I need a word for a non-urgent, not-so-important task

Question

When I make task lists, some tasks are important, some tasks are urgent, and some are neither. I need a word to describe tasks that are not urgent, not so important, but can't be ignored because they really do need to be done at some point. Like filing of personal papers, or cleaning the windows.

I wish to emphasize these are tasks that aren't urgent enough to be called urgent or important enough to be called important; but they are not so little of either that I can just forget about them.

I'm also looking at maintenance task, filler task, staff task, or housekeeping task.

Note: The kind of task I'm talking about may be a prerequisite for some other task, then again, it may not be. Prerequisite status is on a different axis than urgency or importance; although if it is a prerequistite for something else, it has to have at least as much importance, urgency, or necessity as its postrequisite, and therefore might no longer be able to be described by the kind of word I'm looking for.

(As I usually do, I will wait 24 hours before selecting an answer to give enough time for everyone to respond.)

Answer 1

I am editing my answer to be more appropriate:

You might consider saying side tasks, Macmillan defines "side" as:

less important or less central

Also minor tasks, which are "comparatively unimportant" (M-W), and its synonyms might do: (synonym.tech)

I particularly like trivial tasks. Cambridge defines "trivial" as

having little value or importance; easy to solve

Answer 2

They're tasks that are put on the back burner.

Back burner [noun]

a condition of low priority or temporary deferment (usually used in the phrase on the back burner):

• Put other issues on the back burner until after the election.

[Dictionary.com]

The noun has been verbed, and attributive usages are quite common, for example:

• At Trump-Kim summit, human rights is a back-burner issue.

[APNews, 2018]

Answer 3

Chore

What you have described fits the definition of a chore. This is defined as:

A recurrent and tedious task

[The Oxford Reference Dictionary 1986]

When I think of window cleaning, filing and other such necessary but non-urgent tasks, I think of them as chores. They have a way of piling up!

Answer 4

A routine task is not urgent or important, but still must be completed.

Answer 5

Idiomatically, you might simply describe such tasks as being on the list, or (in relation to a list held personally) on my list.

The implication being that you are aware of them and they are at least important enough to record, but that they are amongst many other tasks on a list, and will only be dealt with in turn, or at an unspecified time later.

Answer 6

Since Conrado didn't make his comment an answer let me jump in because I think it's a good suggestion. It is a computing term describing a long-running program fragment which is paused when more important code is ready to run. Both priority and task are, of course, much older than electronic computing, so the expression is readily understandable in any context. By applying this computing metaphor to our household it has come full circle:

Low-priority task, or short low-prio task.

Answer 7

A nagging task is a task that's not so urgent but still needs to be done, otherwise it will keep coming back.

Answer 8

Busy-work

Busy-work could apply. It generally specifies work or tasks that are beneficial, productive but not seen as important or urgent. It can also convey unimportant, so take care. Cambridge lists a few example uses.

While he waited, he organized his files. The busywork helped take his mind off the terrible events of the past few days.

The big automakers are reluctant to lay off engineers during downturns and tend to give them busywork.

Students say that the program allows for too many open-ended questions on exams and that many assignments amount to busywork.

Some of the policy procedures are seen as busywork and cause resentment among the staff.