Option to disable assignment of scheduled date for recurring tasks

[Mauwzola]

⚠️ Please check that this feature request hasn't been suggested before.

• [X] I searched previous Ideas in Discussions didn't find any similar feature requests.
• [X] I searched previous Issues didn't find any similar feature requests.
• [X] I am only requesting a single feature. Multiple changes should be split into individual requests, with links between them.
• [X] I believe my requested feature will be generally applicable to other users, not just me: it is not uniquely tied to my personal workflow.

🔖 Feature description

I schedule all my tasks at the start of the week. A lot of them are recurring tasks. When I complete those tasks, the replacement tasks have a comparable Scheduled Date assigned to them, but I want to leave that blank. I only want the Start and Due Dates to carry forward.

✔️ Solution

I would like to see a toggle switch added to the settings that allows me to turn off the automatic assignment of Scheduled Dates on Recurring Tasks. While I don't need it, you might want to add similar toggles for Start and Due Dates.

❓ Alternatives

No response

📝 Additional Context

No response

[claremacrae]

Hi, to make this request easier to understand - and ensure correctness of understanding - please supply as Markdown text some example task lines, and show the current behaviour, and what you want the new behaviour to be.

Also, please can you explain why you wish the scheduled date to be blank? I presume there is something about your workflow that makes this useful, but clarification would be appreciated.

[Mauwzola]

Thanks for the quick response!

I'm not sure adding some example tasks will help, but I think I can better explain this.

I'll begin by noting that, as I use it, Scheduled Date always falls between the Start Date and the Due Date. Initially, most of my tasks have just a Start Date and, optionally, a Due Date. I add the Scheduled Date as the Due Date draws nearer and I have some idea of when I'll be able to work on the task.

I generally just assign Start Dates to my Recurring Tasks. For example, I have a "Wash the kitchen floor" task that Recurs Weekly When Done. At present, it has a Start Date of Sunday. On Fridays, I sit down to review all my tasks that start or are due next week (and not yet scheduled) and assign them Scheduled Dates based on everything I have going on next week. If it's a slow week, I might schedule the floor wash for Monday. If it's a busy week, I might schedule them for Friday. Once I complete the tasks, I want the new task to have a Start Date one week hence, but I don't want it to have a Scheduled Date so that it shows up in the query I use for my Friday review of upcoming but unscheduled tasks.

Does that make sense?

[Mauwzola]

BTW, rather than a global option, you could consider adding this option to each task. Either would work, although the latter might add to the clutter on tasks.

[claremacrae]

Thank you for the reply - the description helps, but asking every reader of this ticket to read and internalise several paragraphs of text, especially when some may not have English as a first language, can be more time-consuming than reading one or two carefully crafted examples....

And the examples will be useful for writing automated tests, should somebody choose to work on this.

[claremacrae]

Hi @Mauwzola,

And the examples will be useful for writing automated tests, should somebody choose to work on this.

Thanks for the replies so far.

I’ll leave this open a couple more days, in the hope that you are kindly able to provide the below, to save the time of anyone volunteering on this, both in confirming understanding of the request and in writing automated tests to confirm the behaviour.

Hi, to make this request easier to understand - and ensure correctness of understanding - please supply as Markdown text some example task lines, and show the current behaviour, and what you want the new behaviour to be.

[Mauwzola]

- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-04-07 ⏳ 2024-04-09

As things currently work in Tasks, if I mark the task above as complete on April 8 April 10, a new task will be created that looks like this:

- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08 ⏳ 2024-07-10

At this point, I know that I want to start thinking about doing this task again in three months. But until the date draws nearer, I've no idea when I can fit it into my schedule. And since it's a low priority task, I have a lot of flexibility in scheduling it.

Since this is my usual workflow, rather than editing every recurring task after it's completed, I'd like to see a setting added that allows me to disable (i.e., turn off) the automatic generation of Scheduled Date when recurring tasks are completed. In other words, after completing the task above, I'd like to new task to look like this:

- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08

[claremacrae]

Thank you - that’s very helpful indeed.

[claremacrae]

- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-04-07 ⏳ 2024-04-09

As things currently work in Tasks, if I mark the task above as complete on April 8, a new task will be created that looks like this:

- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08 ⏳ 2024-07-10

I've tried reproducing the above, and oddly when I complete it on the 8th April I get different results from you:

- [x] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08 ⏳ 2024-07-10 ✅ 2024-04-08
- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-06 ⏳ 2024-07-08

It's only when I complete it on the 10th April that I get the same results as you:

- [x] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08 ⏳ 2024-07-10 ✅ 2024-04-10
- [ ] Wipe down kitchen cupboards 🔽 🔁 every 3 months when done 🛫 2024-07-08 ⏳ 2024-07-10

What have I misunderstood?

[Mauwzola]

Sorry for the confusion, Clare. I should have said April 10. It was morning and I hadn't yet figured out we'd moved on to April 10 when I wrote that.

[claremacrae]

Thanks - I've edited the comment...