Task recurrence

A recurring task’s settings define when its next occurrences are created and how much freedom the optimizer has in placing them. To edit an existing rule, see Changing a task’s repeat rule.

Repeat starts and ends

Repeat starts: The task’s repeat rule starts being followed from this date onwards.

Note: This is not necessarily the same day the task gets its first occurrence. For example, a weekly recurring custom task can be set to repeat every Tuesday, in which case the suggestion is created for the first Tuesday from the start date.

Repeat ends: The last day for which the repeat rule can create an occurrence.

start date, end date, first occurrence, valid from

Repeat and interval

Repeat and interval defines how often the task repeats:

• Once a week = every 5th working day or every 7th day.
• The working-day option does not create suggestions for weekends.
• A custom weekly rhythm repeats the task on the selected weekdays every week.

how often, every week, working days, weekdays, custom rhythm

Repeat mode

• The Automatic repeat mode assigns all future occurrences to a specific worker and takes them automatically into their calendar.
• Manual allows the task’s occurrences to go to different people, based on whatever is most optimal on that particular day.

Note: With manual tasks each occurrence can go to a different worker, whereas with automatic recurrence they are always given to the same person.

automatic, manual, same worker, different workers

Scheduling mode

The scheduling mode tells the algorithm when the task’s next occurrence should be, compared with the previous occurrence’s time of day (with hour shift) or day (with day and week shift).

• Hour shift — The task’s next occurrence is placed in time based on this. We recommend using a large value, such as 10 hours, if there is no practical obstacle to it.
  • Example: A daily recurring task should always be done at roughly the same time. If the hour shift is 3 hours and the task last happened at 15:00, the next occurrence will be between 12:00 and 18:00.
• Day shift — We recommend using this option for tasks that occur once a week or less often.
  • Example: A task occurs every 11th day. With a day shift of 1, the task’s next occurrence will be in 10–12 days.
• Within week — When the exact occurrence time of a rarely recurring task does not matter, we recommend using this option. It allows the task to be placed on any day of that week. This is recommended for tasks that occur once a month or less often.

hour shift, day shift, within week, next occurrence

Time window

Time window (start – end) defines when the task should be carried out. We recommend using this sparingly, as it limits the optimization possibilities considerably.

• “00:00–23:59” allows the task to be assigned to any point of the day, as long as the worker has free working time then.
• “10:00–11:00” restricts the optimization significantly, because the task must happen within that hour.

Note: Adding constraints (e.g. possible workers and time windows) reduces the algorithm’s possibilities to optimize the schedules, so we recommend adding them with care.

time window, start end, restrict time, constraints

repeat, recurrence, interval, weekly, rhythm, time window, scheduling mode