Deferred / Sequence / Available interaction

I’m trying to setup a daily routine project with the intention of creating a perspective that shows “First Available” tasks that are flagged. So imagine I have a project with the following tasks:

-Task 1
-Task 2
-Task 3

Each task is flagged and setup to auto-defer after completion. The project is set as sequential. My expectation is that as soon as I complete Task 1, then Task 2 would be the first available task in the project. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case. None of the other tasks in the project are Available, presumably because Task 1 is still incomplete (it is deferred to the next day). Is this intended behavior?

I think it’s intended, and logical, too. The first task (“Task 1”) in this particular setup you outline, is never truly “completed” in a sequential list. It would be completed if the last repeating instance of Task 1 is complete. Then, “Task 2” would be the next available task.

Is it a solution to simply group the 3 tasks (Organize > Group (Alt+Cmd+G)) and make that group recurring (daily) and a sequential project?

Interestingly, marking the project as “Parallel” seems to accomplish what I want. This isn’t entirely intuitive to me, but that’s probably just because I don’t understand.

Glad you have it working.

I think the logic you were missing is that “First Available” just picks the first available task. Other tasks can be available, but won’t show up in a “First Available” perspective.

“Sequential” makes all tasks other than the first unavailable until the first is complete.

I think the mistake is in the second part. Auto-defering Task 1 after completion will keep it top. Task 2 will never be the “first available” in a sequential list. In a parallel list, Task 1 - Task 3 will be “first available”.

Either group the tasks and defer the group our defer only the project not each tasks.


JJW

Deferring the project seems to have the same effect as deferring each individual tasks. How is grouping tasks different than making a project? I’ve been working mostly on iOS, but I can try grouping on my Mac at home.

I may have misunderstood your need. You want one of these

  • A sequential list of tasks where each task is flagged, each has its own defer date (three different defer dates), and none of the tasks are to repeat.
  • A sequential list of tasks where the entire list is flagged (as a project or group), the entire list is deferred (one defer date on the project or group), and the entire list is not to be repeated.
  • A parallel list of tasks where each task is flagged and each task repeats again with its own defer date (three different defer another dates and tasks repeat independently of each other).
  • A parallel list of tasks where each task is flagged and the group repeats again with a defer date (one defer another date that does not happen until all tasks are done and the group repeats).

The ONLY times you CONSISTENTLY will see Task 2 appear as (first) AVAILABLE are the last three. In the last two, you will see all three tasks appear as (first) available all of the time.

Basically, use a group when the list of three tasks are a sub-project within a bigger project.


JJW

Or maybe this is being overthought?

Why do you need to limit to “First Available” if the project is sequential? In a sequential project, just “Available” should be adequate criteria, since tasks are not available until their predecessors are completed.

ScottyJ

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