When you put repeating or recurring tasks on autopilot, you free your mind for more important matters.
We all face routine tasks to maintain our home, and most jobs involve regular duties that must be completed. It’s important to have a method for them to pop up on your radar to deal with them, without cluttering up your to do list.
What are the tasks that you must accomplish on a regular basis at work and at home? Identify the repeating tasks that must be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis at home and work. You may want to include an estimate of the time it takes to complete the task, and note if the task is best performed at a certain time or place, if peak time or a tool is needed, etc.
Use a repeating task checklist: download a free one page form with daily, weekly, monthly and annual Repeating Tasks, or a Repeating Tasks Worksheet is available at the Daily PlanIt Shop. Another alternative is to use separate lists according to frequency:
DAILY
There are some things you may want to remember to always do today. Daily duties for home often include cleaning and cooking. Daily themes can help with these tasks. Job duties vary depending on the work you do. Include important stuff, like activities to create positive shift and self-care activities that have been shown to increase well-being. Sketch out daily repeating tasks for a daily routine with a Daily Plan Form or a Time Log.
WEEKLY
For home, weekly tasks may include menu planning, a weekly review, or focused cleaning on a different room each day of the week. You might have a goal of getting together with a friend once a week, or to save a certain amount of money each week. Examples of different goal frequencies are at Goal Master List. List weekly repeating tasks on a Weekly Repeating Tasks (pdf) form at or a Weekly Planner from Vertex42.com.
MONTHLY
Monthly repeating tasks may be financial, goals, or for work or home. This may include things like paying bills, filing papers, and backing up your computer. In Before you create a To-Do List, Michael Hyatt talks about making a Master Task List, which are the most important tasks that add value if you do them. These are often important, but not urgent, what I call VIP AIMS. Download a Monthly Repeating Tasks pdf to list monthly repeating tasks.
YEARLY
Keep track of annual events and tasks like birthdays, auto maintenance (change oil), pets (shots, flea treatment, etc.), home (fertilize lawn, change filters, etc.) financial (bills, insurance, taxes, etc.), health (dentist, eye checkup, etc.) Download the Annual Repeating Tasks pdf to list yearly repeating tasks, and check out the Annual Review Metrics form at An Annual Review.
Tips for dealing with repeating tasks: Use checklists, have a system for handling them, include them in your daily routine. You can also use time blocking and focus themes.
Automate:
High-Tech
- Schedule repeating tasks in Google Calendar, for automatic reminders on your computer and/or smart phone.
- Set recurring tasks in your To-do app, or keep a separate to-do list of repeating tasks. Learn more about how I manage tasks with the Daily PlanIt Keep It Super Simple (K.I.S.S) System and an inside look at my system and workspace.
Low-Tech
- A Calendar, Tickler File, The Portable GTD mini system
- GTD analog tools listed at Zen Habits Massive GTD Resource List
- Besides the cleaning checklist above, see more cleaning checklists at Household Notebook (More Cleaning Checklists)
- free printable planner inserts at Free Tools.
More Reading:
Routines at Zen Habits, How to Use Your Calendar and 5 ways you can automate your life and save time at Asian Efficiency, repeating tasks at the Daily PlanIt Wiki.
This is one of the weekly activities for a Year of Personal Development.
I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.
Daily PlanIt 
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