Overview
Three Ways To Create New Tasks
1. From the Task List, select a Course and then click ‘+Add new Task’.
2. From the purple “+Task” button in the upper right
3. From the purple “Add a task” button in the plan sidebar
Entering Task Details
When creating a new task, a dialog will open where you can enter information about the task.
Enter the name of the task, select the course it is associated with, any details, and subtasks that are associated with the course.
Additional Information
Task Category
This helps organize the tasks into logical groups for sorting and editing. For example categories might be ‘Problem Sets’, ‘Reading’, ‘Weekly Quiz’.
Reading Source
If your task involves reading, you can create a Reading Source that is used in the course. For example, they could be books such as ‘Calculus Textbook’ or ‘Harry Potter’. They could also be things like ‘Single Spaced PDF’ or ‘Double Spaced PDF’ or ‘Online Reading’.
The purpose of creating reading sources is twofold. The first is to allow you to sort tasks by specific sources. The second is to allow you to estimate the time each reading source assignment will take to read.
Set Due Date
If your class meets that day, Shovel will pre-select class time as the time the task is due.
Start (Days Ahead)
Enter how many days before the deadline you want to start on the task. Follow the rule of thumb. For each additional hour of study time, add one day.
For examle:
- If a task takes 2 hours – start 2 days before the deadline
- If a task task 14 hours – start 14 days before the deadline
Reading Source and Time-Per-Page
Shovel can estimate the time it will take to complete a reading task by using a time-per-page estimate. For example, a novel may be 3 minutes per page, but a textbook may be 7 minutes per page.
Time per page defaults to 5 minutes, but can be changed to anything you wish.
Estimate Tasks
Set an estimated time for each task. This helps you create an accurate study plan.
Shovel compares this number with the study time you have available so you know if you have time to get the task done on time.
If the task is a reading, it will automatically calculate the time by multiplying the number of pages by the estimated time per page for the particular reading source.
For non-reading tasks, simply enter the time you think it will take. For example, watching a class video of a specific duration, or you might estimate doing a Problem Set at 3 hours, and then update your estimate as you actually do one.
Repeat Tasks
Many tasks repeat on a consistent basis. For example, you may have a Problem set due in class every Thursday. Click the Repeat Task icon and this dialog will appear.
