Glossary

This manual uses certain common words with precise shades of meaning. Familiarizing yourself with the definitions of these terms as they are used in this context will help you make the most of the Life Balance software.

balance

The allocation of effort among your top-level goals, represented by the pie charts in the Balance section of the software. The difference between the desired balance and the actual balance contributes to calculations of priority.

effort

A subjective measure of the resources needed to complete a task. For many people, this corresponds to the time it takes to finish the task, but you can also use effort to represent other resources such as energy.

goal

A top-level task in the Outline.

importance

How critical a task is to the completion of a project. Not to be confused with urgency or priority.

LB

Abbreviation for Life Balance, used in the User Forums.

lead time

The amount of advance notice needed to complete a task or project on time. Life Balance uses this value to determine when future tasks should show up on your To Do List.

priority

The overall ranking of a task which determines its position in your To Do List. Priority is computed by the software automatically based on importance, balance, and urgency. Priority changes dynamically as time and other factors change.

project

A mid-level task in your outline, between top-level goals and lower-level tasks.

task

In the general sense, a task is any item displayed in the Outline, To Do List, or Balance sections of Life Balance.

In the specific sense, a task that does not contain any subtasks, displayed with a round bullet in the Outline. Contrast this with the terms goal and project, which refer to higher-level tasks with children.

TLI

Abbreviation for top-level item, used in the User Forums. In this manual we use the term goal.

urgency

The ranking of a task by how close the deadline is. Note that Life Balance computes the priority of a task primarily based on its importance, with urgency only a secondary factor.