ForumsQuestionsrepeat - 1st of each month


repeat - 1st of each month
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CharleneTX

Posted: Mar 03, 2013
Score: 1 Reference
How do I set up a task to repeat on the 1st day of each month, regardless of when it's last completed (ie, sometimes it's done on the 2nd or 3rd)? I use start dates, not due dates (MYN).
Sabina A.

Posted: Mar 04, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Hello,

Set your task to be due on the 1st, then make it repeat monthly. Make sure your repeat option is set to repeat from "due date" not "completion date".

Hope that helps.

http://www.toodledo.com/info/help.php?search=repeat
CharleneTX

Posted: Mar 08, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
As noted in my original query, I use the MYN system. Due dates aren't used.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Mar 08, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
You can do it with start-dates too. If a task has no due-date, it will repeat from the start-date instead.
CharleneTX

Posted: Mar 11, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
I think you're still not fully understanding the issue. I have a task I'd like to show up on the 1st each month. Sometimes I'm not able to do it on the 1st so I'll change the start date or the 2nd or 3rd. If I set the repeat to monthly (either from due date or completed ate), it advances to the same date on the next month (2nd, 3rd, etc.). How do you cause a task to repeated on a particular date?
Salgud

Posted: Mar 12, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by CharleneTX:
I think you're still not fully understanding the issue. I have a task I'd like to show up on the 1st each month. Sometimes I'm not able to do it on the 1st so I'll change the start date or the 2nd or 3rd. If I set the repeat to monthly (either from due date or completed ate), it advances to the same date on the next month (2nd, 3rd, etc.). How do you cause a task to repeated on a particular date?


It is advancing because you have it set to repeat from completion date, instead of due date, or start date if you prefer. But you have to set one or the other to get it to repeat from that date. It can't repeat from a date it never had.
Purveyor

Posted: Mar 12, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Salgud:
It can't repeat from a date it never had.
Actually, it had the date -- the first of each month.

The simple answer is to not change the Start Date, or least examine why it is necessary to change it. Perhaps the Start Date should be the first Monday of each month instead of the first day of the month.

In any case, I can imagine situations where you just want to defer the task a couple of days but you don't want to change the date of the next occurrence. Seems to me, though, that this would require using another date besides Start Date, something like, uh, Due Date perhaps?
JPR

Posted: Mar 12, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
FWIW, I submitted a support ticket in Oct '11 requesting the ability to repeat from a specific date.... it was "on the list". (This wish is very high on my list... but I'm guessing not very high on the one that counts.)

CharleneTX, my workaround is to clone the task, mark it complete (to generate the repeat), and then remove the repeat from the other one. The whole process takes six clicks.
CharleneTX

Posted: Mar 12, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Purveyor:

In any case, I can imagine situations where you just want to defer the task a couple of days but you don't want to change the date of the next occurrence. Seems to me, though, that this would require using another date besides Start Date, something like, uh, Due Date perhaps?


As I noted in my original post, I'm using the MYN (Manage Your Now) system. Toodledo is set up to support this sytem; they even have a URL that automagically configures your Toodledo settings for it. That system doesn't use due dates, only start dates.

Currently, when I've finished the task I change the start date to the following month. This works OK until I forget and click the complete box. Then it disappears and gets forgotten.
Purveyor

Posted: Mar 12, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by CharleneTX:
As I noted in my original post, I'm using the MYN (Manage Your Now) system....That system doesn't use due dates, only start dates.
Yes, but it seems that the system can't do what you want it to do.

Somewhere, somehow, you need another date. You can wait for Jake to add it to Toodledo or you can use a date that is already available -- Due Date.
Or you can make sure you remember to change the start date when you finish the task.
Or you can try JPR's suggestion.
Or you can ask Linenberger.


This message was edited Mar 13, 2013.
martingchapman

Posted: Mar 13, 2013
Score: 1 Reference
CharleneTX,
I use MYN and have the same problem; I don’t think Michael Linenberger considered TD repeating tasks when he advocated changing the Start date as part of the “defer to do” process, unless it is mentioned in the MYN/Toodledo training videos (which I have not purchased).

My solution is to use the Due date field, not as a Due date (because tasks in MYN do not have a Due date) but as a "Repeat" place holder date. The Due date tells me when the task is due to Repeat, not when it is Due to be done.

How I use this is as follows;
For every repeating task I set the Start Date to be when I initially intend to start work on the task (normal MYN practice) and set the repeat interval as normal, but I also set the Due date (my Repeat date) to be the same as the Start date.
With the standard MYN settings (Future Tasks hidden) the task will appear on the given Start date as normal and if I can do it on that day I will, then I close the task.
When I close the task, TD will create a copy incrementing the Start date and Due dates together by the set repeat interval, so that the task appears again in due course on the Start date.
However, if I can’t/don’t complete it on the set Start date, I change the Start date to when I think I will be able to do it (as per normal MYN "defer to do” practice) but I leave the Due date as originally set (Repeat date).
What happens then is TD will hide the task until the Start date comes around, when it will appear again. I can then either do it, or "defer to do" again by changing the Start date, this process can be repeated, until I eventually complete the task.
Once I have completed the task I change the Start date back to match the Due date (which has never changed but will now be highlighted in red as it is before the Start date) and close the task.
TD will again copy the task and increment the Start date and Due date by the repeat interval as normal, and it will reappear on the set Start date as it should.

The advantage of this approach is that you can "defer to do" repeat tasks as many times as you want, in the same way you would non repeat tasks, but you never lose the original Start date (because it is recorded in the Due date field, my Repeat date). Also. if you have invoked the MYN settings for TD the secondary sort will be on “Start date/Reverse” so the list will still follow the MYN “Fresh Prioritisation” practise, and tasks that you have “Deferred to Do” will still appear at the top of the list on the selected date.

The disadvantage is that once you have deferred a task by changing the Start date, you must change the Start date back to match the Due date before you close the task (this does not apply to repeat tasks you close when you have not changed the Start date of course). If you do not change the Start date to equal the Due date, when TD clones the task it will increment the Start date and Due date by the same repeat interval and the task will be hidden until the (now incorrect) Start date comes around.
However if the Due date is now before the Start date it will be highlighted in red (even if they are both before the current date) and this should prompt you to change the Start date to equal the Due date before you close the task.

The only changes you need to make to the pre-set MYN settings is to add the Due date field to your views, and set the Due date of all repeating tasks to, initially, be the same as the Start date.

It would be really great if TD checked when you closed a repeating task, and if the Start date is after the Due date it automatically changed the Start date to equal the Due date in the new cloned task (the dates should stay the same in the closed task for historical reasons). This would dispense with the need to manually reset the previously changed Start date before you close the task.
Although there may be one, I can’t think of an instance when you would want a task to repeat with the Start date set as being after the Due date however, to prevent upsetting anyone who does need this existing functionality, this feature could become effective only when you enable the MYN option

Jake,
Would you consider adding a feature such that when you close a repeating task, TD will automatically change the Start date to equal the Due date on the new task, but only if the Start date is greater than the Due date on the task you are closing?
Either make this a system option, or automatically enable it if using the MYN settings.

IMHO, with this feature added Toodledo would be the ideal tool for MYN.

Martin.
CharleneTX

Posted: Mar 13, 2013
Score: 0 Reference
Thank you, Martin, for your thorough and helpful reply.
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