How to make a recurring task on your to-do list
In Task List by Zaweba, give a task a repeat or type something like every month on the 3rd in quick add. Ticking it done adds the next one.
Give the task a repeat. In Task List by Zaweba you can open a task and set how often it comes round, or type the repeat straight into quick add, for example Pay the gardener every month on the 3rd. When you tick the task done, the next one appears in the same list with the same tags and a fresh checklist.
There are two routes to the same result, one with the mouse and one in a single typed line.
Route one: the task editor
Open the task and set its repeat. The timetables are the same ones reminders use, so the range is wide: one-off, daily, every so many days, weekdays, weekly on chosen days every so many weeks, monthly on a date or on a weekday such as the first or last Thursday, every so many months, and annual. A repeat can move off a bank holiday to the next or previous working day, and it can stop after an end date or a set number of times.
Give the task a due date for the first occurrence. That is where the timetable starts counting from.
Route two: one line in quick add
Press Ctrl+N to open the quick add box at the top of a list, or use the optional global hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+T by default, off until you turn it on in Settings) to add from anywhere in Windows. Type the task and the repeat together. Quick add understands phrases such as every month on the 3rd, and it also reads dates like friday, next Monday, tomorrow at 10 or in 3 days, !!! for stars, #tag for a tag (new tags are created on the spot) and @List to choose the list.
So Water the plants every week #home goes straight in, tagged and repeating, without opening anything.
What ticking does
When you tick a recurring task, the finished one moves to Completed with the time you did it. A new task is created for the next date, in the same list, in the same place in your own order, with the same tags. Any checklist starts again with every step unticked. You deal with the one in front of you; the next is already waiting.
Examples that work well
Weekly: put the bins out, water the plants, back up the laptop. Monthly: send invoices, read the meters, check the smoke alarms. Quarterly, using every 3 months: service the boiler filter, review subscriptions. Annual tasks also work, though for dates such as an MOT or a birthday an annual reminder with a warning in advance is usually the better tool.
Add a nudge if you need one
A recurring task shows in Today when it is due and in Overdue if it slips. If you want a pop-up as well, choose Remind me about this task from the task's menu. The linked reminder can follow the task's own repeat, and Task done on the pop-up ticks the task, which creates the next one.
Pitfalls
Keep the title free of dates, since the same title is reused each time. Do not delete the task to skip a round; tick it and the pattern carries on. And when a routine ends for good, give the repeat an end date, or remove the repeat, so it stops appearing.
