Seven Custom Lists I Use on My Fireplace Display (and How to Make Them)
When I was in college, I bought one of those shopping list notebooks that used to be popular. The notebook seemed genius: it was a pre-filled list of the most common products a responsible adult would need, as well as blank spaces for items I wanted to add. A notebook with a shopping list was better than just a piece of paper or relying on memory, but I eventually gave up on the notebook and switched to using the Reminders app on my iPhone. And I used the Reminders app to manage my grocery list for years until I recently deleted my Reminders list and started using a new grocery list on my Hearth Display.
Hearth Display is a family management tool most commonly used for a shared calendar, family routines, and to-do lists. (If you’re unfamiliar with Hearth Display, you should read my review of how it has improved the way I manage my family. ) In October, Hearth rolled out its custom Lists feature, allowing families to create custom lists on top of the core functionality. -Do.
How to Create Your Own Hearth Lists
The Hearth app launches in Calendar view by default. To create custom lists for your Hearth, go to Lists > Plus Sign and select the type of list you want to create: To-Do Lists, Groceries, or Custom. From here, you can create list items, assign them to specific users, and add notes as needed. (For example, I often add product addresses and URLs in the Notes field.) If you want your listing to be available on your Hearth, that is, visible on the Hearth display and not just in your Hearth app, turn on the ” Show on display.” option when creating a list.
Once you’ve created your list and checked off your tasks, you should save those completed tasks in the Done box if you plan to use them again. For example, my grocery list is often the same, so I only permanently remove items that I don’t plan to buy often. The “Done” list can be collapsed, so I hide it to keep the list uncluttered.
Remember to use the privacy settings for your listings.
I use privacy settings more for clarity than to protect sensitive information: managing multiple lists can be confusing for children, so I only show three lists on the fireplace display (To-Do Lists, Groceries, and Shopping List) and limit visibility the rest. However, you can think of lists that you might want to keep hidden, such as gift lists, surprise party assignments, or adults-only plans for you and your partner.
New lists are private by default—meaning they are only visible to you in your Hearth app—but if you want the list to appear on display so others can use it, be sure to turn on the “Show on Display” option in the creation menu. New list” ( Lists > Plus sign > List > “Show on display” ).
To change the privacy settings of an existing list, select the list in your app, select the three-dot menu option in the top right corner, open Settings , and turn on the same Show on Display option. If your shared lists don’t appear on the Hearth display after a few seconds, refresh the screen by dragging down the top of the Hearth screen.
Nine Hearth Lists I Use with My Family
You can create an unlimited number of lists on Hearth Display, but I only use nine: two default lists and seven custom ones.
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To Do (default)
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Food (default)
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Shopping list (custom order)
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Watchlist (individual)
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Back to School (Custom Order)
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Family trip (custom order)
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Home care (custom order)
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Spring cleaning (custom order)
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Christmas traditions (custom order)
My goal is to create my own lists of repeating habits and events and spend less time thinking about each one in the future. The shopping list and watch list are constantly updated—every time the kids mention, for example, non-grocery items they need for school, or when we see a trailer for a movie coming out later in the year. The rest of the lists are seasonal:
The Back to School list covers school tasks that should be completed each fall, beyond the obvious back-to-school shopping: things like updating emergency contacts, scheduling health checkups, adding dates from the school calendar, donating old clothes, revising our morning routine, planning extracurricular activities and discussing expectations for the school year.
I use the Family Travel list for trips and it includes things like scheduling mail freezes, confirming pet sitters, scheduling vaccinations for international trips, printing copies of travel documents, scheduling auto-responses via email, unloading perishables from refrigerator and garbage disposal.
Home maintenance and spring cleaning lists are designed for those small tasks we want to do ourselves every year, but they are better used for assigning tasks than for memorizing them. Coming up with spring cleaning tasks is pretty easy: Chances are, you have your own priorities or you can find a million cleaning lists online. Instead, I focus on assignments so that responsibilities are clear and tasks are distributed in a reasonable manner. Each item in the Hearth list is assigned an owner.
I made a list of Christmas traditions this year when I was trying to come up with plans for the winter. Obviously you could add a list like this for any holiday that’s important to you, and I could change it to “Family Traditions” rather than a specific holiday, but for now it includes events like the New York City Holiday Markets , ice skating and radio broadcasts. City Christmas show.
How much does a fireplace display cost?
The list price for Hearth Display is $699. It’s often discounted to $599 (currently at the time of writing). The lowest price I’ve seen for Hearth is $499 during the Cyber Week sale , so you can always wait until this time of year. Otherwise, plan to spend $600 for one. However, keep in mind that you will also need a subscription to use all of its functionality: a Hearth Display subscription costs $9 per month or $86 per year. Without a subscription, Hearth Display is limited to basic calendar functionality, so I recommend being prepared to pay for a membership.
Should you use a focal display?
Individual needs and budgets obviously vary, but Hearth Display has replaced my whiteboard calendars, work schedules, shopping lists, and to-do lists, and I’ve found it hard to imagine how I could manage my family without it. I am happy with my Hearth and what it brings to my family: better communication, organization and accountability than ever before. For a more complete explanation of the Hearth and how to use it, read my full review .