ForumsQuestionsNon-repeating tasks with Optionally On


Non-repeating tasks with Optionally On
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robbiejg

Posted: Jul 15, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Hi,

Here's my understanding: if you set Optionally On to a repeating task and do not complete it that day, it automatically moves to the next day. If the task is not a repeating task and Optionally On is set and you do not complete it, it is deleted.

Assuming that is correct, my question is: is there a way to set the Optionally On to a non-repeating task and have it move to the next day? The reason I would like this is that I might have scheduled to get something done that day, but did not get to it in time and I'll do it the next day.

I understand that this may be missing the point of scheduling something for a particular day and that is why it becomes overdue. However, I sometimes have too many tasks and need them to go over to the next day for me. I guess I need to better handle GTD so this doesn't occur ;)

Thank you.
thpope

Posted: Jul 15, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
I agree, I posted this request awhile ago:
Posted Apr 23, 2009:
? only works when repeating is set. Although it doesn't always work for me lately (it isn't consistently moving the date forward).

Feature request for Toodledo: Can you make it so that if I use the ? prefix on the due date and do not have repeating set, that you simply change the date to the next day? I would also like to choose to move to next day or next work day. I suppose that would need to be a setting in the Account Settings.

I think it is a bad idea to automatically delete a task. I would be happy if Toodledo simply removed the due date.
Anders

Posted: Jul 15, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
It's an interesting idea. What you could do now is just set tasks like that to repeat daily. Then when the Due Date passes, it would still show up as due today every day. When you do get around to completing it though, you would have to delete it rather than checking it off or it would show up again the next day. Still, that might be easier than constantly bumping the Due Date manually.
robbiejg

Posted: Jul 15, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Anders,

I like your suggestion. However, I am going to consider it a "work-around" for now :)

Thank you for the reply.
Linden

Posted: Jul 15, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Anders:
Then when the Due Date passes, it would still show up as due today every day. When you do get around to completing it though, you would have to delete it rather than checking it off or it would show up again the next day.


This is a good workaround, but instead of deleting it on the final day, you could just change the repeat to "none" before checking it off. That way it will appear in your list of completed tasks, in case you use those for anything.

I like thpope's idea of having the date removed rather than deleting a non-repeating optional task.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Jul 18, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
What I do is just leave the due-date as overdue instead of moving it forward every day. This serves as another reminder of how much I have postponed completing something. If I see that the task is 8 days overdue, then I know that I have postponed it 8 times, so I am more likely to do it. If I moved all of my overdue tasks forward to today, I would lose that information.

It's a personal preference, for sure.
thpope

Posted: Jul 23, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Toodledo:
What I do is just leave the due-date as overdue instead of moving it forward every day. This serves as another reminder of how much I have postponed completing something. If I see that the task is 8 days overdue, then I know that I have postponed it 8 times, so I am more likely to do it. If I moved all of my overdue tasks forward to today, I would lose that information.

It's a personal preference, for sure.
It's a question of "real" importance for me. I have several todos that I thought were important when I entered them, however, the reality is that they are not. I don't know how else to explain it. So when I entered the todo, I put a due date for reminding me to do it, but then I don't get to it on that date, I either leave it overdue, or move the due date out. The problem with it leaving it overdue is it gives it a false sense of urgency. If I see the overdue todo that I wanted to complete weeks ago, it blares in my face. I usually just move the date into the future to get out of my face, but I still want to do it.

What I want is "soft" due dates. If the date comes and I don't complete it, then Toodledo just puts it out there, either one more day, or one more week, or some user defined period. This way I see it, but if I don't get to it, then I know it will pop back up later. I really don't like overdue todos (get too many and it becomes an overwhelming problem, loss of motivation), and I really don't like moving a bunch of todo due dates forward (becomes a real annoyance plus a loss of motivation due to feelings of failure).


This message was edited Jul 23, 2009.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Jul 23, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
You could look into using optional due-dates with a repeat value. If the due-date passes, it will be automatically moved forward by whatever interval you specify. I do this for certain tasks that I would like to do (like go to the gym) but which I sometimes skip. In fact, I often don't even check off "go to gym" even if I do it because I now it will automatically repeat for me at midnight.

http://www.toodledo.com/info/help.php?sel=42
thpope

Posted: Jul 24, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Toodledo:
You could look into using optional due-dates with a repeat value. If the due-date passes, it will be automatically moved forward by whatever interval you specify. I do this for certain tasks that I would like to do (like go to the gym) but which I sometimes skip. In fact, I often don't even check off "go to gym" even if I do it because I now it will automatically repeat for me at midnight.

http://www.toodledo.com/info/help.php?sel=42
Thanks for the suggestion. I do that now for my non-urgent repeating tasks. But I do have several tasks that are not repeating, not urgent, but are important. Or they have a long time period between repeating.

The only way I handle these now is manually moving the due dates. I guess I'm wanting Toodledo to help manage these more automatically. You know, having custom filters, similar to email filters, would be great. This would be like creating a custom search and applying an action to it using multi-edit, but it all happens automatically. Such as, if I searched for all tasks due today in my work folder, then set the status to all of those as Next Action (I remember someone already requested that). The difference is that Toodledo does this automatically for me in the background.
garyo

Posted: Jul 24, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by robbiejg:
Hi,

Here's my understanding: if you set Optionally On to a repeating task and do not complete it that day, it automatically moves to the next day. If the task is not a repeating task and Optionally On is set and you do not complete it, it is deleted.


Waitaminit, ToodleDo silently deletes tasks in this case??? Even if they're not completed? Oh no, now I have to go back and look at all my tasks to see if any got deleted like this. I thought "optionally on" just meant it wouldn't get marked *overdue* after its date. Like "I should do this by Monday, but it's OK to delay," rather than "I should do this by Monday, but if I don't get to it forget about it altogether!"

Is this really true? I think it makes Optionally On pretty useless then.
Anders

Posted: Jul 24, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
The optional part of "optionally on" refers to the task itself being optional, not the date. A task will become overdue once its due date has passed with just a regular due date. It is all explained here: http://www.toodledo.com/info/help.php?sel=42
Urania8

Posted: Nov 08, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
I thank you I just learned something new here! I'm new to toodledo and am still wrapping my head around it. I think the optional tasks idea is awesome (now that I know how to use it.)

I have a suggestion for you, thepope. I get the sense that what you are really trying to organize is PRIORITY not due date. Maybe you just need to think of those tasks differently. I only assign due dates to those things that specifically deal with a date (on, not until, by). Otherwise I leave it blank. There are of course always things you are intending to do on a day so you are using due dates as a scheduler. Things that I want to capture on my to do list but may lack importance I leave at 1 or 0, making visible things for I want to complete that day by upping their priority number (or adding a star). You may even try using the status to achieve your goal.

It sounds to me like you may need to put these tasks into a project or list them as somedays. If they are not that important wouldn't you be more productive with these tasks out of the way? At least until you are ready for them.
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