Fuzzy Due Dates

[bblais]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering how one handles what I'm calling Fuzzy Due Dates. It's something that doesn't have to be done on a specific date, but if it goes past a particular date it is really bad, but the day before is also bad but less so, etc... It's not a sharp deadline, but gets worse as you approach a particular date. Putting it in the calendar on the last possible date ("Really important thing due no later than today") doesn't do justice to the importance of the date, but not putting a due date doesn't stress this either. Anyone experience this?

 

[SethA]

SkedPal can help you with this. It uses Fuzzy Planning so instead of setting a sharp deadline, you can set a time frame (e.g. need to get this done some time this week, the earlier the better.) The closer it gets to the last day of the time frame, the hotter the task becomes. It turns from green to yellow and then to red.

 

[mcogilvie]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering how one handles what I'm calling Fuzzy Due Dates. It's something that doesn't have to be done on a specific date, but if it goes past a particular date it is really bad, but the day before is also bad but less so, etc... It's not a sharp deadline, but gets worse as you approach a particular date. Putting it in the calendar on the last possible date ("Really important thing due no later than today") doesn't do justice to the importance of the date, but not putting a due date doesn't stress this either. Anyone experience this?

If you really mean it, then perhaps the real due date is the last date for which no badness attaches... unless that date is impossible to make. In that case, you want to do something as soon as possible but no later than some due date which would be bad to miss. But that describes almost everything with a due date: as soon as possible but no later than the due date.

I'm guessing your "fuzzy due dates" are associated with agreements with someone other than yourself, and the problem is a lack of clarity. If I commit to a due date, I will either meet it or renegotiate the agreement. If someone wants it earlier, it requires a new agreement.

Perhaps you are concerned that there will not be enough time to complete a project before the due date, for example if a next action stalls and stalls the project with it. That's where the natural planning model and the weekly review come in. You have to use them to have confidence that you are giving the different parts of your life appropriate attention.