ForumsQuestionsWhat about general repeating tasks - Add a due date or not?


What about general repeating tasks - Add a due date or not?
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jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
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I've been using toodledo for about a year and thought I came up with a good solution.

Apart from my specific tasks, I add all my house/garden/car repeating tasks to the list with a due date, so I've got recurring tasks for vacuuming, good cleaning of the bathroom, mopping.

I've added a due date because I procrastinate and if I don't give my self a date I might not do what I should.

But that's biting me on the bum.

At the moment I've got a few other things to sort urgently and all these tasks are bunching up.

What do others on the list do?

Would you recommend a due date for a non priority tasks like these?

I've got several hundred tasks on my list and would remove the dates if it really helps.

I feel a bit stuck. Is there a good usage guide?
jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I just had a thought, if they're recurring tasks, they would need a due date.

Well the question is how do I separate these maintenance tasks from my important due date tasks.
jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
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One other thought, perhaps you could add a few different case reports onto the web site on show how toodledo is used by different types of people. Single young person, Family person, Business person? Or a video tutorial?
cabbage

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
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Here is what I do:

These tasks go into a context called chores. It keeps them separate from one-off jobs around the house.

Only one is time critical: taking out the bins so that starts every each Wednesday (repeating form due date) and finishes on the same day (bins are collected on Thursday). If it ever goes red, I feel a little ashamed and make sure I don't forget next week!

The rest don't have due dates but they repeat on completion. If I'm late changing the bedsheets, there is no use playing catchup. Just change them and start the cycle again. The "repeat on completion" does this automatically for me.

I also have my own hotlist in a saved search which includes among other things all recurring tasks that have already started. This way, they appear on my hotlist even without a due date.

There is only so much you can automate your life but something that helps motivate me is the start date. If I have a weekly task that started a month ago, I'm really overdue!

One thing I don't use is the "optionally due on" setting. It sounds cool but for me that stands out as a task I don't need to care about. I have to check off all my tasks, either to say I've done them, that I no longer want to do them or to be aware I've missed a deadline (which can be OK if it's an optional deadline) .
greginfla_

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
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I use the repeat from due date for my daily pushup or exercise.... often these task are in red.

Cabbage, can you give an example of your, .."recurring tasks that have already started".

Is this some type of project?
cabbage

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Certainly:

Clean bathroom
Starts: Mar 31
Context: @ Chores @
Due: no date
Repeat: Every 1 week

This is a proper clean. I also put bleach down the toilet every day and clean up mess as I see it. You can see it's a little overdue just now. That's because I have been on holiday and am just getting back into the swing of things. If I do it tonight, it will reappear a week from now when it is due to be done again.
cabbage

Posted: Apr 17, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I should maybe mention if you use "repeat from due date" for a task that has no due date, it repeats from the start date. That's a really handy but poorly documented feature.
jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 18, 2012
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I didn't know that repeating tasks didn't have to have a due date. I think (hope) that's going to be very handy.

Thanks for the insights.
jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 18, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I'm not sure it's working well on my iPhone, I don't know how to get the "no due date" tasks to appear as items.

It's quite complicated to work out how to add all my tasks, but not be overloaded with the routine ones.
jonathanl_1311071627

Posted: Apr 18, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I use the iPhone alot to keep up with my tasks. There's no option I can see to setup a custom hotlist onto the drontscreen:

"I also have my own hotlist in a saved search which includes among other things all recurring tasks that have already started. This way, they appear on my hotlist even without a due date."

That means all those tasks with only a start date don't show up.

Bother.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Apr 18, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
You can customize the hotlist on the iPhone in the settings section. Saved searches are not yet possible on the iPhone, but this is on our to-do list.
Salgud

Posted: Apr 18, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I hope that one is near the top. I only use my TD iPhone app to enter tasks because it doesn't have my Saved Searches, which is where I live in TD.
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