tomorrow afternoon @errand +

* pick up the dry cleaning

* stop by the paint store and find a nice color for the bedroom @home

* pick up my macbook

Sandy reads this as "remind me tomorrow afternoon [to]" + "pick up the dry cleaning" + "@errand" (and the same for the rest of the items in the list).

In fact, you can pack all the details into the first line before the plus sign and leave only what's different to the list itself, for example:

remember dentist appointments @dentist +

* 11/27 4pm

* 11/29 2pm

Sandy reads this as "remember dentist appointments" + "11/27 4pm" + "@dentist" (and the same for the rest of the items in the list).

"Remember +" rules

You can mix and match to your heart's content. The rules are simple:

1. Text, tags, dates, and times that appear in the first line between the "remember" or "remind" and the plus sign are added to all of the items in the list.
2. Text, dates, and times that appear in any of the list items override those in the first line.
3. Tags that appear in the first line are added to those in any of the list items (they don't replace them).

Powerful, huh?

Here are some examples of situations in which you'll find this "remember +" shortcut indispensable:

* You're a student and need to remember your irregular work, class, and exam schedule.

remind me to work at the bookstore +

* 7/6 12-5pm

* 7/8 12-4pm

* 7/9 9-11am

* You have a series of appointments differing only in their dates and times — and sometimes in their details.

remember well-baby appointment with Dr. Mayer @pregnancy +

* Jan 2, 2-3pm @ultrasound

* Feb 4, 9-10am

* Mar 10, 1-3pm @lab

* Your meeting results in a series of action items all related to the same project or deadline.

remember due next thursday @project_x @todo +

* Pat to produce initial forecast @monetization

* Chris to write schedule of deliverables @"project management"

* JJ to work with the art department on some mock-ups @design