Timers are needed throughout the day to remember

michaelc

I am looking for a recommendation for a manual timer that continues to ring until you shut it off. I've tried three and they just ring for seconds and stop. If I am distracted or walk away from the area, I completely lose track. Have to replace my range so will lose that necessary feature. Suggestions?

Iris L.

Can you take your phone with you?

Are you talking about walking away from the stove and burning food? My advice, based on personal experience, is either to give up using the stove all together, or to stay right by the stove and never leave it. Don't cook anything that takes more than three minutes, such as cooking eggs.

Iris

michaelc

I use a timer for everything, cooking, gardening, laundry, the dog. I find that I just need a nudge to stop and think why I set the timer. Do you know if reminders on a smartphone continuously ring? I did finally purchase an Iphone and have struggled with the tech.

Iris L.

Set your timer to no more than FIVE MINUTES or even less. Then you can reassess and remember what you were doing.

Also try using YELLOW POST-IT NOTES. They are very helpful.

Do you use a daily notebook or journal to write down your daily to-do list, and check off each task? I do.

You did not state if you have received a dementia diagnosis. If so, it will be good for you to adapt your thinking and develop a philosophy about this stage of your life. You cannot function as you have functioned in the past. You will have to make ACCOMMODATIONS. These will serve to make your life more comfortable and more functional.

Iris

michaelc

Thank you. Is it loud enough that I can hear it from another room? Now that I've accepted a smart phone, no doubt a smart watch is the next aid, just not sure I want to start wearing one yet. Seems like connected laptop, phone and watch are in my future though. To think I was always the one to gravitate to the latest tech. Now, not so much!

BadMoonRising

I use Alexa for all reminders. I now use her "timer" for five minute intervals when I let the dog out. It is much easier to say "Alexa, set the timer for 5 minutes", check on the dog, and if she's not ready to come back in the house, I again say "Alexa, set the timer for 5 minutes" and repeat as necessary. I am also going to add a Ring stick up camera, so I can see her from my "home office" when she's waiting for me at the door. (She's a bit neurotic, and she won't bark to be let in.) A few weeks ago was the first time I forgot her, and I couldn't remember when I had let her out. That was my wake-up call.

michaelc

That's interesting. Can you ask Alexa to keep reminding until you tell her to stop? My washer takes one to two hours for a cycle, so there is no telling where I'll be by then, so if I pass through the kitchen she will still be actively reminding me. LOL, but can she multitask like set one for washer and one for the oven?

BadMoonRising

Michael, I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to respond. (Not) shockingly, I forgot that I had posted this. I do recall, however, that after exiting the forum, I remembered that you had specifically asked about a manual alarm. Duh!

I have multiple Alexa devices set up in different rooms. You can have several of them or all of them interconnected, if you choose to do so. If I want the timer to go off in several rooms, I can set it up for that. The timer is just that...it goes off and keeps going until you tell it to stop. In your scenario, it sounds that it would be best to keep the two devices not connected (assuming you want one to stop while the other will continue to alert you until you scream at her to stop. jk.).

Routines are different. I schedule routines for tasks that will be repeated. For example, a while ago, she would remind me to take my medication at precisely 11:00 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day. I no longer take any meds, but she IS programmed to turn on my bedroom light at 7 p.m. every evening. I do this so my elderly dog can see well enough to safely jump up on my bed when I'm not with her.

I'm really not so great at all of this, and you KNOW it gets much more difficult to learn later in our journey, so I'm going to make more an of an effort to establish a routine now. [Says the World's Greatest Procrastinator]