Recurring actions

They don't seem to fit neatly into the GTD system. Here's an example: each month I try out some changes in health, and one thing I'm doing this month is taking Omega 3 every day.

Okay, so if I'm strictly doing GTD it would seem that's a project: take O3 every day during April, and then each pill I take would be a calender item. However, that's horribly inefficient, especially if there are many daily things like that.

It's easy enough to do a workaround, like having a "do every day at home" list or some such, or even having an item in the action list in the right context that stays until the period is over (that's how I sometimes do with reading books, no point in having a book to read as a project and then fiddle with adding a next action after each reading session, that'd be pointless).

However, those solutions are not really GTD as far as I can tell. Is there a strict GTD way to deal with recurring actions that's not too inefficient? If not, it's that a gap in the GTD system? It looks to me that recurring actions like the above are a class of items or actions that aren't accounted for very well in GTD, but I'm not sure. If so, maybe that should be added -- an RA-list of some sort.

This seems like a good situation to be using checklists. When you have something that needs doing every day or every week or every month or whatever, you can create a checklist and do those items each day or whatever and then check them off. I have about 10 items that I need to do each day at work, and they appear on a checklist. It's not so much that I'd forget to do them but without the checklist it's easy to overlook things when it gets busy. If you're doing something routinely, like taking vitamins, I don't think I'd worry about monitoring it through GTD. It's not necessary to get every action you do in a day on a list.

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Originally Posted by North

They don't seem to fit neatly into the GTD system.

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The recurring things that used to throw me off were the ones whose frequency I couldn't predict. Case and point: pet food. My daughter feeds the two cats and the dog and I never really know when I should buy more until she says something like, "I just gave the boys the last of the dry food." i.e. too late to be really useful. So now I have a note in my tickler file to ask her two weeks after the last purchase. And the note just keeps moving through the system as the weeks progress.

Bottom line: it's in the system but not on a list.

Dena

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Originally Posted by hcparker

This seems like a good situation to be using checklists.

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I agree. Checklists are a very important element of the GTD methodology. You can read about them in Chapter 7 "Organizing: Setting Up the Right Buckets" of the "Getting Things Done" book (paperback pages 176-180).

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Originally Posted by North

Is there a strict GTD way to deal with recurring actions that's not too inefficient?

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Tickler file. You put a note into the Tickler for tomorrow. Tomorrow you open you Tickler and deal with it. Then you put the note back into the Tickler bag for the next day. Rinse, repeat, be happy :-)

I don't understand the problem. I have dozens of recurring (and regenetive) tasks. Almost any task manager can handle this. I have daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly recurring items. I simply schedule them that way and when I check them off they show up on the next scheduled day, Maybe I'm missing something here. What kind of list/task manager are you using? These kinds of NAs are perfect for GTD.

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Originally Posted by egallagher2k

I don't understand the problem. I have dozens of recurring (and regenetive) tasks. Almost any task manager can handle this. I have daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly recurring items. I simply schedule them that way and when I check them off they show up on the next scheduled day, Maybe I'm missing something here. What kind of list/task manager are you using? These kinds of NAs are perfect for GTD.

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Yes you misunderstand the problem somewhat. I already use task managers with recurrent reminders, as well as other things. I'm just not entirely happy with this, and I'm not sure GTD addresses the issue enough. Maybe it'll get clearer in my next post in this thread (probably not today).

Thanks everyone for the replies. Stay tuned.

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Originally Posted by North

It's easy enough to do a workaround, like having a "do every day at home" list (...)

However, those solutions are not really GTD as far as I can tell. Is there a strict GTD way to deal with recurring actions that's not too inefficient? If not, it's that a gap in the GTD system?

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"Do every day at home" list is a checklist.

Checklists are a very important element of the GTD methodology. There's no gap here.

If in doubt read Chapter 7 "Organizing: Setting Up the Right Buckets" of the "Getting Things Done" book (paperback pages 176-180).

Done.

I've done this for a while now. My action was called, "Take Vitamins"

This included, multi, calcium, Vit C, Fish oil pills and some knee soreness pill. After a while I dropped the project because it became a habit. You just want it to be a habit. I'm trying to just do things now and after doing gtd for almost 5 years now, I'm realizing the system is meant for me to not need it. The system is Here for it to take care of itself...?this includes more than just vitamins, but everything frm Exercising to say Doing the laundry.

Whatdoes remain in My system are essays and actual due date stuff.

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Originally Posted by TesTeq

"Do every day at home" list is a checklist.

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Sure, no disagreement on that.

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Checklists are a very important element of the GTD methodology. There's no gap here.

If in doubt read Chapter 7 "Organizing: Setting Up the Right Buckets" of the "Getting Things Done" book (paperback pages 176-180).

Done.

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He writes about checklists but not about recurrent actions (as such) as a class of items to apply them to.

Looking at the workflow diagram I'm not sure where recurrent actions are supposed to go. In a way some of them are calender items (time specific), except they don't neatly go into a calender. They're also (in a way) projects and next actions, but they don't go into those lists neatly either (except sometimes in the modified way I describe in my first post, but that's not official GTD).

It's not a black hole sized gap that wrecks productivity as it's fairly easy to deal with RAs using non-dedicated generic tools such as checklists, but I'm leaning toward thinking they deserve some more dedicated space (an official term, a section in the book, etc).

Look at it this way: if somehow he had come up with GTD but without space directly dedicated to "waiting for" items except a short comment here and there, people could still deal with "waiting for" items using checklists. But some people might want more, perhaps they'd come here and say "hey, wouldn't it be great to have some space dedicated to items dealing with stuff one is waiting for?", and then someone might answer "I don't see the problem, just use checklists. Read pages 176-180". And sure, an ordinary checklist would work, but this type of item just happens to be important enough to warrant some more direct attention the way GTD is in fact giving it now. And that's kind of how I feel about recurrent actions right now, but I'm still open to change. Just trying to explore the issue a little.

For the record I love GTD and I'm not your enemy. :grin: