Is there any to-do list software that supports complex recurring tasks?
April 2, 2016 7:27 AM   Subscribe

For instance, setting a task to recur every 5 days, unless that day is a Sunday, in which case it recurs on the subsequent Monday.

If to-do list apps are a dime a dozen, I've tried at least twenty cents worth of them. My favorite so far is Toodledo (synced to Ultimate To-Do List on Android). It has some nice features, including several options for recurring tasks. Here are some examples of what it can do:
  • Set a task to recur 5 days after its due date
  • Set a task to recur 5 days after it's completed
  • Set a task to recur every Monday and Saturday
  • Set a task to recur the first Monday of each month
Recurring tasks are, to me, the single most useful aspect of a digital to-do list. However, I find myself wishing for more dynamic rules. Here are some examples of what I'd like to be able to do:
  • Set a task to recur every 5 days, unless that day is a Sunday, in which case it recurs on the subsequent Monday
  • Set a task to recur every 5 days, unless there are already 3 or more tasks with attribute X scheduled for that day
  • Set a task to alternate between recurring in 3 days and recurring in 6 days
  • Set a task which, if not completed by its due date, becomes a different task
  • Set a task which, even if overdue, is hidden from the list on weekends
Of course, I wouldn't expect these to all be explicit options; instead, I'm imagining a simple programming language. Something like "if [current_task = completed] AND [(current_day + 5) != Sunday] THEN [new_due_date = current_day + 5] ELSE [new_due_date = current_day + 6]".

If there currently is no to-do list software that supports this, is there any other software that I could jerry-rig to get the same effect (either in conjunction with Toodledo, or standalone)? I'm not much of a programmer yet, but I'm learning. My only hard requirement is that whatever I end up with has to be usable on Android, since otherwise it'll just be too inconvenient.
posted by CustooFintel to Computers & Internet (10 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think taskling can do this but it's SAAS.
posted by mikek at 8:40 AM on April 2, 2016


Yes, todoist does this really well. It's the primary app that I use. You can see more about its sophisticated scheduling possibilities here, including recurring dates. I rarely find a task management program that I like, but I've used this one for quite awhile now.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:35 AM on April 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Actually, maybe that's not quite as sophisticated as you are looking for.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:37 AM on April 2, 2016


Best answer: The Emacs diary and Org-mode let you specify with even arbitrary s-expressions.

Right out of the box, I know Org-mode lets you choose between repeats at fixed intervals or a certain period after the last completed one.
posted by vsync at 1:21 PM on April 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I have similar needs that aren't addressed by the popular apps/sites, so I have been wavering between trying orgmode and building something myself.
posted by rhizome at 2:18 PM on April 2, 2016


We use Asana for this kind of thing but I suspect it is expensive.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:36 PM on April 2, 2016


Best answer: Another vote for emacs org-mode, which is much more than a todo list and is endlessly customizable. The community is very smart and will help you write the elisp so long as you meet them halfway by doing some homework first.
posted by ck49 at 7:17 AM on April 4, 2016


Response by poster: Would org-mode be usable (feasibly) on an Android phone?
posted by CustooFintel at 8:10 AM on April 4, 2016


Best answer: Ah, I forgot about that requirement! There do appear to be some Android orgmode clients with varying functionality.
posted by rhizome at 1:01 PM on April 4, 2016


Have you looked into combining IFTTT and a to-do list? It supports loads of them and I think you can make pretty complex rules.

The other option I can think of would be doing something in Excel.
posted by chrispy108 at 1:11 AM on April 10, 2016


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