Step by step process to automate follow up reminders in Mote

If you’re tired of messages slipping through the cracks or chasing people on things you forgot, you’re not alone. This guide is for anyone who wants to automate follow-up reminders in Mote—whether you’re a teacher, manager, or just someone who’s done with sticky notes and “did you see this?” emails. We’ll get straight to the point: you’ll learn how to set up automated nudges that actually work, and skip the fluff.

Why automate follow-up reminders in Mote?

Let’s be honest: most of us mean to follow up, but life (and email) happens. Mote’s voice notes are handy, but there’s nothing built-in to remind anyone—yourself or others—to actually respond. So you forget, they forget, and that important thing drifts off into the void.

Automating reminders saves you time, makes you look organized, and keeps things moving. But it’s only worth doing if the setup isn’t more of a hassle than just nagging people manually. Let’s keep it simple.

What you need before starting

A Mote account (free is fine for basic stuff)
Access to your email or whatever platform you use Mote with (Google Workspace or similar)
Willingness to use third-party automation tools like Google Sheets, Google Apps Script, or Zapier—because Mote doesn’t have native reminder features (as of June 2024)

There’s no magic “reminder” button in Mote, so you’ll have to connect a few dots yourself. If you’re not comfortable pasting a little code or setting up simple automations, don’t worry—I’ll walk you through it.

Step 1: Decide what “follow-up” means for you

Before you start wiring things together, figure out exactly what you want:

Remind yourself to check for replies to your Motes?
Remind someone else if they haven’t responded to your Mote link?
Bulk reminders for a class or team?

Most people just want to be nudged if nobody replies to their Mote after a couple of days. Let’s focus on that. If you want something fancier, you’ll need a proper developer (or a lot more patience).

Step 2: Use Google Sheets to track your Mote links

Mote doesn’t track replies natively. The workaround is to log each Mote you send (or care about) in a Google Sheet. It’s not glamorous, but it works.

Set up your tracker:

Create a new Google Sheet.
Add columns like:
- Date Sent
- Recipient
- Mote Link
- Purpose/Notes
- Follow-up Needed? (Y/N)
- Reminder Sent? (Y/N)
- Last Checked

Pro tip:
If you usually send Motes via email or Google Classroom, you can copy-paste the links right after sending. Takes 10 seconds.

Step 3: Automate reminder emails with Google Apps Script

Now for the real automation. Google Apps Script is free, simple, and built into Sheets. You don’t need to be a coder—just copy, paste, and tweak a little.

Here’s how:

In your Google Sheet, click Extensions > Apps Script.
Replace any existing code with this starter script:

javascript function sendFollowUpReminders() { var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet(); var data = sheet.getDataRange().getValues(); var today = new Date(); for (var i = 1; i < data.length; i++) { // Skip header row var dateSent = new Date(data[i][0]); var recipient = data[i][1]; var moteLink = data[i][2]; var followUpNeeded = data[i][4]; var reminderSent = data[i][5]; var daysSince = Math.floor((today - dateSent) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
```
if (followUpNeeded == "Y" && reminderSent != "Y" && daysSince >= 2) {
  // Replace with your actual email logic
  MailApp.sendEmail({
    to: recipient,
    subject: "Friendly reminder: Please respond to my Mote",
    body: "Hi,\n\nJust checking in—could you respond to this Mote when you get a chance?\n\n" + moteLink
  });
  sheet.getRange(i+1, 6).setValue("Y"); // Mark Reminder Sent
  sheet.getRange(i+1, 7).setValue(today); // Update Last Checked
}
```
} }
Set up a trigger:
- In Apps Script, click the clock icon (“Triggers”).
- Add a new trigger:
- Choose sendFollowUpReminders
- Event source: Time-driven
- Frequency: Daily (or whatever works for you)
Save and authorize the script when prompted.

What this does:
Every day, the script checks your sheet. If a Mote is 2+ days old, marked for follow-up, and hasn’t already triggered a reminder, it sends a gentle nudge to the recipient.

Limitations:
- This only sends reminders to the email you list in “Recipient.”
- It can’t magically know whether they’ve actually listened to or replied to your Mote.
- You’ll need to keep logging Motes if you want this to work.

Step 4: (Optional) Get reminders in Slack, Teams, or elsewhere

If you want reminders somewhere besides email, you’ll need to get fancier. Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) can connect Google Sheets to hundreds of apps.

Example with Zapier:

Trigger: New row in your Google Sheet with “Follow-up Needed” = Y
Action: Delay for 2 days
Action: Send DM or message in Slack, Teams, etc.

Heads-up:
Zapier isn’t free if you do a lot of reminders. The free tier is limited. Also, Zapier can get confusing fast, so stick to Sheets+Email unless you really need more.

Step 5: (Optional) Mark Motes as “Replied” manually

Since Mote doesn’t track replies, you’ll need to do this yourself:

When someone responds to your Mote (by email, comment, etc.), open your Sheet and mark “Follow-up Needed” as “N.”
If you skip this step, you’ll keep getting reminders for Motes that already got a reply. Annoying, but it beats forgetting.

Step 6: Review and adjust

After a week or two, check: - Are you getting too many reminders? Not enough? - Is the sheet filling up with junk? - Are people actually responding after the reminder?

You can tweak the script to change the reminder delay, reminder text, or stop after X tries.

Don’t overcomplicate it.
If you start building a Frankenstein spreadsheet with more rules than sense, you’ll never use it. The goal is to make less work for yourself.

What works, what doesn’t, and what to ignore

What works:

Simple, Sheet-based tracking: It’s low-maintenance and easy to understand.
Automated emails: One less thing to remember.
Manual override: You’re still in control.

What doesn’t:

Tracking actual “listens” or replies: Mote doesn’t provide APIs or tracking for this (as of June 2024). You’re stuck with manual updates.
Native reminders in Mote: Don’t waste time looking—they don’t exist yet.

Ignore:

Overbuilt workflows: If you need a full CRM for Motes, you’re probably overthinking it.
Expensive automation subscriptions: Unless you’re running a whole team, Sheets and Apps Script are plenty.

Pro tips

Save the script as a template: If you’re doing this for a team, share the Sheet and script so everyone can use it.
Write clear reminders: “Just checking in—could you respond to this Mote?” works better than a guilt trip.
Batch your Motes: Send them at the same time each week so your follow-ups line up.

Keep it simple—and iterate

Don’t chase perfection on day one. The best automation is the one you’ll actually keep using. Start with the basics: log your Motes, let the script do the nagging, and see what works for you. If it saves you even a couple of headaches each week, it’s worth it.

If you outgrow this setup, revisit your process—maybe Mote will offer better tools soon. For now, this will keep your follow-ups from falling through the cracks, with minimal hassle.