There I was at the garage, winter tires ready, noticing my mechanic's stress as he dealt with calls and cancellations—peak tire season chaos. As tough as it was to see him struggling, I have to admit, it felt preeeeeeeeeeetty good to be sorted already because I had put “spring tire change” on my recurring calendar a month ago. Yeah, a bit twisted feeling good about other people’s panic, I know. What did Ted Lasso say? Live in a schadenfreude-free zone? Er, looks like I failed that one. Hoping this newsletter can help us both feel a bit less guilty! 🙃

Listen, we all have yearly, monthly, weekly tasks that repeat over and over. But what happens when they repeat, we forget. Why store all that information in your head? We're supposed to use our brains for complex thinking, not routine thinking. We can turn that monotony into fun with our ultimate cheat sheet for managing life's recurring to-dos.

Why keep all those tasks in your head or on sticky notes? Put that locked-in contract from Rogers to use and use start using that iPhone to ensure you never forget your niece’s birthday again.

Let’s break it down:

• Yearly Reminders: Birthdays, anniversaries, subscription renewals.
• Monthly Musts: Bill payments, monthly date nights, pet grooming.
• Weekly Wonders: Groceries every Sunday? Laundry day on Wednesday?
• Daily Doses: Meds, workouts, watering plants.

For bonus points, consider not only listing your recurring tasks monthly but also your regular tasks. Label each task as low, medium, or high priority, which can help you manage and allocate your time more efficiently. Here’s how you can categorize these:

• Low Priority: These are the "no rush" tasks. If they get done, great; if not, no biggie. They've got flexible deadlines and skipping them once in a while isn’t the end of the world.
• Medium Priority: Kinda important tasks that you shouldn't totally snooze on. They don't need your attention right this second, but keep them on your list so they don’t bite you later.
• High Priority: These are your red alert tasks! They need your attention, like, yesterday. Super important and usually with deadlines that are breathing down your neck.

Turn your cheat sheet digital with iCal or Google Calendar for you Andriod lovers:

• Document Everything: Start with a document. List all tasks under daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tabs. It doesn’t matter where, just begin.
• Populate iCal or Google Cal: Transfer your to-dos to your calendar. Remember the post from last week? If not here it is, and start using different colours for each category.
• Reminder: Set alerts a few days before to prep!
• Sync and Swim: Sync across all devices. Whether you’re on your laptop or phone, you’re organized.

If you want to learn how to use your iPhone to scan your digital notes for recurring tasks, check out this helpful guide from Apple: How to Scan Documents on Your iPhone. Here's a document you can copy to write all your recurring to-dos: Your Cheat Sheet.

And lastly, after you've created your ultimate cheat sheet, you can always use no-code tools like Notion, Clickup, and Airtable to automate daily reminders and weekly tasks. If you'd be interested in this route, let a brotha know.

Chat soon,

Harrison