Recurring Weekday Tasks & How I Solve Problems In Notion

TL;DR

Use a checkbox formula that compares each task’s weekday tag to today’s weekday so only due tasks appear on the planner page.

Briefing Cornell Notes

Briefing

A Notion planning setup can automatically tick off recurring weekday tasks—then surface only what’s due on the current day—using a single checkbox formula driven by the day-of-week and the task’s “repeat” pattern. Instead of duplicating the same task across a calendar view, the system places a compact “to-do for today” list at the top of a planner page, so Sunday shows Sunday tasks, Monday shows Monday tasks, and so on. The core mechanism is a formula that checks whether a task’s stored weekday tag matches today’s weekday (computed via Notion’s date formatting), turning the checkbox on when there’s a match.

The workflow scales beyond simple weekly repetition. For tasks that run every other week, the setup adds two properties: a repeat selector (with options like “weekly” and “eo week”) and a “last published” date. The checkbox formula then ticks only when today’s weekday matches the task’s day tag AND the number of days since “last published” exceeds a threshold (greater than 7 for weekly logic, and greater than 7 days in combination with the every-other-week logic). To prevent edge cases where someone publishes early, an additional “ahead” control lets users manually mark tasks completed ahead of schedule; when “ahead” is checked, the formula forces the checkbox to remain unticked even if the “last published” date would otherwise trigger it.

Monthly repetition is handled with a similar “last published” approach, but the logic uses day counts rather than “one month” intervals. The formula checks whether the elapsed time since “last published” is greater than 29 days for monthly tasks, which avoids the common Notion pitfall where “greater than one month” effectively behaves like “greater than two months” for certain date ranges. This day-based method keeps the task active across the intended window—for example, it becomes due around the next target date rather than waiting until a much later month boundary.

The system also addresses practical onboarding problems. If “last published” is empty (such as when a new database is created), the formula treats that condition as due, ensuring tasks appear immediately rather than staying permanently unticked. Another safeguard clears the checkbox when the task was published on the current day: if “last published” contains today’s formatted month/day/year string, the checkbox is forced off.

Once the formula is in place, the planner page is built by linking to the tasks database and using a filter view that shows only items where the checkbox is checked. With additional views like a board by weekday (Monday through Sunday) and a “publish today” filtered list, the same underlying logic powers both a daily reminder strip and broader scheduling overviews. A template is provided for duplication and testing, with the creator inviting feedback on alternative formula strategies.

Cornell Notes

The setup creates a Notion “recurring tasks” system that shows only the tasks due on the current weekday at the top of a planner page. A checkbox property uses a formula that compares each task’s weekday tag to today’s weekday (via formatted date parts) and ticks when they match. For non-weekly patterns, tasks add a repeat property (e.g., “weekly” vs “eo week”) and a “last published” date so the checkbox ticks only after enough time has passed. Monthly tasks use an elapsed-days threshold (greater than 29 days) to avoid month-boundary quirks. Extra controls handle early publishing (“ahead”), empty “last published” on new databases, and turning the checkbox off when the task was already published today.

How does the system decide whether a recurring weekday task should be checked for “today”?

It relies on a checkbox formula that uses Notion’s date formatting to compute today’s weekday and compares it to the task’s stored weekday tag. The formula uses a contains check like: contains(prop day, formatDate(now(), 'dddd').lowercase). In practice, when the task’s day property includes “sunday” and today is Sunday, the checkbox becomes checked; otherwise it stays unticked. This is the minimal version that works for tasks that repeat every week on the same weekday.

What changes when a task repeats every other week instead of every week?

Two properties are added: a repeat property (with values such as “weekly” and “eo week”) and a last published date. The checkbox formula becomes an OR of two cases: one for weekly tasks and one for every-other-week tasks. For the every-other-week case, the formula requires both (1) the task’s weekday matches today and (2) the elapsed time since last published is greater than 7 days (implemented as a day-count threshold). This prevents the task from reappearing on the intervening week.

Why does the monthly logic use “greater than 29 days” instead of “greater than one month”?

Using “greater than one month” can behave unexpectedly in Notion because it effectively waits until a later date range (for example, it may remain unticked until roughly two months have passed). The setup instead uses a day-based threshold: elapsed days since last published must be greater than 29. That keeps the task due around the intended next cycle (e.g., it becomes checked across the expected window in June when last published was in early July, rather than waiting until a much later month boundary).

How does the system handle tasks completed early?

An “ahead” checkbox column is introduced. The formula begins with an IF-style condition: if prop ahead is checked, the checkbox result is forced to false (unticked). This overrides the normal last-published timing logic, so a task marked as done early won’t keep showing as due on the later scheduled weekday.

What happens when last published is empty or when the task was published today?

If last published is empty (common right after creating a new database), the formula treats that as due by returning true when last published is empty and the weekday matches today. Separately, if last published contains today’s formatted month/day/year string, the formula forces the checkbox to false, clearing the task for that day so it doesn’t remain checked after completion.

How are the formulas turned into a usable daily planner view?

A database view is linked onto the planner page (via a linked database). Then a filter is applied so only tasks with the checkbox “to do” checked appear. Additional views can show a board by weekday (Monday through Sunday) or a “publish today” list filtered the same way, but all of them depend on the same checkbox formula logic.

Review Questions

If today matches a task’s weekday tag but last published is empty, what should the checkbox do and why?
How would you modify the logic if you needed a “repeat every 3 weeks” pattern instead of weekly or every other week?
What specific failure mode does the “greater than 29 days” approach avoid compared with “greater than one month,” according to the walkthrough?

Key Points

1
Use a checkbox formula that compares each task’s weekday tag to today’s weekday so only due tasks appear on the planner page.
2
Add a repeat property and a last published date to support every-other-week scheduling without duplicating tasks across calendar entries.
3
Implement early completion handling with an “ahead” checkbox that forces the due checkbox to stay unticked.
4
For monthly tasks, use an elapsed-days threshold (greater than 29 days) to avoid month-boundary quirks from “one month” comparisons.
5
Treat empty last published dates as due so new databases immediately populate the checklist.
6
Force the checkbox off when last published matches today’s formatted month/day/year, preventing tasks from staying checked after completion.
7
Build the daily planner by linking the tasks database and filtering to-do items where the checkbox is checked.

Highlights

A single weekday-driven checkbox formula can power a “tasks for today” strip without duplicating recurring items across calendar views.

Every-other-week logic combines weekday matching with a last-published day-count threshold, so tasks reappear only on the correct cycle.

Monthly repetition works more reliably with “greater than 29 days” than with “greater than one month,” which can delay due dates.

An “ahead” override prevents early completions from causing tasks to show as still due later.

Empty last published dates are treated as due, making the system usable immediately after setup.

Topics

Notion Formulas
Recurring Tasks
Date-Based Scheduling
Linked Database Views
Checkbox Automation