How TaskBerry works
Every task gets a size, the sizes add up against your day, and you see whether it fits before you start. Here's how to set up your first day.
TaskBerry plans your day in time, not as a list. You give every task a size, TaskBerry adds those sizes up against the time you have today, and you see whether it fits before you start. So you choose in the morning what waits, instead of finding out at five o'clock.
The idea
- A task gets a size. From a small job to a task that takes up most of your day. Each size stands for a set amount of time.
- The sizes add up. Everything you plan for today counts against your day capacity, minus the time your meetings take.
- You see it before you start. The bar above your tasks stays green while everything fits. Whatever no longer fits turns red.
- You choose what moves. TaskBerry never stops you. You move a task to another day or to the backlog, or you leave it as it is.
This is what that looks like on a morning with a few tasks and a meeting:
Over daily capacity · 2h too much
Planned 9h / 7h7h left for tasks. Over daily capacity · 2h too much Planned 9h / 7h. Doesn't fit today: Work out the Studio Noord brand and everything below it. Tasks: Rewrite the Hofstede quote (3h), Studio Noord homepage copy (1h 30m), Send the September invoices (30m), Work out the Studio Noord brand (4h).
How the bar counts exactly, and what to do when it turns red, is in How the capacity bar works.
The sizes
- S
- M
- L
- XL
- XXL
Not sure how long something takes? Pick the size that comes closest. You can always change it later on the card, or enter the hours and minutes yourself there. A task you don't pick a size for gets M.
Adding your first tasks
You add your first tasks in the input field above your day.
- Type what you're going to do. Click in the field. The options below it appear as soon as you click in it or start typing.
- Pick a size. S, M, L, XL or XXL.
- Pick a label, so you can see later which client or which part of your work a task was for. Your default label is already selected.
- Pick where it goes. Today, Next workday or Later. Later puts it in your backlog, where it counts on no day at all.
- Click Add, or press Enter.
Start with the handful of things you'll actually do today. A full backlog is fine. An overfull day isn't, and you only see that once the tasks you mean to do today are really on it.
Your first day
Until you've added your first task, and as long as your trial hasn't ended, a panel above the input field helps you get going. Add my first task takes you straight to the input field. If you're already near the end of your workday, the panel suggests planning your next workday instead.
Would you rather get everything out of your head at once? With Open Berry you paste or type a whole list, and Berry suggests tasks from it that you add in one click. On Free you can do that 3 times a month.
The panel disappears as soon as you add your first task.