Repeating Tasks: Build Daily Routines Without Rebuilding Your List
You have a morning routine. Review inbox. Check calendar. Plan the day. You do it every day. But in most to-do apps, you either recreate the same tasks daily or you change the due date instead of checking them off. No completion history. No streak satisfaction. No dopamine hit when you finish. Repeating tasks fix that.
The Problem with Manual Routines
When you manually change a task's due date instead of completing it, you lose the benefits of a real to-do system. Your completion history is a lie. Your streak counter doesn't reflect actual work. And you never get that satisfying checkmark moment — you're just moving text around. It's busywork, not progress.
How Repeating Tasks Work
Set a task to repeat: daily, on weekdays, weekly, or monthly. Add a due date (repeat requires one — routines need a schedule). When you complete the task, the next occurrence appears automatically with the correct future date. The original stays in Done. You keep your history. The next one shows up in Tomorrow, Next Week, or wherever it belongs.
Daily: Check it off today, tomorrow's copy appears.
Weekdays: Check it off Monday through Thursday, next day appears. Friday? Monday. Weekend? Monday.
Weekly: Same day, next week.
Monthly: Same date, next month.
That's it. Four options. No RRULE complexity. No separate "habits" section. Just tasks that come back when you need them.
Use Cases
- Morning routines: Review inbox, plan day, check calendar — set to daily, due today. Complete them, they're back tomorrow.
- Weekly reviews: Every Friday, review the week and plan the next. Set to weekly.
- Monthly reports: Same date each month. Set to monthly.
- Habit tracking: Meditate, exercise, read — tasks that repeat with your schedule. Check them off, get the streak, see the next one.
How It Stays Simple
TaskSpot doesn't add a "Habits" tab or a "Routines" section. Repeating tasks are just tasks. They live in Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming, and Backlog like everything else. A small repeat icon on the card shows they're recurring. The only difference: when you complete one, the next appears. No extra complexity. No new mental model.