In this article, we cover a few key concepts that help you understand the fundamentals of how Reclaim manages Tasks and Task events on your calendar.
The calendar is the source of truth
The calendar is the source of truth for what actually happened in order to determined what work needs to be scheduled. Thus, altering past Task Events can impact your future schedule — as can editing future events. Check out this doc for more information on how modifying Task events will impact scheduling.
Reclaim assumes the work was done
When time passes for a Task Event, Reclaim assumes the work was done in the time block that was scheduled. If what is on the calendar does not reflect what happened in actuality, you can reschedule the Task. Additionally, you can enable a setting that will automatically reopen tasks that aren't marked done by you.
Tasks vs Task Events
A Task represents the overall Task you need to complete. Each Task will have one or more Task Event(s) that represent the time blocks for you to do the work.
Example: Task A with a total duration of 6 hours and a minimum event size of 1h and a max event size of 2h could have the following Task events scheduled:
Task Event A (2 hrs)
Task Event B (1 hr)
Task Event C (1.5 hrs)
Task Event D (1.5 hrs)
You can customize how Tasks break up into different Task events via changing your default Task settings, or for a given Task when creating it.
Changes to a Task Event does not change the Task itself
Changes to a Task Event from the calendar will impact the schedule, but not the overall Task. For example, if you delete a Task event, that won't reduce the total duration Reclaim wants to find to complete the Task -- it will instead reschedule the time to later.
Time defense for Tasks
Reclaim intelligently flips Task events between Free and Busy time depending on how at-risk a Task is as well as how busy your schedule is.
Tasks marked as Free 🆓
Task Events are scheduled as Free time when Reclaim sees more than one possible option for getting it scheduled before your due date.
Tasks marked as Busy 🛡️
Task Events turn to Busy on when Reclaim sees only no other possible options for scheduling all Task Events before your due date, or when any event created for the Task would push past your due date.
Scheduling over a Task
If an event is created over a Task Event (e.g. new meeting invitation is accepted), the Task Event will automatically reschedule to the next available time regardless of whether the Task Event is Free, Busy, or if you are past due. The only exception to this rule is if the Task is locked.