Recurring Tasks — an UP tool
A simple system for tracking activities that need to happen regularly, but on no fixed schedule.
What it's for
Some tasks don't have deadlines. They just need to happen roughly every so often — cleaning the washing machine filter, replacing a toothbrush, checking the fire extinguisher. Easy to forget, hard to schedule precisely, and not worth the mental overhead of putting them in a calendar.
This tool collects them in one place and keeps track of when each one was last done.
How it works
Maintain a table with three pieces of information for each activity:
- What — a short description of the task
- How often — a rough frequency, chosen from a set of predefined intervals
- Last done — the date it was most recently completed
When the lower bound of the chosen interval has passed since the last completion, the item is gently flagged — not as overdue or failed, but as a nudge: you wanted to do this roughly this often, and the time has come around again.
Frequency intervals
Rather than picking an exact frequency (every 3 weeks? every 28 days?), activities are assigned to one of a small number of intervals. The default set is:
- a few days
- 10-20 days
- 1–2 months
- 3–4 months
- 6–8 months
- 1 year
The point of intervals — rather than exact values — is to remove a non-decision. Whether something happens every 7 or 8 months does not make a real difference. The interval captures the intent without demanding false precision.
The default intervals can be adjusted to suit your needs.
When the nudge appears
A task is flagged once the lower bound of its interval has passed since it was last completed. For a task set to 1–2 months, the nudge appears after one month. Nothing is flagged early. The signal comes from the configuration you set and the actual passage of time — not from the tool itself.
Implementation
This tool has no required technology. Use whatever fits your workflow:
- A Trello board with cards and dates assigned
- A spreadsheet
- A plain text file
- A notebook and pencil
The structure is the method. The medium is up to you.