Calendar based task and time management systems and methods

Abstract

A software solution for managing, sorting and ranking lists of tasks and integrating task and time management, such that tasks can be automatically or manually assigned to specified time blocks. Users can monitor the relationship between volume of tasks and available time in which to complete them. The solution and method can be applied to individual task lists as well as to the management of time across multiple projects and can be employed either by individuals or by collaborative groups. The solution and method employ multiple filters, sorts and handling rules to embody users' personal planning preferences. It can be used to manage task lists both with and without employing a scheduling component. The solution can interoperate with existing computer- and web-based calendar software and can use third-party calendar clients to display its output and to accept input from users.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An improved iterative computer-implemented method for continuously organizing and updating a plurality of task records for output to a user device in a rules-based sequence according to task attribute filters maintained by a task management module, the method performed exclusively on a computing device having access to a communications network, the computing device further having an interface for receiving data inputs from at least one of a user input device and the communications network, the computing device further having a processor for executing a plurality of stored special-purpose processing instructions encoding the method in a computer-based data structure format, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from at least one of the user input device and the communications network via the interface, data representing an entry of the plurality of task records, each of the task records having at least one corresponding task attribute;   electronically storing a superset of the task records with their at least one corresponding task attributes in a database maintained by the task management software module in a memory of the computing device;   creating a record in the database for a time corresponding to a period of time defined by specific start and end times; and   receiving a handling rule comprising at least one condition for at least one of: affiliating a task with a time record, removing a task's affiliation with a time record, modifying a task's affiliation to a time record, modifying an existing time record, creating a new time record, deleting an existing time record, and modifying a task record to facilitate affiliation with a time record.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where a task is affiliated with a specific time in at least one of the task record, the time record, a separate record in the database, and algorithmically according to rules defined in the special-purpose processing instructions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , where a task from at least one of a structured query task set and a remainder task set is affiliated with a time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , where the time is restricted to tasks possessing specific task attributes such that only those tasks having those specific task attributes can be affiliated with the time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , where the task record can be placed in or excluded from the time in response to an input from the user device. 
     
     
         6 . An improved iterative computer-implemented method for continuously organizing and updating a plurality of task records and time records for output to a user device in a rules-based sequence according to task attribute filters and time attribute filters maintained by a task management module, the method performed exclusively on a computing device having access to a communications network, the computing device further having an interface for receiving data inputs from at least one of a user input device and the communications network, the computing device further having a processor for executing a plurality of stored special-purpose processing instructions encoding the method in a computer-based data structure format, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from at least one of the user input device and the communications network via the interface, data representing an entry of at least one of: a task record having a corresponding task attribute, a time record having a corresponding time attribute, a list, and a smart list;   electronically storing a superset of said records with their corresponding attributes in a database maintained by the task management software module in a memory of the computing device;   creating a calendar format record in a calendar database corresponding to at least one of a task, a time, a static list, and a dynamic list;   synchronizing the calendar database with the database of task and time records;   synchronizing the calendar database record with at least one of calendar client software, a second calendar database and a non-calendar database.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , said synchronizing steps further comprising:
 the calendar database receiving data from at least one of the non-calendar database, the second calendar database and calendar client software, the data corresponding to at least one of: creation of a calendar record, deletion of a calendar record and modification of a calendar record; and modifying the database of task and time records accordingly.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , where at least one task affiliated with a time is described in at least one of a description field of the calendar-format record, a note field of the calendar-format record, and metadata of the calendar-format record. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , where attributes of a task are placed in at least one of: a text subject field of the calendar-format record, a note field of the calendar-format record, a calendar record attribute of the calendar-format record, and metadata of the calendar-format record. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , where said synchronizing steps employ a standard data format compatible with calendar servers, non-calendar servers and client software. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , where the calendar-format records are synchronized individually. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , where the calendar-format records are synchronized collectively as a user calendar file. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , where the context in which users enter information into their calendar client conveys additional information about task or time attributes 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , where calendar record attributes are used to indicate whether a calendar record describes a time or a task. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , where said synchronization steps are triggered by at least one of: received data inputs from the user input device, received data inputs from the communications network, modifications to the calendar, passage of a specified period of time, and exogenous factor data. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 6 , where calendar file formats are used as containers to convey payloads between applications. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 6 , where files are conveyed via calendar files as attachments. 
     
     
         18 . An improved iterative computer-implemented method for continuously organizing and updating a plurality of task records for output to a user device in a rules-based sequence according to task attribute filters maintained by a task management module, the method performed exclusively on a computing device having access to a communications network, the computing device further having an interface for receiving data inputs from at least one of a user input device and the communications network, the computing device further having a processor for executing a plurality of stored special-purpose processing instructions encoding the method in a computer-based data structure format, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from at least one of the user input device and the communications network via the interface, data representing an entry of a task record having at least one corresponding task attribute;   electronically storing a superset of task records with their corresponding task attributes in a database maintained by the task management software module in a memory of the computing device;   assigning a schedule type to at least one task record, the schedule type determining the length of time between the earliest allowable time and the latest allowable time at which a task is to be undertaken; and   separately assigning a do date to each said task record, the do date describing at least one of: the earliest time at which a task is to be undertaken, the latest time at which a task is to be undertaken, a midpoint between the earliest and latest times at which a task is to be undertaken; and   using a combination of schedule type and do date to determine a period of time defined by a start time and an end time within which a task is to be undertaken