How to Plan Pending Tasks

Whether you use a paper planner, Outlook, or Google calendar, pending tasks are a problem for most people.

What do you do when you are waiting on your husband to do something critical, like call the insurance for preapproval?

How do you remember to bring the boy scout popcorn order form the next time your scout has a meeting, if the meeting isn't scheduled yet?

What if you want to organize the kitchen counters AFTER you purchase a new toaster?

I use the @ symbol.

I follow the @ symbol with the person I am waiting on, the date that I am waiting on, or the other action that must happen first.

For example, the preapproval will say "@A: schedule appointment." (A is my code for my husband, Alan.)

The kitchen counters task will say, "@toaster: organize kitchen counters."

Thinking of the @ as meaning "AFTER" helps me to keep track of things.

TIP: Write the pending task on the next day that the waited on part could possibly happen. For example, if my husband cannot call for preapproval until the correct person in the insurance office returns from vacation on Wednesday, the @ task will go on Thursday.

You could also just have a waiting on list, but for time sensitive stuff, having them on a weekly spread makes sure they stay on your radar.

Etcetera.

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