Handling recurrent 'NONK' Tasks in MLO

[Tolqua]

One of my Litmus tests for any task management system is the ease with which it handles recurrent ‘NONK’ (next occurrence not known) tasks.  We all have these, they’re those regular tasks, usually appointments, where the next occurrence isn’t known until you’ve completed the current one.  Appointments with your dentist, doctor, hairdresser, vet, pet-groomer, chiropodist and so on are common examples, but I’ve been amazed how many task managers don’t make the job of creating the next one a simple task.  Many’s the time I’ve been given the next available date and had to take the appointment card and do it later when I’m back at my desk because it’s just too clumsy to do it on the phone app.  This is an obvious point of failure – if it’s not done there and then it’s easily forgotten.

 

It should be a simple job to make a copy of the current appointment then just enter the new time and date, but despite the common nature of this scenario it’s rarely catered for in an efficient and elegant way.  Ideally a ‘Complete and Create Next’ button would be available straight from the reminder, but in practice it’s never that easy. 

 

How do I handle NONK tasks in MLO?

Tolqua.

[Stéph]

The mobile (iOS, and I hear Android) version has more limited options for setting recurrence but, on the desktop version you can set recurrence to x weeks after you check a task off as completed.  You can always set that up and then manually change the date if it doesn't occur on a strictly consistent timescale.

However, the way I do it is to just reset the start and due dates on my task to the next occurrence, instead of checking off as completed.  For the record, I just make a note of the date of the last occurrence in the notes of the task. That works for me, rather than checking off.

Hope that helps,

Stéph

[Christoph Zwerschke]

Am 12.05.2016 um 14:44 schrieb Tolqua:
> It should be a simple job to make a copy of the current appointment then
> just enter the new time and date, but despite the common nature of this
> scenario it’s rarely catered for in an efficient and elegant way.
> Ideally a ‘Complete and Create Next’ button would be available straight
> from the reminder, but in practice it’s never that easy.
>
> How do I handle NONK tasks in MLO?

You can either set it up as a recurrent task (using the pattern
"recreate after task is completed"), then it will be automatically
recreated. Alternatively, for a normal task, you can use "alternative
complete" (hold down Ctrl while marking as complete).

-- Chris

[Tolqua]

Thanks Stéph, but the point is that the next date isn't known in advance.  I suppose you could set the auto next appointment for a really short period so it appeared later the same day.  That would make it easy to find then change the date, but it's still a bit of a fudge.

Changing the date of the existing appointment is okay as long as you don't need a record of the completed appointment task, but no use if you do.

Tolqua.

[Tolqua]

Thanks Chris, but I don't think you've understood.

Recreating after completion generates the next occurrence at a specified period after this time/date - the point is this isn't known in advance so the period can't be specified until you're at the appointment and they give you the date for the next appointment.  It's also normally a specific date rather than a fixed period after the current one - I'll usually want my next haircut in about another six weeks, but the actual date will depend on the slots available around this time.

I'm not sure about the 'alternative complete' - if this can generate a copy of the task and allow you to get directly to the time/date setting it's perfect, but it sounds like it's something that's only available on the desktop (hold Ctrl...), so again, not much help when you're at the appointment.  If there's away to do this on the Android version it may be just the ticket.

Tolqua.

[Christoph Zwerschke]

Am 12.05.2016 um 19:58 schrieb Tolqua:
> I'm not sure about the 'alternative complete' - if this can generate a
> copy of the task and allow you to get directly to the time/date setting
> it's perfect, but it sounds like it's something that's only available on
> the desktop (hold Ctrl...), so again, not much help when you're at the
> appointment.

Yes, sorry, I was talking about the desktop. The feature probably
doesn't exist on Android.

Another question is whether you really want to manage your appointments
in MLO. Personally, I keep my fixed appointments (the "hard landscape"
in GTD terminology) in the calendar app outside MLO. When making an
appointment I need to look there anyway to avoid collisions. You could
still add a recurring task in MLO that reminds you to make an
appointment for certain things that need to be done regularly.

-- Chris

[Dwight Arthur]

On Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 12:49:00 PM UTC-4, Tolqua wrote:

[...]Changing the date of the existing appointment is okay as long as you don't need a record of the completed appointment task, but no use if you do.

Not true. My proposal would be very close to Steph's. I would start on Windows and create a task "get haircut" with the following attributes:
Start date and time: the date and time of my next haircut appointment.
Due date and time: One minute later.
Lead time: 1 minute
Lead time locked. "Use time" turned on.
Recurrence: from the Hourly section, recur one minute after completion. (The drop down menu does not offer 1 minute; just edit it to say "1m".)
In the advanced recurrence options, be sure that the checkbox for "do not create a completed copy" is unchecked

OK, now when you go to your next haircut, use your phone to mark the task completed. You will now have a completed task representing the haircut you just had, and another open task that is probably a few minutes overdue. Make sure that you are using a view that will show both the new (uncompleted) and old (completed) tasks, otherwise these tasks may seem to vanish upon creation. So when you make your next appointment, edit the new task to show the new start date and time. Done.

As an aside, I am not comfortable having stuff like this in my task manager. Google Calendar is a very fine calendar, which handles tasks but not very well. MLO is a superb task manager, which could be turned into a calendar by pretending that tasks with dates are appointments. But it's not a very good calendar. I like to keep things that happen at a scheduled time and date in my calendar and things that are managed to get as much stuff (and the right stuff) done as possible belong in my task manager. Maybe someday there will be a program which is the best available task manager and the best available calendar in a single app but I am not going to waste much time looking for that app. Back in the 20th century I had a Palm Pilot which kept my daily appointments and my daily to-do's in a single gadget (with an entire megabyte of memory). It was great but I expect a lot more from both calendars and task managers nowadays.

[Tolqua]

Thanks Chris.

I don't really have enough appointments to justify using a calendar which is why I want the 'Complete and create NONK instance' ready to input the new date/time.

Looks like Dwight's sorted it!

Tolqua.

[Tolqua]

Nice one Dwight!  Haven't tried it yet, but it looks like you've sorted it from what I can see. 

BTW, my comment "...Changing the date of the existing appointment is okay as long as you don't need a record of the completed appointment task, but no use if you do." is still correct (I think) because Steph was suggesting changing the date/time of the CURRENT task before completing it - He doesn't require the task to be completed or need a completed task as a record so it's much simpler in his situation. 

Also, I did suggest in my reply to Steph "...I suppose you could set the auto next appointment for a really short period so it appeared later the same day".  That's basically your solution, although you've given full details of how to set it up.  Maybe less of a fudge than I thought - If it works I don't care.

Tolqua.