My life is getting far too complex to handle simply. Fall is coming, and I’m beginning to think I’m overbooking myself. Consider this:
- I’m working on another book project that I can’t talk about yet. 😉
- I’m way behind in working through the SitePoint web development classes I wrote about a few weeks ago.
- I’m speaking to the Madison Linux Users Group (MadLUG) about openSUSE 11.3 on November 6 (Did I mention that before?), and have to create that presentation.
- I’m probably leading at least one session at BarCampMilwaukee 5 (which I did mention last week) October 2-3. The minimum is likely to be a dress rehearsal for the MadLUG event, but still…
- I want to write more magazine articles too.
- I have to get another car (an unexpected and urgent task).
- There may be still another book project after the one at the top of this list that requires a bunch of preparatory tasks.
- I’ve got to mow the lawn weekly and tend to various other homeowner projects.
- Oh, and BTW I still have a day job that fills in 40 hours every week.
Now between the Web-based app ToodleDo and a lovely Windows-based desktop app called MyLifeOrganized (MLO) that runs pretty well in Wine, I’ve got my day-to-day task/to-do-lists in good order. But right now, I need something that can help me figure out how to fit all of these big projects into the amount of time left in the day once I get home at night. And, since it is fall, ideally allow me to catch a few football and postseason baseball games in the bargain.
So here’s what I need:
- A GUI. I tried a command-line tool whose name escapes me awhile back, but it was just too wonky.
- A calendar tool that allows me to schedule evenings and weekends for these projects.
- Something that will import my XML data from MLO (and ToodleDo) to save me from extra typing. The imported data would include time estimates, dependencies, and other related stuff.
- Allows me to flexibly schedule tasks on the calendar for an hour, or some other time increment.
- Preferably not web-based
- Free or very low cost
Gravy:
- A big bonus: If I could import football schedules and other events from Google Calendar (or other CalDAV data) into the tool and include “multi-taskable” items to do while watching.
- Runs on Windows and Linux. An iPhone/Touch app would be nice too.
- Barks at me repeatedly when I try to overbook myself. Also offers snappy excuses so I can tell people “No” with a smile.
Here are my candidates:
- OpenProj: At first glance, this is the frontrunner, since you can create your own calendar. It looks nice, but I don’t know if I can import anything.
- KPlato (part of KOffice): I want to play with this as part of my drive to learn more about KOffice, but the single “40 hour” template was slightly disheartening on loading for the first time.
- Planner : A GNOME application that looks interesting, but hasn’t had a release in a year.
Am I missing some other fabulous application here? Experiences, good and bad, with any of these tools much appreciated too. Of course, if you know some way to stop time altogether while I get some work done, I’m open to that too.
Michael McCallister: Notes from the Metaverse 