How to Track Follow-Ups in Todoist
Create a simple Todoist follow-up system for links, introductions, questions and other small promises that tend to disappear after a conversation.
Create one Follow-ups project
Use a single Follow-ups project for personal and work promises unless separating them solves a real problem. Typical tasks include:
- Send Mom the sleep article
- Introduce Priya to Daniel
- Ask Jamie how the interview went
- Forward the contractor details to Alex
- Send Carla the lemon chicken recipe
These commitments are too small for a calendar and easy to lose once a conversation moves on. A dedicated project makes them visible without mixing them into errands and major work deadlines.
Write each task as a physical action
Carla recipe forces you to reconstruct the promise later. Write Send Carla the lemon chicken recipe instead.
Always include the person's name and the thing promised. When several steps are involved, write the next physical action:
- Find the pediatric dentist link for Jen
- After finding it, change the task to Send Jen the pediatric dentist link
This keeps the task actionable and makes person-based search useful.
Attach the thing you promised
Put an existing article, recipe or product link in the description or a comment. Completion then becomes one open-copy-send sequence. The task remembers the promise; the attachment remembers the item.
If you do not have the link, capture the best identifying detail available: Sleep article from last week, discussed blue light and shift workers. Do not interrupt a conversation to perfect the citation. Names and concrete details also help when trying to remember something important a friend mentioned.
Use due dates only when they are real
Artificial deadlines create noise and teach you to ignore overdue tasks. Date a follow-up when timing changes its value:
- Send the venue link before Saturday
- Ask about the interview on Friday afternoon
- Forward the document before the meeting
- Check whether the package arrived tomorrow
If you said “tonight,” add tonight. If you said “sometime,” leave it undated and let the review surface it.
Add a small set of labels only if needed
A single project may be enough. If volume grows, use a few action-oriented labels:
- send for links, files and recommendations
- ask for questions and check-ins
- introduce for connecting people
- waiting when someone else must respond
After sending a draft, change Send Sam the draft to Waiting for Sam's feedback instead of closing the thread. Labels should help you act, not describe every dimension of the promise.
Capture at the natural break
The person, item and reason are clearest when the promise is made. If using your phone during the conversation feels rude, capture the task at the next natural break—when you reach your desk, enter the car or wait for coffee. Add a short title first and the link later.
This also works when you must find a restaurant someone mentioned. Record the person and memorable detail before beginning the search. Do not rely on the mental reminder that returns while you cannot act.
Separate tasks from saved ideas
An article you might read is reference material. An article you promised to send is a task. Keep the visible action in Todoist and the source wherever you save articles, notes and recommendations; attach its link when possible.
If sources regularly disappear across several apps, dEssence can hold them until needed through its Chrome extension, Telegram bot or web app at dessence.ai. Todoist should still contain the commitment to act. This prevents Follow-ups from becoming a dumping ground and distinguishes a gift idea worth remembering from the concrete promise to buy or send it.
Search by person when memory is incomplete
If you remember owing Anna something but not what, search for Anna. This only works when names consistently appear in task titles. Partial subjects such as recipe, dentist or newsletter can also recover a task.
Use the ordinary language of the original conversation. You are leaving clues for your future self, not building a perfect archive—part of making something you learned retrievable later.
Send late follow-ups instead of deleting them
A late personal follow-up is often still worth doing. A plain acknowledgment is enough: I meant to send this earlier. This is the article we discussed. Then include the link.
If the promise has genuinely expired, close or delete it during review. Todoist should support relationships and work, not preserve guilt indefinitely.