Recurring Tasks in Notion: Updated

I found a fun little workaround for recurring tasks that allows you to have NEW tasks every week to check off, while automatically having all of the necessary properties "ready to go" each week. No formulas, no resetting dates, no copying events and deleting "copy of" in the title!
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[@clumein2]

Love Notion.... but soooo tired of all the reoccurring task workarounds that everyone has.... Why does EVERY calendar app on the planet have reoccurring tasks but Notion can't provide this? Just frustrating.

[@columbinafan]

Ikr, kinda sad

[@aftab_aaman]

Now this can be the official way in which NOTION can bring in the recurring tasks feature since it accounts for all the parameters of a recurring task. Best way to keep a track of daily grinding recurring tasks. Once again Marie, like always you bring something to NOTION, that NOTION itself hasn't thought of... You are a real magician❤❤

[@JuliesMusik]

This actually works really well! I tried this with my budgets (they come in a board view), creating recurring budgets in a template so I can pull them into the next month when a new month comes up.

[@kroberts9285]

Great! I implemented this in a ton of places after I saw your sneak peek of it in the previous video, game changer for me thank you! Small tip if that blank block irks you as much as it did me: take the extra little step of turning your dragged-into-template items, at least the top one, into non-page blocks (super quick just to select them all and press ctrl-shift-5 for eg. bullets) so that they don't open when you create them. Once dragged back into the calendar they retain all the properties just as before

[@hugocosta3095]

I was checking the old video yesterday! Great to have an updated version ,tks!

[@ScottJamesIrvine]

I did it in a kinda different way - my recurring tasks were house chores like hoovering, washing the floors, etc. My setup requires 5 properties; Last Completed (Date), Next Due (Formula), Frequency Unit (single-select), Frequency Value (number), and finally Past Due (Formula). My formula for Next Due is: dateAdd(prop("Last Completed"), prop("Frequency Value"), prop("Frequency Unit")) My formula for Past Due is: if(now() > prop("Next Due"), "Due", "Not Due") So for example, if I want to wash my hall floors every week I would put Last Completed date = today, Frequency Unit = week, Frequency Value = 1. This sets "Next Due" to 1 week from today. The other formula will check todays date, and if its past the calculated Next Due date, will display the value Due. So I use that as my list filter to only show cleaning jobs that are Due :) The only thing I need to update when I finish cleaning is updating the Last Completed date, so it calculated a new Next Due date. You could also combine the two formulas into one formula if to save using an additional property! It'd be something like this: if(now() > dateAdd(prop("Last Completed"), prop("Frequency Value"), prop("Frequency Unit")), "Due", "Not Due")

[@samanderson1283]

Why are you tracking this level of detail for something as simple as house chores? I know it's time to hoover, clean the floors, and wash dishes when I see the floor dirty and dishes piling up. So, I just do them and move on. What am I missing by not tracking data such as the last completed date and building a formula to do so? I'm genuinely curious.

[@kroberts9285]

@@samanderson1283 many people do not find this an automatic process. I do this housework planning too. Making something a regular chore that you do whenever it comes up (whether you can see it "needs" doing or not) means your space is more comfortable/presentable more of the time and also that things never get out of control to a point that you're overwhelmed by them. If you don't relate, consider yourself lucky! 😁

[@samanderson1283]

@@kroberts9285 I can see how some people might want to have a more set routine. It's just that my chore routines are more like a set of habits, and I always do various house chores before any of them get out of control. To me, house chores are no more overwhelming than not forgetting to brush my teeth daily. I do have a master chore checklist to review weekly. It's just a simple text list that I can skim through in a few seconds just to make sure I haven't missed anything too long. It doesn't overwhelm me, it's not that big of a deal, and I certainly don't see a justification to spend a lot of time scripting anything for it. Am I missing anything?

[@kroberts9285]

@@samanderson1283 Well yes I think what you might be missing is that those things sound like they are already habitual for you, or at least that you don't find it mentally taxing to a) notice them and b) do them. Everybody's different of course - and everybody's living space/situation, too, bear in mind - but if I don't do certain things to a schedule that reminds me about them then I am indeed perfectly capable of ignoring them indefinitely, or at least until it is so grim it can't be ignored any longer. Quite frankly I've almost always got something to do that is more pressing than a task that rarely naturally occurs to me and that I also truly loathe (for me, that would be mopping floors!). So scheduling something like that for a more reasonable frequency makes it a less onerous task when I *do* do it, even if I've postponed it a couple of times first! It's been brought into my consciousness, and my living space is pleasanter for it. As for the time spent scripting, well of course there comes a point of diminishing returns but the way I look at it is that if I get the system set up right, it translates into improved efficiency/life elsewhere so is worth the time investment (which is hopefully only needed once). And I learn something transferable to elsewhere at the same time, and I get to play with Notion formulas 😜 win-win-win, in my book

[@samanderson1283]

@@kroberts9285 The only problem is that, in my observations, most people never stop the time investment when it's supposed to be necessary only once. Otherwise, who would spend hundreds of dollars to learn how to use Notion? If I notice I need to clean something, but I don't have time, I simply put that on my calendar and move on. But then again, I periodically look through my simple text list and tie all loose ends, so I've never found it necessary to keep an extensive reminder system to do the same thing. If something is so critical that I either miss or die, I put that in Due.app or a built-in alarm clock. No scripting necessary, it's very simple, and it doesn't require Notion and its fully customized "dashboard" widget to do it. I agree with Marie that some frictions are useful to maintain mindfulness. My dumbed-down system does precisely that.

[@PeterOlle]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

[@garyabbott6115]

A great workaround - thanks Marie

[@iamthebside8087]

This is great! Thanks!

[@yegorlobanov5187]

That was really helpful, Marie! Thanks a lot

[@bunsprout]

oh wow, this is amazing! this was exactly what i was looking for

[@RyanCloverOwens]

Super helpful. I'm managing dozens of recurring tasks right now, and I really want to check off done instead of rescheduling each week. Thanks!

[@stephaniechrystal]

I'd have been playing around with a similar type of workaround however didn't think about creating the task in the database first. Would love a video on your perspective about integrating tasks that are project-based vs tasks related to content creation. For instance, producing, publishing a YT video (or podcast) which has multiple tasks in order to complete.

[@AJ-pr1pn]

such a good workaround, i will definitely be implementing this.. one question how do you get the databases in columns to not show the scroll bar underneath - however small i make the properties it will always show it?

[@estudioapura]

Very useful! Thank you

[@K1assh]

Thanks for all the videos. I'll keep this in mind. For now I am just using google tasks on my calendar.

[@HippieP629]

Thanks MP

[@EverythingIsPhotogenic]

It just seems so silly that that Notion can't put together the rather simple logic of recurring tasks - a mainstay of productivity management. I can build the formulas to identify recurring tasks with intervals but coding in the piece that will run a check against those formulas and regenerate a due date is impossible as far as I can identify. It seems much simpler for them to add a property option for recurring task which would require a numerical interval entry and a specific property for start date and due date that recalculates daily against the three variables and ideally a checkbox. It would likely be clunky if tasks needed to be migrated outside of their intended interval, but people would welcome clunky over non-existent.

[@GabrieleLuegger]

super helpful. Thank you so much ;-)

[@airrfourr2400]

thanks Marie. I'm really interested to apply this; so please: anyone knows which video should I see first, second... to get here? I'm trying to make a template of recurring task every quarter for my team, and I think this is the solution. thanks.

[@markaytonthelustybard1249]

thank you very much, helped solve a problem. cheers marie! :)

[@spincemaille007]

Great process, but would love Notion to include real recurring tasks functionality, like MS Todo has. When clicking done, the next one is automatically created at the configured interval (e.g. the next Tuesday, the following third Monday of the month,...). I'm sure you can convince the Notion developers to give it a shot! 😉

[@MariePoulin]

Haha, i know i know, trust me...;)

[@yuanboli7669]

Hi Marie, I found it extremely helpful, and I am trying to understand how do you use “Energy Extreme / High” and “ Effort H / L / N”? what are the differences between them?

[@vladaistov8261]

Bonjour Marie! Could you please say how did you added emoji to the template button's names? When you create a new task there is New small task New big task etc... P.S. thank you very much for the video, the best recurring task process!

[@ceciliala537]

This is a great idea Marie! However, I agree that Notion really misses this feature of recurring tasks. I am curious about how you manage your tasks with your calendar events, like appointments, calls, etc. Do you add them manually to Notion? I would love to know your thoughts on calendar blocking, if and how you use it. I have several google calendars and one outlook calendar for work so my tasks only make sense if they scheduled around my appointments. I use Planyway with Trello for this because Notion does not integrate with calendars yet, which is another thing that is keeping me from switching over to Notion 100%. I would love to know how you tackle this. Thanks so much for the great content!

[@AislinEvans]

Love this! I saw you use it very fleetingly in a previous video and was super intrigued so I'm glad you made a video on it! Think I'm gonna give this a try 💕

[@MichelleElson]

Thank you for for this quick tutorial! I’ve been trying to replicate your updated recurring tasks system since I watched the live you did over on @DannyHatcher ‘s channel but didn’t have quite enough info to implement.

[@balasriharshacheeday7445]

Is there a way to import all todos from google calendar to a calendar in notion?

[@spiritualgeek]

Thanks Marie

[@esmecrutchley7983]

This 'workaround' is pure gold Marie! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@yuanboli7669]

Where to find this template?

[@madonnella]

I really hope Notion is adding the reoccurring task feature soon. It’s just so annoying. Anyways.. thanks for the workaround, it’s certainly helpful

[@mohammedkaddoura7233]

How did you put the calendar on the right and the template button to left of the page? (just started using notion yesterday)

[@ry.0]

drag the element to the place you want until you can see a vertical bar, then drop in the oposite of that bar

[@RicardoSantos-dp8zh]

I was having the same problem. Try creating two basic text blocks first and then drag the bottom one to the side of the first one (drag and wait until the vertical blue line appears). When you have the two basic texts blocks side by side is easier to add the calendar and table below those. Hope it helps.

[@ThallesGuttemberg]

This really helped me, thanks very much

[@tamandrae]

I set this up but when I grab my tasks I cannot get them to add to the calendar. It wants to put them under the calendar. What am I doing wrong ?

[@TheArtisticBiker]

How does this help when you are using the calendar to schedule a client meeting three weeks from now and your recurring task isn't there to stop you double booking?

[@MariePoulin]

My time-sensitive meetings are all handled through Calendly + google calendar. Recurring tasks are *also* in my google calendar (because those can/do repeat). I have pretty specific weekly planning process, so this has not been an issue for me personally.

[@thekreport3270]

Is this template available?

[@axeldolislager6088]

Is this still a thing? I've tried this, but I am unable to drag them back into the calendar.

[@ofisam]

Hi Marie great video and very well explained. Do you find the notion alarm setting annoying. It takes sooooo many clicks to set a date and alarm reminder. I always have to click "include time" adn then " remind". Am I doing something wrong. Is there a default to always include time?

[@MariePoulin]

Ugh, i know, wouldn't it be nice to choose default alarms..??

[@ofisam]

@@MariePoulin ..... adn an automatic snooze. Instead of going into app finding the alarm and resetting it. Come on notion get into 2020 !!

[@sealy999]

How do you put your table next to the calendar?

[@emarcoscorrea]

do you have an answer for these?

[@emarcoscorrea]

I found the answer, finally: www.reddit.com/r/Notion/comments/b6faxg/full_page_width/

[@WilliamCobb]

This is going to be very useful, thanks!

[@ericnaber6506]

How did you arrange a table next to the calender ?

[@MariePoulin]

make blank columns first (drag an empty block beside another empty block), then drag your databases into the empty block

[@ALinNZ2]

Do you use the same method for Monthly / Quarterly Recurring tasks

[@MariePoulin]

Not really, because I have my own monthly and quarterly planning process within those other databases (month db, quarter db)

[@ceciliala537]

@@MariePoulin I would love to see your workflow for weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. planning! :D

[@justnealpatel]

Super helpful!

[@CCoburn3]

What a GIANT pain in the ass. I wonder if Notion has updated the program to set up recurring tasks without jumping through so many hoops.

[@seamydobbsno1]

You're literally still entering each task albeit with a pre-made task template. The whole point of recurring tasks in a task manager is that they self populate the next due date upon completion.

[@MariePoulin]

yep. Its a workaround until notion solves this.

[@seamydobbsno1]

@@MariePoulin It just seems much simpler to still use todoist for now.

[@tommydenato8863]

That guy Kai has a better way.

[@gizemolcer885]

yeah we really needed to see your pretty face on smt we try to see thx -_-

[@katsmith8263]

This is ridiculous - hand putting it every week is ridiculous

[@MariePoulin]

Its a small trade i'm willing to make for the convenience of the interconnectedness of all my data. It takes me less than 10 seconds per week to do this... i hardly find that ridiculous, but to each their own!

[@katsmith8263]

@@MariePoulin I don't understand why notion doesn't do it

[@kroberts9285]

@@katsmith8263 It annoyed me at first but especially using this workaround (and my own tweaks to it) I actually prefer this now - I find it more mindful, and something I might even consider continuing to do even if they do bring out a recurring task feature. It has always annoyed me with recurring events in GCal, for example, that I have to manually delete recurring stuff that eg. doesn't apply during school holidays. Rather than have something automatically schedule itself just because it's ostensibly going to be due, I get to be more conscious about actually planning it, and since I try to plan month to month and not much further than that it really isn't the deal breaker that at first I thought it was. It also means if I happen to need to plan something really far ahead - say, several months or a year or more - my schedule for then is completely empty rather than populated with weekly stuff (that might well not be even relevant by then) that I'd have to delete to get out of the way.

[@BourNes3k]

short answer: no you cannot.