One of the key points in Chapter Ten of James Clear’s Atomic Habits is how to deal with hard habits (eg exercise). The book recommends reframing them. For example, instead of thinking of it as exercise, instead think of it as an opportunity to build strength and stamina.

You can reflect this change in framing in the Recurrer app by simply renaming the tasks on your list. In particular, take a look at the tasks that tend to be turning red. If you’ve already tried the tips outlined in the blog post ‘All my tasks are red!’ and are still struggling to get certain tasks under control, adopt the approach suggested in Atomic Habits, Chapter Ten.

Look at the recurring task that you keep putting off and ask yourself why you’re doing it? There must be a reason. Yes, there’s some short term pain in doing them – that, after all, is why you keep procrastinating on it and dabbling in the red, overdue end of the Recurrer spectrum. But there must also be some long term gain that justifies that short term pain. (If you can’t think of any long term gain that justifies the short term pain, then maybe you should just swipe right and delete the task. And if the thought of doing that makes you uncomfortable then ask yourself why – that might be the clue to unlocking the benefits of the task.)

Once you’ve unlocked the long term benefit to the task, then try renaming it in Recurrer to highlight that benefit. ‘Do exercise’ might be a task that turns red. ‘Build strength and stamina by exercising’ might be something more palatable to get to before it reaches that overdue hue.

‘Take out bins’? Or ‘Keep house clean by removing rubbish’?

‘Give dog worm treatment’? Or ‘Prevent dog from getting sick with regular deworming’?

‘Write blog post’? Or ‘Build online presence for app by creating content’?