Why People Respond Negatively to Reminders and How to Avoid It

Hi all,

I don’t like to be nagged. I don’t think anyone likes to be nagged. I also don’t enjoy being the Nagger (I own this word now FYI). To nag is to essentially remind continually – often in an obnoxious fashion. Whether you are the reminder or the reminded,  it can be emotionally taxing, and is definitely not something to look forward to. This does not have to be the case, there are ways to get around it.

I think reminders are annoying for two main reasons:

  1. We know we should have done the thing they are nagging us about
  2. We take the nag as a personal assault on our ability to remember and perform tasks

Anytime I am reminded to do something, whether at work or at home, it is almost always something that I have previously committed to doing. It could be some spreadsheet I was assigned to complete at the office or a random chore that I agreed to do at home. The fact is that at one point or another, I agreed to do this thing.

You agreed to do this thing.

The fact that you are being reminded about it implies that you forgot to do it, or that the other person has some reason to suspect that it will not get done.

This hurts! Oh, geez, this person doesn’t think I am capable of remembering to do this. And maybe the fact is that they are correct. Ouch.

On the other hand, it can be stressful to be the Nagger/Reminder too. It can often feel like you are a barking boss, or that the person will be defensive when you remind them. And this can be true!

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could remind people, and still get all the positive outcomes without any of the negative feelings?

This is where SendRecurring shines. SendRecurring will allow you to setup a recurring email that will neutrally remind the recipient(s) of a task, upcoming appointment, or other message. People aren’t as intimidated by a request sent over email, because they can read it at their leisure, in their own mind/voice, and with a pleasant connotation. As the person setting up a reminder, you only have to write the message once, and set it on autopilot until the task is complete and the person no longer needs reminding. At that point, you simply turn off the message and it is done. No immediate response or action is required at the receipt of the email, which makes the recurring reminder less intimidating.

In short, use SendRecurring.com for all of your passive-reminding needs, and let your personal relationships with those you nag flourish!