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Adding tasks with no due date automatically

xxjohnboy says:
I just submitted this idea. Is there any way to achieve this already. I am a long time user of rtm and I dont think there is...

"I know that I can do repeating tasks which is very useful. What would be extra useful is to be able to add a task automatically on a certain date, but not having the date as part of the task.

The reason for this is that I use the iCal export into my yahoo or sunbird calendar and it gets clogged with menial tasks that I have repeating constantly. eg. I have my "workout" task set to repeat with the following command "every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday" when in reality I don't actually have a set schedule for my workouts, I just need to make sure I do five workouts a week. I also use this method for things like "write ten minutes of lyrics" which I have to repeat to make sure I do at least 50 minutes of lyrics a week, but I don't want it to be set for a specific time. I just want it added to my list. I could then use this for all my repeating menial tasks like cleaning and guitar practice etc which allows me flexibility in when I get jobs done, whilst ensuring that I am still hitting my quota.

In summary, a simple auto add function that works exactly like the repeat function, but without applying the date to the task. What do you think?"
Posted at 2:06pm on July 3, 2011
brendan says:
It's not currently possible to auto-add tasks without a due date the way you described, but I'll make sure the development team gets this for review.

In the meantime, you may want to try using tasks that repeat "after 1 day". These tasks will create a new occurrence only when you have completed the previous occurrence. This may prevent your calendar from becoming clogged with tasks that are generated every day.

You can find more information about the difference between "every" and "after" repeating tasks here.

Hope that helps!
Posted 13 years ago
xxjohnboy says:
Hi Brendan,

Thanks for you help.

I am surprised at the lack of support in the forum for this idea which I have posted in the ideas forum. Perhaps I am missing something? I am a GTD man though I want to incorporate the 7 habits priority system as well. I have a work around but it is getting ugly..

This is the list I use for my iCal feed to avoid getting a clogged up calendar
_cal Next Actions Important
priority:2 AND isTagged:true AND NOT (tag:event OR tag:birthday OR tag:nocalendar)

Then my actual "Next Actions Important" list which includes my repeating tasks is
priority:2 (due:today or dueBefore:"today" or due:never) AND isTagged:true AND NOT (tag:event OR tag:birthday)

When I tag a task with a context such as @home or @office it becomes an action. For my repeating tasks that I don't want to have show on the calendar, i have to tag them with "nocalendar" and then exclude those tasks with that tag in the _cal list.

Ideally I would like them to have no date at all so they just don't show up. It would be great if I could just make it add a task like "Workout" 3 times a week but with no due date.

In essence, I want it to automatically add this task
Workout !2 #@home

every Monday Wednesday and Friday

Which I believe is your understanding of what I want. But I already had this typed up from my other post in the ideas forum :)
Posted 13 years ago
xxjohnboy says:
As a follow up. I just noticed an old post I did about chocolate that would also benefit from this style of adding tasks without a due date. It is here http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/tips/9334/

I'm still on my symbian, and will be going android as soon as I can afford a new phone
Posted 13 years ago
brendan says:
Thanks for the clarification on this.

Currently, all repeating tasks will have a due date. When a new occurrence of the task series is created, its due date will be set automatically based on the repeat interval.

If you haven't already, you may want to vote for this in our Ideas forum and add your feedback to the forum thread as well. This idea seems to be similar to your suggestion.

Thanks!
Posted 13 years ago
This topic has now been closed automatically due to a lack of responses in the past 90 days.