A method for operating a control unit, in particular for a motor vehicle, the control unit including at least one execution unit for executing task programs, a first task program and a second task program being executed at least intermittently, the first task program providing data for the second task program at the end of a first predefined time interval, wherein a transfer of the data from the first task program to the second task program only takes place after a particular last execution of the first task program within a predefined second time interval for the execution of the second task program, the second time interval being longer than the first time interval.