Each morning I look over my work calendar and make a series of verbal requests:
Set a timer for 9:59
Set a timer for 10:59
Set a timer for 11:29
Set a timer for 1:29
Set a timer for 2:29
Why?
I do not want to miss any meetings.
I will miss occasional meetings if I’m not notified.
I want to keep my phone on silent.
I don’t reliably notice my phone vibrating.
While I do notice a smartwatch vibrating, I can’t wear one.
This means I want my phone to make noise before each meeting, while otherwise remaining silent. I put in a bunch of time trying to figure out a better way, learning about the automation options for Android and trying several, and didn’t find anything that worked. Even the ones that seemed like they should have worked (MacroDroid seemed pretty promising) just failed to make noise at the right time. So I just set my timers.
On the other hand, it’s not a total waste: looking over my schedule and noticing how my meetings fit together and where I have free time is still a good thing to do. But I still wish I could automate this.
I do this too. Except, I do it the evening before—partly because my wakeup time may depend on it.
Except, I add more than one minute buffer mostly and sometimes many if I suspect I might be traveling. For calls that require nontrivial preparation, I set the alarm to −12 minutes—that will give me an extra warning when I snooze it.
Hey. Wrist irritation is pretty common with watches, but there’s different straps available and you might be able to find one you tolerate. Plastic tends to irritate pretty much everyone, but metal, canvas or vegan leather might be an option.
Not sure if I’m understanding the problem correctly, but: Modes & Routines > Work > Stay focused (Do not disturb: On) > Do not disturb > App notifications (None allowed), then add your calendar app to the list of allowed apps and turn up global notification volume, which should let the calendar alerts chirp at you while keeping messages, calls, and other notifications silent.
That would have large side effects: I don’t want DND always enabled on my phone.