Recurring actions

So there have been a number of suggestions here, as I suspected it's a big topic and a very common type of action item. Like I said I do have some solutions for recurrent actions (but I'm always open for improvement), so it was more of question of whether GTD really addresses the question adequately.

While there are plenty of solutions that integrate reasonably with GTD I have not been convinced that GTD deals with recurrent actions in a direct way.

Not even sure if DA mentions recurrent actions directly in Getting Things Done. He does have a section called "The Next-Action Categories" which would be the natural place to write about RAs, but what he writes is:

What does need to be tracked is every action that has to happen at a specific time or on a specific day (enter these in your calendar); those that need to be done as soon as they can (add these to your "Next Actions" lists); and all those that you are waiting for others to do (put these on a "Waiting For" list).
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Nothing on recurrent actions. They are a type of next actions in my view, but they don't always go into the next action lists or the calendar (read this thread for a number of creative solutions to RAs).

I'll return with at least one more post, on how I deal with RAs myself.
 
Another question re: checklists

The more I exmaine it, I think there are "checklists" (David Allen describes them in Getting Things Done as "recipes of potential ingredients for projects, events, and areas of value, interest, and responsibility") and then there are, for lack of a better term, "procedures" (I need to remind myself to do XYZ every morning and in that order)...

Checklists could be things you want to be reminded of on a regular basis, at which time you can decide whether or not you're actually going to follow through on them. When you review that kind of checklist, and say to yourself "Yes, I would like to do that" but you're not doing it RIGHT NOW (for instance: I have a bi-weekly checklist for my cat, and one of the items is "cut claws"). Well, I'm not necessarily going to read that item, put down the sheet of paper, then go find the cat and cut his claws... Do you then add the item to your @Home next action list? And if so, do you ever find that it's still on your next action list the next time you review your checklist?!!! ;)
 
GTD compliant strategy for handling recurring tasks

According to David, day specific actions belong on the calendar. In the case of recurring actions, it would be correct to have them on your calendar - they are technically day specific actions. However, I agree with you when you feel there should be another way of dealing with them. Do you really want your calendar filled with 'take 2 omega-3 pills', 'take 3 vitamin D pills', 'take 3 vitamin B12 complex'? Neither do I.

I suggest an alternative method that still stays true to GTD principles.

TL,DR-

Master projects list - consume set amounts of healthy body supplements
Next actions list - take reminder list from project materials folder and swallow supplements
Next actions list - go to store and purchase more pills
Project materials folder - reminder list (all the pills you want to take)

(I chose to use the term 'reminder list' in your project materials folder, instead of 'checklist' to avoid confusion)

Is it actionable? Yes

What is the desired outcome?
Consume set amounts of healthy body supplements

(This outcome can go on your master projects list as a placeholder.)

What is the next action?
Take the reminder list from my projects materials folder and swallow pills on the list.

(write out the pills you have to take on a reminder list and insert it in your Projects materials folder)

Let's say you take your next actions list out and see this task. You've pull the list from your projects material folder, and finish working the list off by taking all the pills you set out to take that day.

Now, once you've completed the task, you'll have to decide the next action, with the project the the master projects list acting as a placeholder to draw more action steps.

For instance, you decide you still want to do this tomorrow. You'll just add the same next action to your NA list (just date it in case it's a busy day and you forget if you already took the pills earlier that day).

OR

you decide you need to go get new ones from the store, because you have the placeholder in your master projects list, you can have "buy x,y,z pills at Xx store" as a next action to put on the NA list.

OR

You only had access to pill A but not pill X,Y,Z. The next action step would still be 'take reminder list out of project folder and swallow pills' but put a date on the ones you took already.

Im not sure I would use checklists for this particular scenario. David recommends it only as an inactionable bucket for you to draw inherent projects and actions from.

Let me know what you think.
 
I know this topic is old, but I'm experiencing some similar issues.

I use checklists for some recurrent actions like take medicines, for ex. But sometimes I ask myself if I'm not using actions on checklists just because it's easier than clarify and organize everything.

I really like to use checklists for my day, week, month etc. What do I need to check for my next month? Things like that. But I also have recurrent activities, like send a monthly report or clean my refrigerator. And I've trying everything about that.

I tried:

- to put on the calendar (individual itens)
- to put on the calendar (like one action as a list of daily actions)
- to put as next actions
- to clarify and organize as a project for my month
- to put on a checklist and just check along the month
- to put on a checklist with a due date, as a task

I know it's important to clarify every each item, and that's what I always do. But sometimes I feel that a checklist can be useful for those kind of actions that seens more like an habit than an action per se.

So I have this "bullet journal" on my Todoist, where I put my checklists by frequency.

You can see what I put on my daily, weekly and monthly checklists. I'm trying this right now, but I'm not so sure if it's the most efficient way to organize that.

Attached files
 
Thais Godhino said:
I know it's important to clarify every each item, and that's what I always do. But sometimes I feel that a checklist can be useful for those kind of actions that seens more like an habit than an action per se.
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I'm not sure what you mean here. I suspect that examples are called for, because you seem to be assuming that checklists and clarification are mutually exclusive, and I don't know why.
 
I have a feeling that maybe much of the discussion in this thread actually relates to things that are in the border region between needing to be on the list and not needing to be on the list. We usually have no hesitation about whether we should write down actions such as "meet client x" or "draft proposal for x", or on which list or calendar they should go. At the other end of the spectrum we have no hesitation about leaving much of what we do entirely undocumented, e.g. sleep, eat, chitchat with people we bump into, etc - there is no trace of most such things on our lists or calendars.

It seems that most of the examples in this thread are in the border region between these - repetitive, familiar, quite habitual, perhaps almost not even needing to be written down at all, BUT not yet safely enough imprinted as second nature in our awareness. If we write them down we feel safer, but on the other hand the more such things we have on our lists the more cluttered they get.

We have had similar discussions in other threads. For example, we have seen in other threads that some people want to write down things like "read a chapter in the current novel" whereas others are quite happy to take the gamble that maybe they will remember or maybe they won't - not the end of the world either way.

My personal take is that I leave a lot of this out, which limits the clutter. But if I am truly afraid of forgetting about it - if really do not want to even take a small risk - I write it down in exacly the same way as any other action. I have no special workaround for the semi-habitual semi-important things.

What I find useful is checklists of things that repeat with irregular frequency and therefore cannot be tickled. In my morning review I check whether any of those would be valid today. Then I create a new action for it. The only thing I tickle for this purpose is the daily morning review itself, which, in its comment field, contains a checklist of what such checklists to check, a checklist of inboxes to check, a checklist of lists and calendars to check etc. (I only seldom need to open and read the comment field, because I know it quite well by heart, but I feel good about having it documented, just in case.)
 
Folke said:
It seems that most of the examples in this thread are in the border region between these - repetitive, familiar, quite habitual, perhaps almost not even needing to be written down at all, BUT not yet safely enough imprinted as second nature in our awareness.
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You are forgetting that another primary reason for creating such lists and writing the steps down etc is to document your procedures in case of emergency, death, illness or other reason why you can no longer do the things you do. I have many recurring projects that are used only to properly document stuff I do on a regular basis so someone else can do it if I am unable to for some reason.
 
Thais, I’m not sure what you mean by “experiencing some similar issues”, but looking at your example lists I think they work well in checklist format. It’s like capturing a procedure, as Oogie pointed out, or a ritual, like a “morning happy thoughts moment”. I don’t use lots of checklists, but the ones I have and use frequently are weekly review, end of month financial reminders, and for weekly house clean. The cleaning one is a good example of a procedure, which I worked out to make cleaning as efficient as possible, e.g., dust before vacuuming so I can sweep all the crumbs onto the floor (rather nerdy ;-) ). Another procedure type checklist I used to use at a time of traveling for work was a “leave the house” checklist, which had all those things on it that otherwise may be a nagging thought after you leave: stove off, heat turned down, garbage out, ...

Another type of checklist would be more of a trigger list, like packing or food staples.

One more thought on checklists is that they don’t necessarily need to be in text form. Things can be kept in specific places where you would see them when you need to, e.g., daily supplements on the dining table, or keys-glasses-wallet by the door to grab when leaving. I’ve considered making some sort of mat with outlines or symbols for the various things to be placed on, so I can see if I’ve misplaced anything, like one of those boards for tools in a workshop (also rather nerdy).
 
Thank you, Christina.

I just had an insight yesterday about that.

Things that I can just check if I did, I can put in a checklist and then review regularly.

If it's something I need to remember, I need to put as a reminder, like a next action or action on my calendar.

I clarified all my checklists yesterday and I could turn it much more clear for me - 2 or 3 actions went to my next actions list and my calendar.
 
Another solution that may work for some is to use a trigger to remind you to perform an action. I have a context called "after" where I list actions that I will do right after something else triggers it. Most of these are things that I want to make a habit, or things that I want to slowly and steadily chip away at without much mental or physical effort. For example, right now in my actions list under "after" context, I have
1. Put one item where it belongs, after stepping out of car in my garage
2. Click on the x in the top right corner, after reading news headlines (helps me to avoid procrastinating while at work)
3. Do planks for 15 counts, after going to the bathroom at home

This is based on BJ Fogg's tiny habits system, which I have found to be very useful to make recurring actions in our lists turn into instinctively habitual actions that don't need to be on our lists. You can google it if you'd like to learn more.
 
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