What I did at Schering-Plough as systems analyst was creating reports – yes using Excel but other tools as well. And the thing is: There may be some _standards_ of charts in use, but they’re ultimately just reports. And you can structure a report in any way you like depending upon needs. This serves my needs. It seemed to resemble a Gantt chart to me – but maybe there’s another style it’s closer to. Maybe even something identical. Or maybe not. But it’s ultimately a structured presentation of actionable information which must be kept available at any time – not hiding as a SURPRISE later on (which is the problem I have with calendars: showing ONLY the “due dates” means I’m constantly SURPRISED at things that pop up suddenly. This way It’s always there. It’s somewhat like an expanded/extended TO DO list – simply task list. But it has the added benefit of showing how long you have until it is too late to do it.

And the thing is: There may be some _standards_ of charts in use, but they’re ultimately just reports.

And you can structure a report in any way you like depending upon needs.

This serves my needs. It seemed to resemble a Gantt chart to me – but maybe there’s another style it’s closer to. Maybe even something identical. Or maybe not.

But it’s ultimately a structured presentation of actionable information which must be kept available at any time – not hiding as a SURPRISE later on (which is the problem I have with calendars: showing ONLY the “due dates” means I’m constantly SURPRISED at things that pop up suddenly.

This way It’s always there.

It’s somewhat like an expanded/extended TO DO list – simply task list. But it has the added benefit of showing how long you have until it is too late to do it.