Repeating tasks in general notes
This is a workflow that works very well for me in Noteplan. Learning Spanish is part of my daily routine. Every day I sit down for half an hour with my favorite learning app and hand-written material. I wanted to use Noteplan to
- remind me every day
- plan upcoming lessons
- keep track of progress
First attempts with “Move Task to …” and @repeat(…) failed miserably. After some experimentation this method emerged.
List of lessons
Everything happens within one single general note called “Spanish”. It contains a list of tasks:
- [ ] Busuu Spanish A2 38 >2021-03-23
- [ ] Busuu Spanish A2 37 >2021-03-22
- [ ] Busuu Spanish A2 36 >2021-03-21
- [ ] Busuu Spanish A2 35 >2021-03-20
- [x] Busuu Spanish A2 34 >2021-03-19
- [x] Busuu Spanish A2 33 >2021-03-18
- [x] Busuu Spanish A2 32 >2021-03-17
- [x] Busuu Spanish A2 31 >2021-03-17
Catching up on yesterday's missed lesson
- [x] Busuu Spanish A2 30 >2021-03-15
This list helps me maintain a steady pace of one lesson every day. If I miss one lesson, like on March 16, I change the date and catch up the next day.
I do everything manually, with one exception. I used LibreOffice Calc to create the initial list with about 90 entries, then copy-and-pasted it into Noteplan.
In order to reduce clutter, I do not copy these task into my daily notes. Date tags make them show up in daily view as “references”. When I miss a lesson, the task shows up as “Overdue” (iOS).
List of classes
The same general note contains a list for classes:
- [ ] Reminder: Prepaid amount for Spanish classes expires end of July. #_expires/2021/08/01 >2021-07-01
- 5. Spanish Class @mario
- Decide: Continue classes with Mario?
- 4. Spanish Class @mario
- [ ] 3. Spanish Class @mario >2021-03-26
- [ ] Make appointment for next week
- [ ] Homework Mario: read Chapter 7 >2021-03-21
- [x] 2. Spanish Class @mario >2021-03-19
- [x] 1. Spanish Class @mario >2021-03-12
It contains 5 entries for classes, because I have paid for 5 classes. I have already completed two classes. The next class is scheduled for March 26. I still have to do my homework. I plan to do it on March 21. Two classes are not active tasks yet. I will convert them to tasks when the classes are booked.
I added an expiration date with nested tags and a reminder one month before that date. Just in case. ;–) The underscore in #_expires only affects the sort order in the sidebar, it has no other meaning. I hope that everything works out with Mario. Once all paid lessons are taken, this line can be removed.
I don't mark done tasks as @done(…), because all completed tasks already have a date assigned to them and I don't need to record a specific time.
I like to call >-dates in general notes date tags, because they have more in common with #-hashtags or @-mentions than with [[links]]. I don't link the task to a daily note. I tag the task, so that it can be displayed in calendar-based views. Tasks in regular notes can be filtered by their date tag with Review (mixed results), Overdue View (works well) and Daily View (works well).
I find these lists satisfying. Every task appears in the meaningful context of a planned path towards a specific goal. Every day I do my work, I can mark another task as completed. It's nice to get visual feedback for progress.