Recurring tasks in GTD
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A recurring task is something you do again and again on a rhythm: paying the rent, watering the plants, the weekly review. Each time the task comes due, the task is an ordinary next action.
The hard questions are about the time in between. Where does a recurring task wait until its next date? What should happen when you complete the task late, or do not do the task at all? This page answers each question with a dated example.
Where a recurring task belongs
Getting Things Done keeps one rule for dates: a date goes on a task only when the date means something. Recurring tasks follow the same rule, so the right place depends on what the date means.
| What the date means | Where the task belongs |
|---|---|
| The task must happen on that day | The calendar. Bin day, a standing meeting, a monthly payment run. |
| The task becomes relevant on that day | A scheduled date, so the task stays out of sight until then. Checking the smoke alarm, reviewing an insurance policy before renewal. |
| The task has a rhythm but no fixed day | Next Actions, with a repeat counted from completion. Mowing the lawn, changing a water filter. |
| The task has several steps done together | A checklist, with one recurring task that points to the checklist. The weekly review, the end-of-month accounts. |
A daily habit you tick without thinking, such as drinking water, does not need a task at all. A list full of habits teaches you to ignore the list.
Two ways to count the next date
- From the scheduled date
- The schedule stays fixed: every Monday, or the 1st of every month. Use a fixed schedule for tasks tied to the calendar, such as rent, bin day or a weekly report.
- From completion
- The next date counts from the day you complete the task. Use completion for tasks where the gap matters more than the date. For example, you mow the lawn every 2 weeks from completion, and you mow on Thursday 5 November. The next date is Thursday 19 November. On a fixed schedule of every other Monday, the same late mow would leave only four days before the next one.
What should happen when you complete a task late
On a fixed schedule, a late task raises a question: what about the dates you missed? There are two good answers, and each one suits a different kind of task.
- Move to the next date after today
- The missed dates are gone. For example, you water the plants every Monday, and the task is due on Monday 2 November. You complete the task on Thursday 12 November. The next date is Monday 16 November, and the missed Monday, 9 November, does not return. Most recurring tasks work this way, because watering the plants twice on the same day helps nobody.
- Keep every missed date due
- Each missed date is still owed. For example, rent is due on the 1st of every month, and you pay November's rent on 10 December. The next date is 1 December, so December's rent is still due today. Use this for payments, invoices and reports, where every date counts.
Many task apps choose one answer for every task. That choice is why the same complaints appear in so many app forums: a weekly report completed late skips a week, or a bill paid late sets the next date in the past.
What should happen when you do not do a task at all
A recurring task you did not do should stay visible until you decide what to do with the task. There are three decisions, and the weekly review is the time to make them:
- Do the task. Complete the task, and the next date follows the rules above.
- Skip this date. Move the task to its next date without completing the task. Skipping is a decision, not a failure.
- Change the rhythm. If you skip a task every time, the rhythm is wrong. Repeat the task less often, or move the task to Someday/Maybe.
Mistakes with recurring tasks
- A fixed day the task does not need
- A recurring task on a fixed day that does not matter is a fake deadline every week. You start to ignore the date, and then the real dates too. Count from completion instead.
- A new project every time
- A routine with several steps, such as the monthly accounts, does not need a new project each month. Keep one recurring task and a checklist of the steps.
- Repeats that outlive their reason
- A recurring task can last for years after you stopped needing the task. In the weekly review, look at your recurring tasks and delete the ones that no longer matter.
How repeating actions work in Relay
In Relay, any action can repeat: every day, every Tuesday, the first Monday of the month, or every 90 days. If a monthly action falls on a weekend, Relay can move the action to the weekday before or after. When you complete an action, Relay moves the same action to its next date, so your lists never fill with copies.
- Repeat from: Scheduled date
- The schedule stays fixed. An action you complete late moves to the first date on its schedule after the day you complete the action.
- Missed dates stay due
- A switch for actions where every date counts. With the switch on, an action you complete late moves to the next date it missed, one date at a time.
- Repeat from: Completion
- The next date counts from the day you complete the action, for days, weeks, months and years.
- Skip
- In the action's ⋮ menu. Skip moves the action to its next date without completing the action.
Under Repeat from, Relay shows the action's next three dates and what happens if you complete the action late, so you can check a repeat before you save the action. A repeating action with a checklist starts the checklist unticked each time the action repeats.
Try repeats that handle a late week
Create your repeating actions in Relay and see the next three dates before you save each one.
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