Checking in: what it does and when to do it

Checking in does one thing: it sets the vault's deadline to now plus its interval. A 30 day vault checked in on the 1st is due again on the 31st. Check in on the 20th and it is due on the 19th of the following month. The clock always restarts from the moment you press the button, not from the previous deadline.

Each vault has its own clock

Checking in to one vault does not touch any other. If you run three vaults on three different intervals, each needs its own check in. The dashboard shows all of them with the nearest deadline first, so the one that needs attention is always at the top.

What checking in does not do

• It does not change the interval. To do that, edit the vault.
• It does not arm a paused vault. A paused vault has no clock to reset.
• It does nothing at all to a delivered vault. That one is finished.

Where to do it

From the dashboard, from the vault itself, or from the installed app on your phone. All three do the same thing and all three write an entry to your audit log with the time and the address you did it from.

Making it a habit

The people whose vaults survive for years all do some version of the same thing: they attach the check in to something they already do. Payday, the first of the month, the same evening as the bins. A recurring calendar reminder with an alert is the simplest version and it works.

Do not rely on our reminder emails alone. They are a safety net, not a plan. They arrive at 75 and 90 percent of your interval, which on a one day timer means a warning six hours before delivery, in an inbox you may not be looking at.

You can check in early, always

There is no penalty and no minimum gap. Checking in daily on a 30 day vault is entirely fine and simply means the deadline is never close. If you are about to travel, check in before you leave rather than hoping to find signal.