TASKERGTD in practice · 3 min read
Calendar and deadlines in GTD
Dmytro Sokolnikov, maker of Tasker ·
Why the calendar is not for everything
A common mistake is to scatter every task across the days: “email on Tuesday, the garage on Wednesday”. Tuesday passes, tasks crawl to Wednesday, and within a week the calendar is a list of postponements.
When the calendar holds only real commitments — appointments, meetings, calls at a set hour — you can trust it: what is there will happen.
What goes on the calendar
- meetings and appointments with a time: “dentist on Thursday at 10:00”;
- things that make sense only on a particular day: “wish mom a happy birthday”;
- things to know for the day: “water is off tomorrow — fill up some bottles”.
A deadline is not the day you do it
A task can have two dates. The first is when you plan to work on it. The second is the deadline it must be ready by: file the report by the 20th, renew the insurance by the end of the month.
If you write down only the deadline, the task appears in front of you on the last day — when it is already too late. So write the deadline apart, with a warning a few days ahead, and work on the task when it suits you.
Week, month, year
Not every task is tied to a day. “Buy winter tires” is for this month, “renew my passport” for this year. Such tasks are best seen apart from days: they don’t press on you daily, and they don’t get lost either.
How to plan the week
During the weekly review, look at the next seven days: where the meetings are and where the free windows are. A free window can hold a big task that needs time — like a meeting with yourself.
Don’t pack the day tight: between tasks you need room for travel, breaks and surprises.
Don’t overload the calendar — and it won’t let you down!
How it works in Tasker
Calendar in Tasker shows a day, 3 days or a week — as a grid by the hour or as a list; how many days fit depends on the screen width. Tasks without a time sit apart, in “No time”. On a computer you can drag a task with the mouse to another time or day, and drag its bottom edge to change the duration.
Duration can also be set in the date window: “+ until” next to the start time.
A task for a week, month or year is set in the same date window with the “Day · Week · Month · Year” switch. On the calendar such tasks are a separate block above the days.
A deadline in Tasker is a “Target date”: the day an item must be finished by. Turn it on in the menu on the item’s icon — a window opens right away, pick the day; projects and checklists already have it on, and their day is picked on the item’s page. Next to it — “Warn”: how many days ahead the deadline starts to light up.
All deadlines are gathered in the Target dates section, and the ones getting close also show up on Today. Which hours the grid shows is set in your profile — “Calendar hours”.
The calendar by the hour and Target dates are part of advanced mode. In basic mode Calendar shows tasks by days, and tasks for a week, month or year are in Plans.
All Tasker features →