[ListfulThinking] Date relative importance user stories

[Andrew P. <And...@ya...>]

> http://www.listfulthinking.com/kwiki/index.cgi?
> DateRelativeImportanceUserStory

> As an item's due date is approaching its position on the list should
gradually move upwards.

This sounds like two stories:

1) The prioritization algorithm takes into account duedate relative to
current date, such that tasks that are coming due receive higher priority.

2) List of tasks is updated every so often to reflect changes in relative
importance resulting from the approach of deadlines and its differential
effect on different tasks.


Thought about (1): 

The technical and creative difficulty of the task might be a factor in
determining how much due date affects priority.  The status of the task
might also be a factor.

Examples of how this might play out:

A task with a high degree of technical difficulty might become more
important sooner than a task with low technical difficulty.

If I'm 3 days from the deadline for a task "Do laundry", with low technical
difficulty, I'm not in much trouble yet, can languish low on the list.

If I am 3 days for the deadline for a task "Build Struts application
requested by management", a task with high technical difficulty in my book,
I'm in a world of hurt and it needs to be at the top of the list.

Also, we might want to do something with status and the creativity slider in
determining the importance of tasks --- I find that tasks requiring
creativity need to be started early to give myself time to have relevant
creative ideas.  A task requiring a great deal of creativity that is 10 days
from being due that is not started should probably receive increased
importance by virtue of that upcoming deadline, whereas a task requiring a
great deal of creativity that is half done should not receive as much
additional importance  by virtue of its deadline.


I'm throwing this out there for discussion, but in my own work on the code
for now I think I'm going to leave the prioritization code alone and treat
it as a black box that currently ignores dates.