The Journal Newsletter
Introduction
This month’s Tips & Tricks section provides more details about The Journal’s new reminder features, and there is a new set of writing exercises.
Thank you for choosing DavidRM Software’s The Journal!
Tips & Tricks
TIP: Advanced Reminder Options – Date & Time
To make them easier to use, The Journal’s reminders have been organized into 4 main types: appointments, events, tasks, and special days. Sometimes, though, you may want to have more options for setting the date and time of the reminder.
All of the possible date and time options for reminders can be found by clicking on the “Advanced” tab of the “New Reminder” and “Edit Reminder” form, and then bringing up the “Date/Time” sub-tab.
Date
Reminders can be set to a particular date by checking “This Date” and entering the date.
Reminders can also be set to happen every week on a particular weekday (Sunday-Saturday), every weekday (Monday-Friday), on the weekend (Saturday & Sunday), or even every day. Check the “Every” option, and select the desired day. (Coming soon: In the next update of The Journal, due in June, you will also be to have reminders happen every *other* day, weekday, etc.)
By checking the “On” option, more complex dates can also be set, including:
- Any day (or two days) of the week.
- Any weekday (or two weekdays) of the month.
- Any day (or two days) of the month.
- Any day (or two days) of the year.
Time
The time of the reminder can be a specific time (“Eye Exam @ 7:00pm”), a start and end time (“Interview @ 9:00am-10:00am”) or any time during the day (“Our Anniversary”). If you want to have a reminder popup at you, you have to specify a time for the reminder.
This Happens
A reminder can be a one-time occurrence, or it can occur every day, week, month, or year.
The “Effective Date” option determines when the reminder becomes active. For example, if you create a reminder for your wedding anniversary, you can set the effective date to the date of your actual wedding. Every year after that, your anniversary will show on the calendar. You can also set an end date, after which the reminder will no longer occur.
TIP: Setting a Reminder for the Last Week of the Month
If you need a reminder to happen, for example, on the last Tuesday of each month, here is how you would do that:
1. Check the “On” date option.
2. Set the number to the “5th”.
3. Set the day to “Tuesday”.
4. Set “of the” to “Month”.
On months with less than 5 Tuesdays, the reminder will automatically happen on the 4th Tuesday instead.
Writing Prompts
by Susan Michael
Free Writing Exercise – Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter or title: “Fourth Person Tense”
Journaling Exercise – Describe the last time you volunteered to do something for someone or for an organization. What prompted you to volunteer? Did you follow through? Would you volunteer again?
Memoir Prompt – Describe how your life was affected by a war that occurred in your lifetime.
About the author: Susan Michael facilitates the Tulsa Writers Cafe for the Arts & Humanities Council in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ms. Michael has also led writing & creativity workshops for children, teenagers, and adults.
Submission Information
If you would like to contribute to the “How I Use The Journal”, “Writing Exercises”, or “Tips & Tricks” sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling, writing, or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.
Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: support@davidrm.com
If you are submitting for a particular section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.
As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.