Last week I began using a highly recommended app called MEDISAFE (it also works on ipad)
I think it’s super easy to use and seems to function extremely well.
I read online that it would no longer be free as of 1/26, but now that it’s still working for me and not asking for payment, I thought it was worth sharing.
If you have it track enough items, I think it requires payment, and that will unlock other additional features, but I’m only using it for a handful of reminders for myself and my pets that are not needed daily. I even color coded each reminder for which person or pet takes that particular thing.
I couldn’t find another thread on schedulers, but if there is a better place for this, please move it… and if anyone has other good ideas, by all means, please share them.
I have a pretty simple routing; my morning supplements I put next to my coffee so its part of my morning routine with my coffee.
And I put the evening supplements/medications (magnesium, lipid mgt, etc.) next to my toothbrush for taking with my evening routine.
The best way to simplify routines is to do what is called “habit stacking”… add things to existing routines you have.
How Habit Stacking Works
Identify a Current Habit (The Anchor): Choose a daily action you already do without thinking (e.g., brushing teeth, making coffee, getting dressed).
Choose a New, Small Habit: Select a tiny, achievable behavior you want to add (e.g., 1 minute of stretching, drinking a glass of water, reading one page).
Stack Them: Use the formula: “After I [current habit], I will [new habit]”.
Example: “After I pour my morning coffee, I will meditate for five minutes”.
Why It’s Effective
Uses Existing Cues: Your established routine acts as a natural trigger for the new behavior, reducing the need for willpower.
Reduces Decision Fatigue: You don’t have to decide when to do the new habit; the anchor habit already sets the time and place.
Builds Momentum: Small, consistent actions compound over time, making it easier to add more habits later.
I do already load daily containers for 2x per day meds/supplements, but my daytime dose is all over the place because I have not formed a habit. My nighttime dose is part of my bedtime routine so it’s very dependable…… and for that reason, I take anything crucially important, like medicines, at night.
I have added more powders to my routine vs just pills and keep those in the kitchen. I thought I might premix all my daily powders into a week’s worth of separate jars (empty spice jars) so they are ready to be mixed each day.
Apple Health app has a medications feature which can give reminders, and you can set schedules etc.
But similar to Rapadmin, I make it frictionless and prepare things so they’re right in the place they need to be at the time I need them. Morning stuff is next to the coffee machine, and night time stuff is next to my tooth brush.
@A_User I was doing pretty well (not perfectly) remembering it all until I recently added an EOD medicine for my cat. I take most of my stuff every day, but one cat gets something 3x per week, they both get something each day, twice a per week, once per week, and once a month. It worked because I would just use set days like MWF, Tues/Sat, or on the 1st of the month as their day, so I was able to keep it all straight, but once I added a new EOD item for one cat, I’d say oh shoot, did it give it to him this morning or was that yesterday morning.
I don’t really understand linear regression that much… I know the technical meaning and I understand x and y axis, but I have no idea how I might relate that to a supplement/rx schedule. I do try to push my extremely unscientific brain to understand what you all talk about for the sole purpose of improving my brain.
@relaxedmeatball duh, I forgot about the apple health app. I’ve never looked at the reminder part!
My thyroid medicine is in my nightstand and my rule is I’m not allowed to get out of the bed until I take it… that has been my sure fire way to never miss it and to never scratch my head wondering if I took it or not, or was that yesterday I’m thinking of.
I have two transparent plastic boxes - one is marked AM and another one PM. They perfectly fit on a shelf inside my kitchen wall cabinet - no clutter on counter.
No pillbox that I have seen would hold my meds/supplements for a day, let alone a week.
I have a bathroom cabinet devoted to my morning meds/supplements and a kitchen cabinet devoted to both morning and evening meds/supplements. I take my morning meds/supplements that are best taken on an empty stomach right after I shower in the morning. I take the rest from my kitchen cabinet an hour or so later with breakfast. Fortunately my evening meds are taken with food, so I take them from the kitchen cabinet right before dinner.
So, there is no remembering; just open the bathroom and kitchen cabinets in the morning and the kitchen cabinet in the evening. Even I do not forget to do this.
I have a large wall calendar in the kitchen with a month per page. Each day is big enough to take notes in with the mechanical pencil hanging from a string. This is for the cats. Each cat has his two letter code. In this calendar we record all cat health related info, whatever symptoms, BM, urine etc. as well as all vet appointments. And the medication schedule. So for example, the white cat, Austin, gets rapamycin every Sunday, dapagliflozin Mon, Wed, Sat etc. and it gets noted right after the meds are given. That way we can see at a glance what was given when and when the next dose is due. After a year a new calendar is hung on top of the old one (very long nail/peg!), and this way we have a complete record of everything cat related going back years. I can tell you which cat got what med at what dose on any day in any given year, what they experienced health wise, when they pooped, when they went to the vet and any procedures. A great reference. Human memory tends to be faulty, but the calendar record is impervious to information loss. Doesn’t take much time and once you get into the habit of recording, it’s an automatic process by association - cat related event = record. Has worked so far smoothly for us, and if there are any questions (when is Austin due for his shots, when was the last teeth cleaning etc) you just walk up to the calendar for your answer.
I’ve tried to do something much less thorough than this on my ipad, but I usually fail.
For whatever reason, I find the small screen makes being organized harder for me…I think keeping a big physical solution in the kitchen would work better.
Your system is quite impressive… relative to your efforts, cat protective services should come lock me up
I’m good at taking whichever supplements are on my ‘must have’ list, and use the habit stacking method to remember.
The issue for me is that my ‘must have, must take’ list often changes, and I like that. I believe that our bodies do well to cycle certain things. For example, my vitamin D, A,K2 use naturally decreases a bit in the summer, while my astaxanthin will increase. Also, I’m not a precise measurement type of gal, I use a gestalt approach with how many days per week to take my lithium orotate or add a vitamin b complex to my daily routine.
Finally, fun new studies or anxious hypochondriacal fears will have me on an ‘all in’ run of something unique for a few weeks to months, otherwise, my current list would be unwieldy. My loosey goose approach would not work for the folks that like precision and measurement, but I suspect that there must be others who must ascribe to my approach.
I fill two of these pill organizers every two weeks. I leave the day’s strip on my kitchen island. I habit stack with coffee (morning), lunch, and before bed. After taking my night dose, I take out tomorrow’s strip and leave it on the island. I find this method efficient, since batching the pill distribution takes less time than doing it as I go. And I very rarely forget to take my pills. The only downside is that it can be hard to squeeze all the pills in the container, depending on my current dosing plan, but I manage.
