By C. Hope Clark
We are familiar with greeting cards companies’ reminder notices about birthdays and anniversaries. A pop-up or email advises that we’d better get that gift in the mail for our sister’s birthday one-week away. Birthday Alarm is one such service. Frankly, it’s helped me more than a couple of times when I had my nose so far into a writing project that I forgot an occasion until it was almost too late. Such online reminder notices can be lifesavers for a serious writer slinging paper and deadlines so fast that dates fly by unnoticed.
But when we need more than birthday reminders, that’s the time to sign up for services like:
Freminder — A free online calendar, free date book and free reminder service all wrapped into one, easy-to-use tool.
Online Reminders — This service sends you a weekly reminder about the items on your to-do list.
American Greetings — American Greetings offers a calendar with icons for holidays, appointments, book club meetings and more. You can make requests, inform others of appointments and customize email reminders to yourself.
BlueMountain — This greeting card service also can help you manage your time. A simple reminder service can send emails to you and others to let you know when that article is due or when your interview needs to be scheduled.
Google To-Do list “gadget” — This virtual, yellow notepad lists your immediate goals for the day; it’s visible each time you log into Google.
Blogs as calendar – On my blog, I keep a list of pending appearances not only to inform readers, but also to serve as a constant reminder of preparations I need to make for those events. Every blog platform will allow you to create such a list.
If you have a tendency to fall so deeply into your writing that deadlines loom more quickly than expected, instant reminders can actually give you more latitude to write. Knowing that you have several tools to nudge you about deadlines may help you relax and write with far less pressure.
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C. Hope Clark is founder and editor of FundsforWriters.com, annually recognized by Writer’s Digest in its poll of 101 Best Web Sites for Writers. She delivers four newsletters each week to thousands with her specialty being grants and income opportunities for writers of all sizes. She’s published over 200 articles on paper and online. Those reluctant to promote their writing cherish her trade paperback The Shy Writer: An Introvert’s Guide to Writing Success. Find more hope for your writing career at www.fundsforwriters.com & www.theshywriter.com.
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