Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Remind Me to Read My Book

It can be tricky to make sure you finish a book in time to return it to the library. “How soon is that due?” “Oh, I have to finish half the book in two days?!”

This week’s tip comes from eoe: set up tasks to keep you on pace from beginning to end.

For Pro users, there’s even a bonus MilkScript to help set this up with subtasks for a longer book! 😎

Personally, I have a hard time pacing myself when reading a book. So, I make tasks (or subtasks if you’re a Pro!) to create tasks for each reading session. Examples help:

I have “Go Dog Go” with 20 pages. I want to read it in 2 page increments, each session being about 5 minutes. So, you create a task “Go Dog Go”, and make (sub)tasks “1 - 2”, “3 - 4”, …, “19 - 20”, each with a 5-minute estimate attached to it.

Easy peasy! Need a deadline? Just slap a due date on your task (or subtasks). Whether it’s for class or book club, due dates got your back!

You might think, “That’s all fine and dandy, but I have a 200 page book. I don’t want to sit around and make dozens of tasks…”

I made a MilkScript to help you create tasks/subtasks for each reading session.

It asks you for:

[required]
• Book Name
• Total # of Pages
• Target # of Pages To Read Per Session

[optional]
• Due Date
• Page You’re On
• Reading Session Length (minutes)

(Editor’s Note: Just make sure you add your “Input Parameters” within the MilkScript screen for each of the arguments listed in the script.)

As a bonus, I added a warning if you have too few days to read the book by the due date at your intended pace. Better pick up the pace!

Thanks for sharing this tip, eoe! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.