❓Task Scheduling FAQ

1. How do I make sure certain tasks are scheduled during a specific time block?

Schedules in Motion control when tasks are placed on your calendar. If you're managing both work and personal tasks, create separate schedules for each (e.g., 9 AM - 5 PM for work, 6 PM - 8 PM for personal). Assign tasks to their corresponding schedule to ensure they are automatically placed within the designated time block.

2. Why aren’t tasks scheduling on a day when there’s plenty of open time? They are just stuck at the top of the calendar and say ‘Could not fit.’

If tasks are stuck at the top of the calendar with a "Could not fit" status, it's because they can't be scheduled within the rolling auto-scheduling window due to conflicting events or task priorities.

Fix:

1. Check for any busy all-day events and switch them to "Free."

2. Adjust the embedded schedule to create more available time for tasks.

3. Motion scheduled one of my tasks outside the assigned schedule - what’s going on?

This usually happens if the task has a hard deadline enabled. When a hard deadline is set, Motion prioritizes completing the task on time, even if it means scheduling it outside your normal working hours or assigned schedule. This ensures that the task meets its deadline, but it can override typical scheduling rules. To prevent this, check the task settings and disable the hard deadline if flexibility is allowed.

4. How can I set it up so that my tasks are scheduled in a certain order?

To schedule tasks in a specific order, use blockers to create dependencies between tasks. For example, setting Task A as a blocker for Task B ensures Task A is always scheduled first. This way, Motion respects the sequence while optimizing for available time.

Learn more about blockers [here].

5. I created a 10-hour task, but I don’t want it to schedule the whole thing at once. What’s the best way to approach this?

Use the chunk feature to break the task into smaller, manageable pieces. Set the desired minimum chunk duration, and Motion will automatically split and schedule the task in segments based on your availability and schedule.

6. How do I set up a task that needs to happen every week?

To create a recurring task, select the "Recurring" option (🔄) when setting up the task, and choose the desired frequency (e.g., daily, weekly). Motion will automatically schedule the task at the specified interval, ensuring it follows your chosen recurrence or cadence.

7. How can I schedule lunch at the same exact time every day?

To ensure lunch is scheduled at the same time each day without being affected by other tasks, create a recurring event (not a task) at your desired time, such as 12:00 PM every weekday. Unlike tasks, events are static and won’t be rescheduled by Motion’s algorithm, keeping your lunch break fixed and consistent.

8. Why are tasks being scheduled at the same time as meetings on my calendar?

It is likely due to the source calendar not being referenced for conflicts. To fix this, you can edit My Calendars and add the calendar to this list. Going forward, tasks will be scheduled around this calendar's events. Additionally, this may be caused by the status of the event being set to free instead of busy.

9. What happens to a recurring task if I miss its scheduled recurrence? Will it be rescheduled?

If you miss a recurring task (e.g., a weekly task scheduled for Wednesday), Motion will not automatically reschedule that specific instance later in the same week. Instead, the task is considered overdue, and the next recurrence will still appear on the originally defined schedule (in this example, the following Wednesday).