How to Keep a Someday/Maybe List on iPhone

Some ideas are not tasks yet. Visit Lisbon. Read War and Peace. Learn the guitar properly this time. They deserve to be written down, just not next to 'buy milk'.

Quick answer: Keep a separate list for things you might do one day, look at it every week or two, and promote items out of it when they become real. On iPhone you can do this with a dedicated list in any reminders app. Remi builds it in: undated reminders live in a Someday section, and you move one forward by giving it a month, or a rough part of one.

What a someday/maybe list is for

The idea comes from the productivity world, but it is simple: anything you might want to do, but are not committing to now, goes on one list. It gets the thought out of your head, so you stop re-remembering it at 2am, and it keeps your real to-do list short enough to trust.

The list only works if two things are true: it is easy to add to, and you actually look at it now and then. A someday list you never open is just a nicer way of forgetting.

Setting one up

With a general reminders app, create a list called Someday and add to it. In Remi you do not need a separate list: any reminder saved without a date goes into the Someday section automatically, below what is coming up.

Tap + and type the idea.
Switch on Don't have a concrete date in mind? and save.
With Premium you can also press and hold + and just say it. Anything you say without a date, like "visit Lisbon", is saved as Someday.

Someday section in Remi listing Learn to make sourdough, Visit Lisbon, Fix the garden fence, Read War and Peace and Call my old roommate — The Someday section sits under your upcoming reminders, out of the way but one scroll from view.

Reviewing it without it becoming a chore

Pick a low-stakes moment, a Sunday coffee or the first of the month, and scroll through Someday. For each item, one of three things:

Still a maybe. Leave it.
Getting real. Give it a month, or Early, Mid or Late of a month. It moves up into your upcoming reminders.
No longer interested. Delete it, guilt-free. Dropping an idea is a decision, not a failure.

A monthly summary notification (Settings > Notifications) is a good prompt for that review.

Why not just give everything a date?

Because a fake date turns a wish into an overdue task. "Visit Lisbon by June 1" will be overdue on June 2, and an overdue list full of things you never committed to teaches you to ignore the list. Keeping maybes undated until they are real keeps your dated reminders honest.

Questions

What is a someday/maybe list?

A list of things you might do one day but are not committing to now. It keeps ideas out of your head and off your active to-do list, and you review it now and then to promote, keep or drop items.

How do I move a someday item to a real date in Remi?

Open the reminder and pick a month, or Early, Mid or Late of a month, or an exact date. It leaves the Someday section and appears in your upcoming reminders.

Updated 2026-10-01. Written by Emils Ozols, who makes Remi.