Inbox Tasks

A task is some atomic unit of work. Tasks live in the “inbox”. A task is ideal to model work which can be done in anything from a minute to a day (excluding wait or idle times). They can be created by hand, or automatically as recurring tasks for a certain period.

For example, you can have a task like "Change AC filter", or "Take visa papers to embassy", or "Research team off-site locations".

Tasks have a status, which can be one of:

• Accepted: all tasks you created by hand should start with this status. It means you’re going to start working on the task in the near future.
• Recurring: all tasks you created via recurring tasks and jupiter gen start with this status. It means you’re going to start working on the task in the near future.
• In Progress: all tasks you’re currently working on should be placed in this status. Once you start working on a task you should move it to this status, and keep it there until it’s finished or the parts that depend on you are done, and you can move in the “Blocked” state.
• Blocked: all tasks that are currently handled by someone else, and their completion is not in your hands. Once your part of the task is done, you should move it to the “Blocked” status. It can move back and forth to “In Progress”, and then to “Not Done” or “Done”.
• Done: all tasks that are finished, with the desired outcome.
• Not Done: all tasks that are finished, but not with the desired outcome.
• Archived: tasks which have been archived via jupiter gc are moved here. You can also achieve them via manually changing their status too.
• No Status: tasks which you perhaps created, but don’t plan on actioning in any way.

Tasks also have a source, which can be one of:

• User: the task has been generated by the user. It is the default source which is inferred if there isn't anything else.
• Habit: the task has been generated from a habit.
• Chore: the taks has been generated from a chore
• Big Plan: the task belongs to a big plan.
• Metric: the task has been generated for a particular metric.
• Person Catch Up: the task has been generated as a catch up task for a person.
• Person Birthday: the taks has been generated as a birthday task for a person.

In the Inbox, you can see tasks in a sort of Kanban board, organised by status like this:

The state evolution diagram is:

You can create a task via regular Notion mechanisms (pressing the various "New" buttons), or Jupiter can create one for you from the recurring tasks templates via jupiter gen. You can remove a task by simply removing the Notion record of it.

Tasks have an optional actionable date. Sometimes, it does not make sense to work on a task before a certain date. Think paying a bill which will be provided in a week. If a task has an actionable date, it won't be visible in the boards until a week before it.

Tasks have a deadline. It’s optional, but it’s strongly recommended you add one as a goal setting rule.

Tasks can also be labeled according to the Eisenhower matrix, as either urgent or important.

Tasks also have a notion of difficulty. They can be catalogued as Easy, Medium or Hard. These inform the way certain views are sorted. But there's no other semantic meaning attached to these categories though.

In Notion a task might look like this:

The “From Script”, “Recurring Period” and “Recurring Timeline” fields are relevant only for recurring tasks.

The Inbox

The inbox is a representation of your current work, as well as the work you recently finished or will recently start. It's a collection of tasks. They are created here in the “Accepted” or “Recurring” states, depending on who created them (you, or the system via jupiter gen, respectively).

The inbox looks like a Kanban board usually, with the various states of a task as columns.

There are multiple views for the inbox though right now:

• Kanban All: views all tasks in the inbox as a Kanban board.
• Kanban With Eisen: views all tasks in the inbox as a Kanban board, split by the Eisenhower status.
• Kanban Habits: views all habits as a Kanban board.
• Kanban By Project: views all tasks in the inbox as a Kanban board, split by projects.
• Database: views all tasks in the inbox as a Excel-like table.
• Kanban Due $InPeriod Or Exceeded: views all tasks due in a certain period (week or month) or those that have exceeded their deadlines as a Kanban board.
• Not Completed By Date: views all not done tasks in a calendar. Having due dates is important for this purpose.

Here’s a sneak peak at some views: