Is this a good way of being certain that something is done every other day?

You could set the alarm on your phone for certain dates.

^^ I’d forget what the alarm is for. I forget when I’ve just set it a couple of hours previously.

Do you have a small object that you could move so that on certain days you know where it’s supposed to be? Like a refrigerator magnet – put it on the front some days and on the side on alternate days. You could have a note that tells you which day is which, could even hold the note up with the magnet. You wouldn’t have to change the note, just the magnet.

Your circle and line sounds pretty good.

Whatever works for you.

I take various medicines. Most one/day but two once/week.

I have a wall calendar in my bathroom, on the wall next to the sink. At the beginning of every month I make circles for the once/week meds. Then, every Sunday (when I take them) I put a slash through the circle. (I don’t have an issue with the daily ones, I take them when I wake up).

So it’s sort of what you said, @LostInParadise but monthly not weekly. Less labor. And I have to turn the page on the calendar at the beginning of each month anyway.

I use a wall calendar, too. I volunteer once a week and I have some groups im a member of and it all goes onto the calendar so i don’t screw up and schedule other things on those days. Add to that doctors, dinners, etc. It all goes on the calendar.

It might be a good way for you, if you’re usually aware of whether we’re in an even or an odd week. Personally, I barely know the date and definitely wouldn’t reliably remember what week it is.

Instead, I like to pair things like that with something else. So, if I want to water my lilac every other day, I pair this with something like taking out the recycling (which I also want to do every other day). I’ll know I have to do one or the other every day, which helps cement the habit.

I use mnenomics, but they don;t always work.

I take medicine twice a day, but if I get busy in the evening I can miss my evening doses. I have alarms on my phone with the title “take meds”.

I now inject myself on Wednesdays to mark “Wegovy Wednesday”.

To sum up: Everyone has their own approach based on their own psyche.

I’m not great at every other day either.

If it’s not extremely important, you could just do three times a week and be shorted two days a month. MWF.

Or, MWF and the first Sunday of the month if that might be easy.

A magnet on your fridge that you turn everyday.
When its upside down you don’t do it. When it’s right-side up you do it.

When I have to take a medication every other day, I set my head to take it on odd-numbered days. I write “odd” on the lid. For months with 31 days, I end up taking two in a row. No harm done. For other months, it just goes smoothly from even to odd. (Leap Year Day is a small jog in the routine.)

So once I’ve set my memory just to take the stuff, I have the sign on the lid to remind me which days, and I take it systematically from there. I have to remember only one thing, one protocol.

I think this would work for things other than medication: just remember to do it at all, and then consult your odd-even guide to see if it’s an on or off day. I would never succeed with cross-offs, magnets, etc., because I would not remember if I had marked them, turned them, or whatever.

If it’s pills you can set up a weekly or monthly pill box, but I figured the OP was not talking about pills. You just set up the coming week before you run out and maintain the pattern.

@Jeruba Ingenious plan. I am going to try this. The only difficulty I foresee is I often don’t know the date, but I might have to make a point of knowing. I have pill boxes, but I haven’t been using them even though I should.