Every team has tasks that repeat. Weekly reports, monthly reviews, sprint retrospectives, routine check-ins — the work that needs to happen on a regular schedule. If your team lives in Slack, you'll want a way to handle recurring tasks without manually recreating them every time.
This guide covers the different approaches to recurring tasks in Slack, from the built-in /remind command to dedicated task management apps, so you can pick the right solution for your team.
Option 1: Slack's built-in /remind command
Slack has a built-in reminder system that supports basic recurrence. You can use the /remind slash command to set up repeating reminders for yourself, other people, or entire channels.
How to set a recurring reminder
Type the following in any Slack channel or DM:
/remind #channel "Submit weekly report" every Monday at 9am
/remind me "Review expenses" every month on the 1st
/remind @sarah "Update project status" every Friday at 3pm
Slack supports intervals like every day, every weekday, every week, and every month.
Limitations of /remind
While useful for simple nudges, Slack's reminders have significant limitations as a task management tool:
- Reminders are not tasks — There's no way to mark them as complete, assign them to someone, or track progress
- No visibility for the team — Only the recipient sees the reminder. There's no shared view of what's due
- No descriptions or subtasks — Just a single line of text
- Limited scheduling — No support for custom intervals like "every 2 weeks" or "every 3rd Monday"
- Easy to dismiss and forget — A reminder notification can be swiped away with no accountability
For a deeper look at Slack reminders, see our complete guide to setting reminders in Slack.
Option 2: Slack Lists
Slack's Lists feature (launched June 2024) adds project tracking capabilities directly in Slack. However, there's a critical gap for recurring tasks: Slack Lists does not support recurring or repeating tasks.
If you need a task to repeat on a schedule, you'll have to manually create a new list item each time. For teams with many recurring responsibilities, this becomes tedious and error-prone quickly.
Additionally, Lists is only available on paid Slack plans (Pro, Business+, Enterprise), so teams on Slack's free plan can't use it at all. For a detailed comparison, see our post on Slack Lists vs. task management apps.
Option 3: A dedicated task management app
For true recurring tasks in Slack — with assignments, tracking, and flexible scheduling — a dedicated task management app is the way to go. Apps like Let's Do integrate directly into Slack and support recurring tasks as a core feature.
How recurring tasks work in Let's Do
With Let's Do, you can set any task to repeat automatically:
- Create a task in any Slack channel (or your personal to-do list)
- Open the task details and set a repeat schedule
- Choose from preset intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) or set a custom interval
- When you complete the task, a new copy is automatically created for the next occurrence
The new task keeps the same title, description, and assignments, so your team doesn't need to remember to set anything up again. Learn more about this in our post on repeated tasks in Slack.
Custom repeat intervals
Standard intervals like "every week" don't fit every workflow. With Let's Do's custom repeat frequency, you can set tasks to repeat on more specific schedules:
- Every 2 weeks
- Every 3 days
- Every 6 months
- Any custom combination of days, weeks, or months
Common use cases for recurring tasks
Here are some of the ways teams use recurring tasks in Slack:
- Weekly reports — "Submit status update" repeats every Friday
- Monthly reviews — "Review team metrics" repeats on the 1st of each month
- Sprint ceremonies — "Prepare retrospective notes" repeats every 2 weeks
- Routine maintenance — "Check server backups" repeats every day
- Client check-ins — "Send client progress update" repeats weekly
- Administrative tasks — "Submit expense reports" repeats monthly
Choosing the right approach
Here's a quick summary to help you decide:
| Feature | /remind | Slack Lists | Let's Do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recurring schedule | Basic | None | Full (incl. custom) |
| Assignable | Single person | Yes | Yes (multiple) |
| Completion tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Team visibility | No | Yes | Yes |
| Subtasks | No | Limited | Yes |
| Works on free Slack | Yes | No | Yes |
Getting started
If your team has recurring work that needs to be tracked (not just reminded about), a dedicated task management app is the most reliable approach. Slack's /remind works for personal nudges, but it's not a task management tool. And Slack Lists, while capable in other areas, simply doesn't support recurring tasks.
Add Let's Do to your Slack workspace to start creating recurring tasks with your team. The free trial gives you full access to all features, including custom repeat intervals.