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Personal task manager with graphic feedback
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Posted by Graham Rhind
Nov 9, 2009 at 07:54 PM
Thanks Dan. I should have mentioned that I wanted to avoid Outlook plug ins, simply because I find Outlook such a badly designed task manager (and I’ve stopped using it as a calendar too - I’m back to my Filofax and haven’t regretted it).
I have tried Taskline, though, and dislike it (if I remember correctly) because I found it too controlling. It tries to dictate when a task will be done by scheduling it into the calendar. I personally dislike this way of working - I want an overview of my tasks (very few of which have defined start or end times) but also want to be in total control over when I do something.
I know my way of working, and the work that I do, is not standard, which is why finding a suitable task manager has proved such an epic struggle ... :-)
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Nov 9, 2009 at 08:08 PM
Graham, what you are looking for is indeed something that I would like as well However, I am not sure how such a concept would operate, as you note that you want to know how much time tasks take “without trying to assign these tasks to times of the day”.
The way I see it, some kind of assignment can be done, even temporarily; I may have dozens of tasks lying around that together may require 40 hours or more to complete; however, knowing this isn’t very helpful. I would need to select a few priority tasks and somehow get an indication of how much time they require and see if they fit in the time available.
This is equivalent to dragging those tasks to a specific day, the way Agenda At Once ( http://www.agendaatonce.com/ ) does, even if I do not intend to keep them in that day. Could this be a possible solution?
Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Nov 9, 2009 at 08:31 PM
I’m currently working on the IQ Calendar which will support something very close to what you want:
- You’ll be able to assign a date and a duration to an event / task. No need to set a time
- It will show in the calendar (in the top section)
- The calendar header would show the total time scheduled per day
- Drag-drop can be used to rearrange items and/or schedule it (give it a time)
- Visually, the calendar is an Outlook lookalike
- Recurring events are supported
Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Nov 10, 2009 at 01:41 AM
- Another option is to use a timeline type linear calendar with a loading chart, as shown here:
http://www.sqlnotes.net/Portals/0/GanttWorkload1.gif
You could see all tasks and move them around to be roughly around 100% loading
HTH
Posted by Graham Rhind
Nov 10, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Thanks Pierre Paul en Alexander.
I’m in the very luxurious position of defining my own project and tasks, my own workload and my own target dates. When I do have to complete a task with a defined due date, such as a conference presentation, I can simply postpone everything else until it’s ready, and then go back to my own tasks.
What I do find, though, is that I don’t have much idea about workload; or I plan something for a day I think is quiet but then find I’ve actually over-planned. Hence my wish for some sort of graphic solution.
I’ve tried Agenda at Once and at that time it had a bug in its recurring tasks, which has probably bee resolved in the meantime. But what that does require is that tasks are dragged to the calendar to be planned in - again, not my way of working.
What I like about Watership Planner is that it silently (and unobtrusively) fills the day with tasks as they are added, and silently shifts those in the time line as time progresses. I ignore any suggestions about the order that the tasks should be done (I define that, not any software I use), but what it does show at a glance is that I will finish work around 1 pm, for example, and so have lots of time for new ideas. If I have new ideas, a glance at the week overview tells me that Sunday has more planned than Monday, so I’ll add it for Monday. Similar to some Outlook add ins, to be sure, but much less obtrusive. So I can see total time planned and time available (also as figures and graphically outside the calendar window), and retain control over what is done when.
BUT ... Watership Planner creates all recurring tasks at once instead of when the previous task is completed. This allows for effective future planning but it doesn’t allow the inheritance of properties such as the notes or the context tags from one occurrence to the next, which is a real problem. The developer is working on a new version, but I’ve heard so many of these promises before from various suppliers that I prefer to work on the basis of what is available now than rely on what may be delivered one day ...
InfoQube continues to be an option, but it’s rather complex for what I require - it would need to be used as a replacement for several programs. I’m sure it’s absolutely capable of it, but I’m waiting for a completed manual so that I can get to a better understanding of what it can and can’t do (forgive me PPL if that is already available and I’ve missed it ...).