Re: Added support for "habit tracking"

From: Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org>
To: John Wiegley <jwiegley@gmail.com>
Cc: Org-mode Mode <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
Subject: Re: Added support for "habit tracking"
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:02:41 -0400	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <87fx9erwn2.fsf@fastmail.fm> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <D528AB3F-C00D-4BB5-B295-A2DE0DE1BCAE@gmail.com> (John Wiegley's message of "Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:26:02 -0400")

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John Wiegley <jwiegley@gmail.com> writes:

> Tracking habits isn't suited to a regular task manager, however.  You
> can see that the task needs to be done in your agenda, but you don't
> know if it's a task that sorely needs attention because you've been
> neglecting it, or if you've really been on the ball and don't _have_
> to do it today.
>
> Well, I've implemented the functionality of Sciral for Org.  It works
> just as described on the Sciral webpage, complete with colorful graphs
> that appear to the right of the task name in the agenda buffer.  The
> graph even follows the same coloring algorithm as Sciral.
>
> To test out this new feature, apply the attached patches and read the
> new manual section on "Tracking your habits".

Thanks for this addition to org mode! I had written a tutorial on
tracking habits with org-mode on Worg:

http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/tracking-habits.php

I'll have to update that now. :)

A few constructive comments:

1. The syntax for defining habits seems fairly complex. One must add a
repeating scheduled timestamp, a repeating deadline timestamp and a
property. I was wondering if there could be anyway to automate creating
new habits---e.g., a dialog that asks for the appropriate time spans.
(My own preference would be to use a new timestamp notation to indicate
habits. I'm not sure what this would look like. Perhaps something like
this: SCHEDULED: <2009-10-17 Sat !+2+2> --- where the first number is
the repeating span and the second is the "grace period". Of course, I
have no idea whether this is possible.)

2. It is somewhat cumbersome to add two repeating timestamps to the same
entry. If one sets up the first repeating timestamp, then one cannot add
a second timestamp automatically. I.e., the following error message
appears:

"Cannot change deadline on task with repeater, please do that by hand" 

3. The faces for the graph are difficult to read against dark
backgrounds. (See attached image.)

4. I currently use the tag :HABIT: to track habits. This allows for easy
filtering in the agenda. I'm wondering whether there might be an option
to designate habits with a user-defined tag rather than the STYLE
property. The advantage would be much faster agenda searches for habits.

Thanks again!

Matt

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