Date Wizard is the most simple alternative you can find to establish reminders of your tasks and pending projects, you only need to enter each activity on the main screen of the application and that is all, notes will be shown as pop-up windows whenever it will be the time to perform them.
You can establish daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reminders, with the possibility of customize them, for example, the second Monday on each month, every two days or whatever you wish.
Either if there are birthdays, anniversaries, dates, friend meetings or daily activities, Date Wizard is the simplest and efficient option you can have, becoming free from those complex options that you do not really need for something too simple like remembering a date.
NOTE: it is totally free of charge for personal use.