Ask HN: Turning Reactive into Proactive Tasks?

[wheresclark]

I think about my life in two buckets: proactive and reactive.

In terms of things to do each day, proactive tasks should be known well ahead of time, but almost always creep up without warning: birthdays, passports expiring, anniversaries, car registrations, pool maintenance etc.

These are all proactive tasks that somehow become reactive, taking up far more time and energy than needed.

Has anyone nailed this dilemma?