Forums

Discuss all things Remember The Milk.

Start & Due

francola says:
I am curious as to how others use Start and Due dates with RTM.

For Due dates I am pretty strict about not using them unless a task actually must be done on that day.

For Start dates I use a smart list named "In Progress" with a rule of "Start date - is before - Tomorrow" for items that I need to have in progress, but are not actually due yet.

Please share some of your methods.

Thanks,
Frank
Posted at 7:58pm on February 16, 2016
jersiaise says:
Interesting question, I'm also curious to read about different possibilities!

Personally, I try to put a due date on every task, even if it doesn't really need one. I work a lot with due dates as search operators in my smart lists; I use them as a kind of "resubmission".

I use start dates only for tasks which can only be begun at a certain point (e.g. my tax declaration, which I can only start filling in when the year has ended), or that shouldn't be done before a certain date (e.g. watering some of my plants, which don't need to be watered every day, but only every week, for example).
Posted 8 years ago
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
I never put due dates on tasks that don't have one (where I would invent a due date myself).
Start dates I use for tasks that can't be started yet or for repetetive tasks (like cleaning the fridge) that I've just completed and don't want to be reminded about until when it's due again. So basically a filter, not necessarily resulting in tasks that should have progress, rather tasks that can have progress.
Posted 8 years ago
(closed account) says:
I use start dates and times just like raymond.bergmark. I have a smart list called "!Available" with tasks that can be worked on. The query is:

(((startBefore:now OR (isSubtask:false and start:never)) AND status:incomplete))

Because I only add data to subtasks if they differ from the data for their parent tasks, many of my subtasks don't have start dates of their own, but their parent tasks sometimes do. The query keeps those subtasks off the smart list.
Posted 8 years ago
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
michaelpmanti: Actually, there is no need to include status:incomplete in searches. The resulting list is the same, the only difference is that the link to completed tasks is greyed out. RTM doesn't allow showing incomplete and completed tasks at the same time.
Posted 8 years ago
(closed account) says:
raymond.bergmark: That's good to know. I prefer to keep the status:incomplete explicit, though, to remind myself of the intent behind the list.
Posted 8 years ago
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
michaelpmanti: I see your point. Actually, it would be nice to be able to see both completed and incomplete tasks at the same time, in order to see the progress in different projects.
Posted 8 years ago
carloscadu says:
I can see in google calendar just tasks with due dates. Does anyone know if it is possible to set RTM <> gcal integration in order to show start dates too? This way a task with start date in Mar 7 and due date in Mar 10 would be represented as a 4 day event. Thanks!
Posted 8 years ago
xtoq says:
Doesn't seem to be a feature yet, and I kind of doubt it will be implemented because Google doesn't seem to have support for a start date on their side. You could probably write a script/app that setup the integration for you and just put the start date in the description field or even use start date instead of due date for some tasks.

I know that the Gcal integration is limited by Google in a lot of ways, like for example the update timing. Calling it wonky is kind...
Posted 8 years ago
carloscadu says:
Hi xtoq.
"Doesn't seem to be a feature yet, and I kind of doubt it will be implemented because Google doesn't seem to have support for a start date on their side".
=> Google calendar can handle start and due date easily (http://i.imgur.com/gG22pcv.png). Actually, in some task apps (e.g. GQueues) that can handle start date, when you set start and due dates, it shows in the Google calendar feed the duration of the task. I thought RMT could do the same...
Posted 8 years ago
xtoq says:
Ah, I see what you mean. I feel personally that using the "end date" in GCal as a "due date" is a bit of a workaround, yet I do agree that it is technically possible. I've never paid for GQueues and when I did the trial I can't remember using start dates so I didn't experience that implementation.

I don't use the Gantt-chart type of scheduling system though, so it would not have occurred to me to try it with Gqueues. Thanks for pointing that out!
Posted 8 years ago
Log in to post a reply.