How TaskBeacon Works

TaskBeacon is more than a digital to-do list. It's a decision support system designed to surface your most relevant tasks with the least cognitive overhead.

Here's how it works under the hood.

TaskPulse: A Smarter Scoring System

Every task gets a TaskPulse score that reflects how important it is right now. This score is based on:

Local Priority

Priority of its parent task

Due dates

Start dates

Dependencies

Contextual filters (what you want to focus on now)

The Dashboard shows the 5 highest-scoring tasks that are currently actionable.

Hereditary Pressure: Priority That Scales

Not all tasks are equal, even if they're both marked "high priority."

In TaskBeacon, each task inherits influence from its parent task. For example:

"Submit TPS Report" is under "Q3 Work Projects" (High Priority)

"Buy gift for Grandma" is under "Personal" (Medium Priority)

Even if both are marked High locally, the work task may appear first because of its stronger "hereditary pressure."

This system creates tiered prioritization without you needing to micro-manage everything.

Dates: Start, Due, and Smart

Dates influence your TaskPulse, but only when they should.

Start Dates: A task won’t appear on the Dashboard until its start date has arrived

Due Dates: As due dates approach, urgency increases

Smart Dates:

Parent tasks can pass down start and due dates to their subtasks, but only if the inherited date is earlier than the one already on the child

Blocked tasks can pass due dates up to the task that blocks them, but only if the due date is earlier than the blocker’s

This ensures no part of a project misses a critical date.

Dependencies & Blocking Logic

You can mark one task as blocked by another. Blocked tasks:

Will not appear on your Dashboard

Pass their due date up to their blocking task (if earlier)

Example: You can't "Send Agenda" until you've "Finalize Meeting Topics."

Smart Dates help the blocking task stay timely, and ensure nothing falls through.

Organic Structure: Tasks That Evolve

All tasks in TaskBeacon are the same type. You define their role by how you use them.

Turn a simple task into a container by adding subtasks

Promote a larger task into a project by breaking it down

Treat some tasks as "Areas" or "Projects" by labeling them (e.g., Work, Personal)

No special settings required. Just build your structure as you go.

Filtered Focus

Your Dashboard can be filtered by context. For example:

Hide work tasks on weekends

Focus only on calls or errands

View only project-related tasks when deep working

Filters apply to both your full list and your Dashboard.

Final Thoughts

TaskBeacon helps you:

Stop sorting and start doing

Balance work and life in one view

Stay confident that you’re doing the right thing at the right time

Let the system do the heavy lifting. You just show up and work.