Managing Recurring Tasks

Every six months, I go to the dentist. Every time that date approaches on my calendar, I go through an inner struggle that makes Martin Luther's look like inner peace. I haven't been wearing my retainer. More importantly, I haven't been flossing every day. I'm a miserable failure at dental hygiene. This realization inspires a two-week effort to be more consistent about doing these things. My teeth are never so clean and straight as the day I visit the dentist. Knowing I will see the dentist and the hygienist and be subject to their judgment causes me to flog myself into obedience. I want to get a good report card.

And then, as I leave his office with my passing report card and my goody bag of free samples of toothpaste and floss, I know I will soon fall back into my old ways.

This is not very grown up or rational. The real reasons for taking care of my teeth have to do with being healthy and pain-free for the duration of my life. Winning the approval of dental health care professionals twice a year is a silly reason, so it is frustrating when that is the thing that motivates me the most.

There are a lot of things that need to be done every day in order to have the kind of life I want, but I have a hard time summoning up the enthusiasm and energy to do them. Woo-hoo, time to scoop the cat litter. See what I mean?

That is, if I can remember to think about these tasks in the first place. I'm the kind of person who will forget to scoop the cat litter, because it's in another room, and I don't go in there every day. There is nothing to remind me, until, a week or so later, I walk in the door and the smell gets my attention. Or the cat herself gets my attention by thinking outside the box. She's a pretty smart cat.

There are some things I remember to do automatically, because the "yuck factor" is impossible to ignore. I do not have to be reminded to brush my teeth, because at least twice a day, they feel gross. I know my threshold of grossness, when it comes to tooth-brushing. But I don't "feel it" when I don't floss. So there is nothing to remind me to floss, and I forget, for days at a time.

I know I should do sit-ups. I know I should take my vitamins. I should water the plants. I should do a host of things at various intervals, or my life will get out of control. I may not notice it until it is too late ~ I'm old and flabby and malnourished, surrounded by dead plants.

People like me need a reminder system, to nag us to do these things at the appropriate times. But this can get complicated ~ I don't need to water the plants every day ~ how do I remember when I watered them last? Some things need to be done every three days, but they could be put off for up to five days without the world coming to an end. Some things need to be done every two or three months ~ how can I remember that??

For some people, a "tickler file" does the trick. Other people set up electronic reminders on their PDA or other device. I've tried both, but for one reason or other, these methods aren't compatible with the way my brain is wired. A simple checklist is nice, but only if I can remember to look at the checklist. And if I have to think very hard when looking at the checklist, I will resist looking at it. ("Which things on this list really need to be done today?")

Here is something I've used in the past, and it works wonders for me, so I don't know why I ever stopped using it.

It's a cool program I downloaded years ago for $25, called "Sciral Consistency." This won't work for everyone ~ a reminder has to be in your face, in order to work. It's not good if you need a reminder to look at your reminder.

I have my computer on every day, and I am constantly checking it. So if I open this program when I turn on the computer, I will see the reminders right there on my screen throughout the day. The reminders are there, but they're not nagging me.






The program allows you to set up your tasks with varying ranges of acceptable frequency. For flossing and wearing my retainer, I have decided to be very strict ~ this must be done every day. But as for scooping the cat litter, every one to three days would be OK. (This is subject to revision, if my cats override my decision).

You can probably see from the picture, how this works. Every day, I have the opportunity to put a black dot in a box. (I love checking things off! I guess I'm easily amused). If the box is yellow, I have to do the task that day. If I don't, then the next day, the box will be red ~ that means the task is overdue. The object of the game is to get as few reds as possible. (In the above example, you can see that this person is a vacuuming-procrastinator). If the box is green, I have a choice ~ I can do it, or put it off ~ and I can see at a glance just how long I can put it off before it becomes red. If the box is blue, I don't even need to think about it!

I've started using my Sciral Consistency again, and it's been working great. I have kept my list short for now, because I know if I try to reform too many habits at once, I could be setting myself up for failure. After I get the flossing and the cat litter and a few other things under control, I will add the sit-ups. There is no reason to flog oneself. Even Martin Luther's Reformation didn't happen in a day (and he never did achieve inner peace).

Staying healthy and pain-free for the rest of my life is a wonderful motivation, but it is a little hard to wrap my mind around that when it comes to the day-to-day stuff. So if I need a little outside motivation, like putting a black dot into a box, that's OK. Whatever it takes to make me a healthy, old, pain-free person surrounded by green plants.