Capture it like anything else
A big vague task sits on a list for three weeks radiating dread precisely because it's fifteen tasks in disguise. Start by writing it down anyway:
plan dad's birthday party by aug 2
✓ Filed: “plan dad’s birthday party” · Social · high · ⏳ due aug 2
The by aug 2 sets a due date that lifts the task's ranking as the day nears. (Use on aug 2 10am instead if you also want a one-time reminder, and /cal N any time to get an .ics file that drops it on your real calendar.)
Ask for a draft of the steps
For the classic blank-page problem — what are the steps to plan a party, even? — start the task, then ask Fanad to guess:
start
▶ Started: “plan dad’s birthday party”.
guess
💡 A guess at the steps for “plan dad’s birthday party” (my own best guess, not from your notes — edit freely): ☐ 1. pick a date and guest list ☐ 2. book or prep the venue ☐ 3. send invitations ☐ 4. plan food and cake ☐ 5. sort decorations and music Tick off with “done” / “done 2” / “done all” · add “step …” · remove “unstep 2”.
Worth knowing what just happened: everywhere else, Fanad never invents — it only shows you things you actually wrote. guess is the single sanctioned exception, and it's always labeled as a guess: a disposable first draft from general know-how, never presented as fact. It exists precisely for this moment, when the blank page is the obstacle.
Make the checklist yours
The draft is fully editable. Toss what doesn't fit, add what it couldn't know:
unstep 2
🗑 Removed step 2.
step order the ice cream cake from Coldstone
step ask Maria to bring the speaker
step <text> adds under the task you last touched (or step N <text> targets task N from a listing). The single letter s works too.
Walk it, don't stare at it
A started, stepped task shows its checklist, and you tick things off as life allows:
done
☑ 1. pick a date and guest list ☐ 2. send invitations ☐ 3. plan food and cake …
- done ticks the next unticked step
- done 2 4 ticks specific ones
- done all finishes the whole task
- stop pauses the session — steps stay saved, and the task keeps its place until you start it again next weekend
Between sessions, whatdo knows about your started task and will nudge you toward the next step rather than dumping the whole project on you. That's the point of the structure: you never face “plan the party,” only “send invitations.”
Reuse the plan next year
If it went well, keep the shape:
/template 1 birthday-party
🗂 Saved template “birthday-party” (6 steps).
Next year, /template birthday-party drops a fresh copy on your list, every box unticked, no dates or leftovers attached. This is Fanad's whole alternative to recurring tasks — nothing nags you on a schedule, but a proven checklist is one command away when you decide it's time.
The same shape, elsewhere
Anything big and vague works this way: moving apartments, a garage sale, tax season, hosting Thanksgiving. Capture the trench coat, start, guess a draft, edit it into your reality, and walk it one box at a time.