Re: Org-mode Habit with Varying Description

[Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net>]

Pete Ley <peteley11235@gmail.com> writes:

> As Bastien said, this doesn't really fit the idea of a habit, but I
> think there is a reasonable non-elisp way of tweaking it to fit. Maybe
> it would help.
>
> What if you had something like this:
>
> * Read <book>
>   :LOGBOOK:
>   - Note taken on [2014-10-20 Mon 10:33] \\
>     151-300
>   - Note taken on [2014-10-20 Mon 10:32] \\
>     1-150
>   :END:
>   :PROPERTIES:
>   :STYLE:    habit
>   :END:

I've been (very gradually) working on something I'm calling org-log, for
just this sort of situation -- a library that would possibly go
underneath org-habit and maybe even org-clock. It would look like:

* Read <book>
  :LOGBOOK:
  - Note taken on [2014-10-20 Mon 10:33] \\
    PAGES: 49
  - Note taken on [2014-10-20 Mon 10:32] \\
    PAGES: 150
  :END:

When adding notes (or state-change log notes) the user would be prompted
to record values for the key(s) already existing in the logbook (in this
case, PAGES). Multiple key-value pairs would be possible. Generic tables
could be created for a heading, with more specialized tables with
user-defined column formulas and all that.

Add unit manipulation/calculation from the calc-units package, and I
think this could be a nice extension to Org.

I originally started thinking of this while translating a novel. I had a
certain number of characters to translate, and a certain deadline. What
I wanted was a single heading where I logged my progress, and a
reporting facility that said "given today's date and how many characters
you've already done, you'll need to average XXX characters per day to
hit the deadline." I envisioned a gnuplot table that showed
actual-characters-per-day against the shifting
average-characters-per-day.

I didn't make my deadline. I don't blame Org for that, but I think I
would have stood a better chance if org-log existed. :)

Eric

> I do this sometimes for things like this. The heading doesn't need to
> change as it can just be a reminder to read <book> and you can keep
> track of what you've read in the notes with C-c C-z.
>
> Optionally, if you have multiple books and you're reading different
> amounts of each one each day, you can just write how much you plan to
> read under the heading for each one, e.g.
>
> * Read <book>
>   100 pages each day
> * Read <book 2>
>   50 pages each day