Recurring tasks help you stay on top of regular responsibilities by automatically creating tasks on daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. Whether you're tracking your own routine activities, managing client follow-ups, or coordinating team workflows, recurring tasks ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
In this article:
- Understanding How Recurring Tasks Work
- Creating a Recurring Task Series
- Configuring Task Recurrence Frequency and Timing
- Setting an End Date for Your Recurring Schedule
- Configuring Optional Due Dates and Reminders
- Previewing Your Upcoming Task Schedule
- Saving Your Recurring Task Schedule
- Identifying Recurring Tasks in Your Task List
- Managing and Adjusting Recurring Schedules
- Pausing or Resuming a Recurring Schedule
- Deleting Recurring Task Schedules
- Working with Individual Task Instances
- Using Task Templates with Recurring Schedules
- Handling Exceptions to Your Recurring Schedule
- Sharing Recurring Tasks with Team Members
Understanding How Recurring Tasks Work
Recurring tasks operate on an automated schedule you define, generating new task instances at regular intervals. Each task created from a recurring schedule is independent, meaning you can complete, edit, or delete individual tasks without affecting future scheduled tasks.
The system continues creating new tasks according to your schedule, regardless of whether previous tasks are completed. This ensures your recurring responsibilities remain visible and tracked, even during busy periods when tasks might pile up.
📍 Please note: Marking a task from a recurring series as complete does not stop future recurring tasks from being generated. The recurring series of Tasks will continue until its designated end date passes or you manually pause or delete it.
Creating a Recurring Task Series
You can create recurring tasks for yourself, your clients, or your team members. The process begins the same way as creating any task in Practice Better.
- Go to My Schedule > My Tasks.
- Click the Fast Action Button (+) and select Create task.
- Choose who will receive this recurring task:
- Create a task for myself
- Create a task for a client
- Create a task for a team member
- In the Task Details tab, enter your task information, including the task name, any additional notes, priority level, and duration.
- Click the Recurrence Options tab to configure your recurring schedule and toggle on This task recurs.
- Keep the Create Task pop-up open and proceed to the next section of this article.
💡 Tip: If you find yourself creating the same recurring task setup repeatedly, consider saving it as a task template for quick reuse. Learn more about Setting Up Task Templates →
Configuring Task Recurrence Frequency and Timing
The Recurrence Options tab gives you complete control over when and how often your tasks are created.
- Enable the This task recurs toggle.
- Select your recurrence pattern from the Repeats dropdown:
- Daily: Tasks repeat every day or every specified number of days
- Weekly: Tasks repeat on selected days of the week
- Monthly: Tasks repeat on specific days of the month
- Configure the Repeat every interval (e.g., every 1 week, every 2 weeks, every 3 days).
- Set the Create next task on date to determine when the recurring schedule begins.
- Specify the Create tasks at time.
- Set the Repeats on field to specify the days of the week/month to schedule the task.
- For weekly recurring tasks, you'll see a Repeats on field where you can select specific days of the week (e.g., "Every week on Fridays").
- For monthly recurring tasks, you can choose which day of the month the task should recur, allowing you to create tasks that dispatch on specific dates like the 1st, or second Wednesday, of each month.
- For weekly recurring tasks, you'll see a Repeats on field where you can select specific days of the week (e.g., "Every week on Fridays").
📍 Please note: Practice Better does not currently support business day scheduling that automatically skips weekends or holidays. If you need tasks only on weekdays, you'll need to select specific days when setting up weekly recurrence (Monday through Friday).
Setting an End Date for Your Recurring Schedule
In the Ends (optional) field, you can specify when the recurring schedule should stop generating new tasks. If you leave this field empty, the recurring schedule will continue indefinitely until you manually pause or delete it.
Setting an end date is helpful for time-limited projects or seasonal workflows that have a natural completion point.
Configuring Optional Due Dates and Reminders
Recurring tasks can include automatic due dates and reminders that apply to each new task instance.
Adding Due Dates
Enable Set due dates to complete and specify when each task should be due relative to when it's created. For example, you might set tasks to be due 1 day after they're created, giving you a 24-hour window to complete each recurring task.
Setting Up Reminders
Enable Send reminders to complete and configure when reminder notifications should be sent. Reminders you set in the recurring task settings are automatically applied to each new task instance that's created, so you don't need to set them up separately for each occurrence.
All tasks generated from the same recurring schedule will inherit identical reminder settings. If you need different reminder timing for specific occurrences, you'll need to manually edit those individual task instances after they're created.
📍 Please note: Task reminders are sent based on the time zone saved in each user's profile. This ensures clients and practitioners receive reminders at appropriate times regardless of their location.
Task Creation Notifications
Enable Send notifications when tasks are created to receive an alert each time the system generates a new recurring task. This helps you stay aware of newly added tasks in your workflow.
Task creation notifications and reminders may be sent as emails, in-app notifications, and/or instant alerts depending on the recipient’s notification preferences.
- For practitioners: Setting Up Instant Alerts and Notification Preferences in Practice Better →
- For clients: Managing Notification Preferences in Your Client Portal →
Previewing Your Upcoming Task Schedule
Before saving your recurring task schedule, you can preview exactly when upcoming tasks will be created.
Click the Upcoming tasks button in the bottom-left corner of the task creation popup. This shows you the next several dispatch dates, helping you verify your schedule is configured correctly before you commit to it.
This preview is especially helpful for complex schedules or when you want to ensure tasks align with your calendar.
Saving Your Recurring Task Schedule
Once you've configured all your settings, click Save to create the task and activate the recurring schedule. The system will begin generating new task instances according to your specified timing.
Identifying Recurring Tasks in Your Task List
Tasks generated from a recurring schedule display a special recurring icon next to the task name, along with information about when the recurring schedule started. This visual indicator helps you quickly distinguish recurring tasks from one-time tasks in your list.
The recurring icon appears on each individual task instance, making it easy to recognize which tasks are part of an automated schedule.
Managing and Adjusting Recurring Schedules
After creating a recurring task schedule, you have full control to view, edit, pause, or delete it from a centralized location.
Accessing Your Recurring Schedules
- Go to My Schedule > My Tasks.
- Click the Recurrence Settings tab. This view displays all active recurring task schedules in one place, showing the task name, start date, and current status.
- Or, open the Tasks section of a client record and click on the Recurrence Settings tab.
Editing a Recurring Task Schedule
To modify the frequency, timing, or other settings of a recurring schedule:
- In the Recurrence Settings tab, locate the recurring schedule you want to adjust.
- Click Edit next to the task name.
- Make your desired changes to the recurrence options, due dates, reminders, or other settings.
- Click Save to apply your changes.
Changes to a recurring schedule only affect future tasks. Tasks already generated remain as they were created.
Alternatively, you can Edit an existing Task created from a recurring series and click the check box to Apply changes to upcoming tasks in this series.
Pausing or Resuming a Recurring Schedule
Sometimes you need to temporarily stop a recurring schedule without permanently deleting it. Pausing is perfect for vacations, project holds, or seasonal breaks.
- Go to My Schedule > My Tasks, or the Tasks section of a client record.
- Click the Recurrence Settings tab.
- Locate the recurring schedule you want to pause.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) next to the task and select Pause from the menu.
- Confirm your choice by clicking the Pause button in the pop-up.
The recurring schedule stops generating new tasks but remains saved in your system. The schedule will stay paused until you manually enable it again.
To Resume a Paused Schedule:
- Go to My Schedule > My Tasks, or the Tasks section of a client record.
- Click the Recurrence Settings tab.
- Locate the paused recurring schedule.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) and select Enable from the menu.
The system resumes the schedule and creates a new task at the next upcoming dispatch date based on your original frequency settings. The schedule doesn't try to "catch up" on missed occurrences while it was paused – it simply continues from the next scheduled date forward.
Deleting Recurring Task Schedules
When you're ready to permanently stop a recurring schedule, you can delete it from the Recurrence Settings tab.
- Go to My Schedule > My Tasks, or the Tasks section of a client record.
- Click the Recurrence Settings tab.
- Locate the recurring schedule you want to delete.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) and select Enable from the menu.
- Confirm your choice by clicking the Pause button in the pop-up.
This action can't be undone, so you'll need to recreate the recurring schedule if you want to restart it later.
⚠️ Important: Deleting a recurring task schedule only impacts future scheduled tasks. All existing tasks that have already been generated will remain in your records and can still be viewed, completed, or deleted individually.
Working with Individual Task Instances
Each task generated from a recurring schedule is an independent entity that you can manage separately.
Editing Individual Tasks
You can modify the details of any individual task without affecting the recurring schedule or other task instances. Changes might include updating the task name, adjusting the due date, modifying notes, or changing the priority level.
These edits only impact that specific task occurrence.
Completing Individual Tasks
When you mark a recurring task as complete, only that specific instance is marked as done. The recurring schedule continues generating new tasks according to its schedule, ensuring your ongoing responsibilities remain tracked.
Completed recurring tasks remain in your task history and can be viewed in your Tasks & Reminders section when filtered by completed status.
Deleting Individual Tasks
If you need to remove a specific task instance (perhaps a duplicate or no longer relevant occurrence), you can delete it without affecting the recurring schedule. The system will continue creating future tasks as scheduled.
Deleting individual task instances is different from deleting the recurring schedule itself. To stop all future tasks from being generated, you must pause or delete the recurring schedule from the Recurrence Settings tab.
Using Task Templates with Recurring Schedules
Task templates can include recurring schedule settings, allowing you to save and reuse complex recurring configurations. This is especially helpful if you have standard recurring tasks you assign frequently, such as weekly check-ins or monthly progress reviews.
When you save a task as a template, all the recurrence settings you've configured are preserved. You can then apply this template when creating new recurring tasks, either manually or through automations.
Learn more about Setting Up Task Templates →
Using Templates in Task Automations
When setting up task creation automations in Practice Better, you can choose to use one of your saved task templates (including those with recurring schedules) or create a custom task directly within the automation setup.
This flexibility allows you to maintain consistent recurring workflows across different automation triggers while still customizing details as needed.
Learn more about Creating Task Automations →
📍 Please note: While recurring tasks can be created through automations, tasks themselves can't trigger other automations in Practice Better. They serve as endpoints in your automated workflows rather than trigger points for additional automation.
Handling Exceptions to Your Recurring Schedule
Sometimes you need to skip a single occurrence or handle an exception within your recurring schedule without disrupting the entire series. Practice Better handles this through manual workflows rather than automated exception rules.
Options for Managing Exceptions:
Option 1: Pause and Resume
- If you know you need to skip upcoming occurrences, pause the recurring schedule before the next dispatch date, then manually resume it when you're ready to continue. This works well for planned breaks or known schedule interruptions.
Option 2: Delete Individual Instances
- Allow the recurring task to be created as scheduled, then simply delete the specific task instance you don't need. The recurring schedule continues unaffected, generating future tasks according to its normal pattern.
Option 3: Mark Individual Instances Complete
- If the task becomes unnecessary but you want to maintain a record that it was addressed, you can mark that specific task instance as complete on behalf of yourself or your client. This keeps your task list clean while preserving the occurrence in your history.
These manual approaches give you the flexibility to handle one-time exceptions while maintaining the consistency of your recurring schedule for all other occurrences.
Sharing Recurring Tasks with Team Members
When creating recurring tasks for yourself (as a practitioner), you have the option to share tasks with team members. This allows multiple people to view and collaborate on recurring tasks while maintaining a single source of truth.
In the Task Details tab, use the Shared with team members (optional) field to add team members who should have access to edit and complete the recurring tasks. The original task creator remains the owner, but shared team members can manage task instances as they're generated.
📍 Please note: To create completely separate recurring tasks for multiple people, you'll need to set up individual recurring schedules for each person.
Learn more about Assigning or Sharing Tasks with Team Members →