What is a Task?

A task is a unit of work with an objective that can be completed. A project is a task that represents a collection of multiple tasks.

[1.1] A task can contain other tasks. So an ideal task management solution can organize tasks into a hierarchical structure.

[1.2] A single task can be relevant to multiple projects. So an ideal task management solution can organize tasks into a graph.

[1.3] Humans use lists to represent tasks that occur in sequential order. Yet a sequential order of tasks is also a (flat) hierarchical structure. So an ideal task management solution does NOT need a dedicated task list feature when a sequential order of tasks can be created through other means.

[1.1] Hierarchical Structure
[1.2] Graph Structure
[1.3] List Structure (Sequential Ordering)

How is a Task Manager Used?

A task represents a documented state of a physical task.

[2.1] The single source of truth for the task's completion is reality. So an ideal task management solution can manage the state of a task based on conditions (that occur in real life).

This feature includes the creation, update, and deletion of tasks on a conditional basis.

[2.2] Automation isn't a zero marginal cost activity: Humans compensate for this by managing the state of a task's completion manually. So an ideal task management solution provides manual controls for a task.

[2.1] Conditional Task Control
[2.12] A recurring task is a conditional task based on time.
[2.2] Manual Task Control

Task Information

The human brain is NOT designed to store modern task structures efficiently. So humans use task managers to reference these tasks.

[3.1] A task can require information to complete. So an ideal task management solution allows notes to be stored within the task.

[3.2] A task can maintain information related to itself. So an ideal task management solution can assign metadata (e.g., tags) to a task.

[3.21] This feature allows an ideal task management solution to implement views of tasks grouped by tags or other metadata.

[3.22] Since a task can have multiple completion statuses, an ideal task management solution allows the customization of task status states.

[3.23] Specific data can be important to a task depending on the objective of the human using it. So an ideal task management solution allows the customization of metadata fields.

[3.3] A project is a task that contains other tasks in a specified order. This order is determined using context. So an ideal task management solution allows tasks in projects (i.e., lists, hierarchies, graphs) to be annotated with context at the project level.

[3.1] Task Notes
[3.2] Task Metadata
[3.21] Task Views (of collections [e.g., group, tags])
[3.22] Task Completion Status
[3.23] Metadata Customization
[3.3] Project-Task Context Annotations

Task Ownership

When humans work together, it's common for them to collaborate using the same task manager.

[4.1] An ideal task management solution can create tasks with entity (user) metadata that specifies who is responsible for the task's completion.

This feature provides another method of categorizing tasks together.

[4.2] Some humans are malicious, so user permissions must be defined to prevent malice: An ideal task management solution contains access controls that control other users' permissions to modify a task.

4.1 Task Ownership and Assignment
4.2 Task Manager Permissions (Access Controls)

Task Planning

Humans measure time in intervals.

• The day is an interval that spans 24 hours.
• The month is an interval that spans up to 31 days.
• The year spans 365 days.

[5.1] An ideal task management solution shows how tasks are planned among various intervals or integrates with a system that does (e.g., Calendar).

[5.2] A scheduler is a system that helps multiple humans plan tasks across a time period.

Task planning is not the same as time tracking: A task planner plans how time is expected to be used, while a time tracker measures how time is used in reality.

5.1 Time Planning
5.2 Task Scheduling

Limitations of a Task Manager

A task manager is unable to complete a productive task for a human. In other words, a human must perform a given task for that task to be completed.

This limitation means that a task management solution cannot increase the capacity of a human's productivity (since a task manager only documents a task's state). Instead, a task manager makes a human more EFFICIENT, which improves their productivity.

Task Management Solutions

Paper has served as a task management solution for a long time because it provides every feature an ideal task management solution requires in an unstructured manner.

Paper is inefficient because it requires a human to physically acquire and maintain its condition. These actions are more expensive than using virtual representations of paper (e.g., Mobile Notes, Notepad).

Current

Modern task management solutions use computing and the internet to deliver collaborative task management solutions. However, these solutions lack the features of an ideal task management solution and are expensive.

Upcoming

The SwitchUpCB Productivity System aims to implement a productivity system that contains all the required features for an ideal task management solution at a competitive price.

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