By now you’ve probably tried a few ways to remind yourself to move. Some work well, others get ignored. Rather than adding more reminders, it can help to look at which ones you actually act on, and build on those.

Look at what’s working

Think back over the last week. Which breaks did you take without much effort? Many people find their most reliable breaks are tied to something that happens anyway, like finishing a call or making a drink. Others find a timed reminder, like Pomodoro stretches in VIDA, works best on focused days.

Two kinds of reminder

Research on remembering to do things later suggests there are two main kinds of cue:

• Time-based, like a reminder at 11am or a timer that goes off every 30 minutes.
• Event-based, like “when I finish this call” or “when I come back from lunch”.

Event-based cues are often easier to act on, because the moment itself reminds you. Time-based cues work well when your day is predictable or when you’re deep in focused work.

Match the reminder to the day

You don’t need one reminder every day. Many people find it helps to:

• Use Pomodoro stretches on days with long stretches of focused work.
• Rely on event-based moments, like ending calls, on meeting-heavy days.
• Keep one or two backup reminders, like a sticky note, for days that don’t fit either pattern.

Drop what isn’t working

If a reminder has been ignored for a week, it’s probably not the right one. Letting it go and putting your energy into the reminders that work keeps things simple.

Something to try this week

At the end of each day this week, note which reminder led to a break and which you ignored. By Friday, you’ll know which ones to keep.

What to take away

• Build on the reminders you already act on.
• Event-based cues are often easier to follow than timed ones.
• Different days may need different reminders.
• Let go of reminders you’ve ignored for a week.

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