Sciral Consistency - track repeating tasks

Sciral Consistency is a quirky cross-platform task manager that differs greatly from most task managers. In fact, if you've ever used Joe's Goals (thanks Ian!), the interface in Sciral Consistency will look at least somewhat familiar. The idea is that you list off tasks that you need to perform on a regular basis, then use the application to track how well you are meeting your obligations.

It's hard to discuss Sciral Consistency without drawing comparisons to my beloved Joe's Goals, but I'll try. In fact, they are extremely similar in concept, but the execution is quite different.

To describe the types of things Sciral Consistency is good at tracking, the developers list the following set of task attributes:

They don't have deadlines or rigid time intervals associated with them.

In order to gain and retain their benefits, you must perform them on a regular basis over a long period of time.

The ideal amount of time that elapses between completions of a particular task are unique to that task. To gain the maximum benefit you shouldn't do them too frequently or infrequently.

They can be carried out by you with minimal or no coordination with other people.

They are often "routine" tasks for which you have not firmly established a habit of carrying them out as second nature.

They are (in the words of Stephen Covey) "important, but not urgent."

This is probably the best description of this class of task. I've always used the word "chores" to describe these tasks, but that word doesn't cover all of the possible tasks that you might want to track on a repeating basis.

The beauty of Sciral Consistency lies in its concept of Active ranges, vs. Inactive ranges. You use an Active range of time when you know the required frequency of the task. This gives you a way to visibly see whether you have tasks coming up that are going to become overdue, and glancing at the application can give you a very quick overview to see if there are any tasks you are tracking that you need to rededicate yourself to.

The free version of Sciral Consistency allows you to track 5 tasks per document, whereas a license of $25 will allow you an unlimited number of tasks, and it's available for both Windows and Mac users.

Tags: freeware, Joe's Goals, Joe'sGoals, repeating tasks, RepeatingTasks, Sciral Consistency, SciralConsistency, shareware, task management, TaskManagement