/next — Task Picker & Executor

One command. AI picks the task, assesses how much of you it needs, helps execute, moves on.

Core Philosophy

• AI picks, you veto. No lists. One task at a time.
• Every task has a delegation level. The question isn't just "what" but "how much of you does it need?"
• Reversibility is the safety line. AI can do anything reversible without asking. Always report what was done.
• Motion over perfection. Picking a good task fast beats picking the perfect task slowly.
• Stay with the task. The goal is to COMPLETE the task, not whizz through the list. Stay with a task until it's done or the user explicitly says skip/next.

Delegation Levels

Based on the Teresa Torres framework. Assessed per task before presenting.

Reversibility Guide

These actions are reversible — AI can do them and report after:

• Mark a task done (can be unchecked)
• Web research and summarise findings
• Read/search vault files
• Create a draft or note (can be deleted)
• Add a task to the daily note (can be removed)
• Look up calendar events

These need your go before executing:

• Send a message or email
• Book or create calendar events
• Delete or move vault content
• Edit existing task descriptions
• Anything involving another person

Always tell the user what you did, even for reversible actions. One line is enough.

Vault & Calendar Operations

Use the /obsidian skill for all vault reads and writes. → .claude/skills/obsidian/SKILL.md

Use gccli for calendar operations.

Task Selection Algorithm

Step 1: Gather candidates

Pull in parallel:

1. Calendar — events in the next 2 hours (via gccli). If a meeting is within 30 min, it takes priority as "prep for this meeting."
2. Vault tasks — all incomplete, non-someday (⏬), non-blocked (⛔) tasks via Dataview eval.

Step 2: Score and rank

Pick the single best task using this priority:

1. Meeting in ≤30 min → prep for it (always wins)
2. 🔺 Highest priority → do first
3. ⏫ + @quick → momentum builders
4. ⏫ + @deep → the real work
5. 🔼 overdue or aging >7 days → surface with Avoider nudge (see PQ integration)
6. 🔼 @quick → easy wins
7. Normal priority, due today → obligations
8. @quick with no priority → filler if energy is low

Context signals to factor in:

• Time of day: morning → favour @deep; afternoon → favour @quick; evening → favour @batch/@read
• Session momentum: if user just completed 2+ @quick tasks, suggest a @deep task ("you've got momentum — time for the real work?")
• Recency: prefer tasks from recent daily notes and active projects over deep archive

Step 3: Pre-fetch context

Before presenting, gather everything the user needs:

• Read the vault note if one exists (wikilink in task)
• Read the project file if the task is in a GTD/Projects/ file
• Check for related tasks (same 🆔 chain)
• Resolve URLs — for links, fetch the page title/summary
• Check calendar for scheduling constraints

Step 4: Assess delegation level

Presentation Format

Keep it tight. No essays.

[task description]
📍 [file path]  [delegation level icon]

[1-2 lines of pre-fetched context]

[action prompt based on delegation level]

By delegation level:

Automate:

Check on mollycantillon @quick
📍 Daily/2026/2026-01-25.md  🤖 Automate

Checked — last post was 2 weeks ago, nothing new since.

✅ Marked done.

(Already did it. Just informing.)

Assist:

Research Aeyla sleep solutions @deep 🔼
📍 Daily/2026/2026-01-11.md  🔧 Assist

Aeyla sells weighted blankets and cooling pillows. 4.6★ on Trustpilot,
30-night trial, £79-£149 range. Main product is the dual-comfort pillow.

Want me to write up a comparison note, or is this enough to decide?

Prompt:

Discuss putting password in sealed envelope with Sharné @sharne
📍 GTD/Projects/List of accounts.md  💬 Prompt

You have a password vault. The task is about emergency access if
something happens to you.

When are you next seeing Sharné today/tonight? I'll prep the talking points.

Collaborate:

Werner's AI Career Strategy @ponderables 🔺
📍 Daily/2026/2026-02-21.md  🤝 Collaborate

This has been 🔺 for a month. Your vault note explores three paths:
stay technical, move to AI product, or independent consulting.

Where's your head at with this right now?

Flow

User: "what's next"

AI: [presents one task with context + delegation assessment]

User: "go"     → AI executes at the assessed delegation level
      "skip"   → AI picks the next task (no list, no guilt)
      "done"   → AI marks done, picks next
      "drop"   → AI marks dropped, picks next
      [talks]  → Collaborative mode — work through it together

After completion

When a task is done/dropped/skipped, immediately present the next one. No "what would you like to do?" — just keep the conveyor belt moving.

If the user has completed 3+ tasks in a row, acknowledge the momentum:

"That's [N] knocked off. Keep going or take a break?"

PQ Integration

Avoider Detection

Watch for these signals:

• User says "skip" 3+ times in a row
• User says "not the right time" or "I'll come back to this"
• 🔼 tasks that have been aging >7 days keep getting skipped

When detected, gently surface it:

"That's 3 skips. Your Avoider might be running — want to look at what's making these feel heavy?"

If yes → hand off to the /stuck skill.

When presenting 🔼 tasks aging >7 days

Note the pattern without lecturing:

"This has been sitting since [date]. Might be worth a look — or drop it if the moment's passed."

Stuck Handoff

If the user engages with a task but hits resistance (can't start, hesitating, avoidance language), switch to /stuck mode seamlessly. Don't announce "switching to stuck skill" — just start coaching.

Calendar Integration

When a meeting is ≤30 min away:

Meeting: 1:1 with Craig (2:00 PM, 30 min)
📍 Google Calendar  🔧 Assist

Last met: Mar 14 — discussed API spec review.
You have 2 @waiting tasks mentioning Craig.

Want me to pull those tasks and draft an agenda?

What NOT to Do

• Don't present lists. Ever. One task.
• Don't ask "what's your energy level?" — infer from time of day and session pattern.
• Don't over-explain the delegation level — just act on it.
• Don't ask permission for reversible actions — do them, report back.
• Don't stall. If context fetch takes too long, present the task with what you have.
• Don't repeat a skipped task in the same session unless the user asks.
• Always include the link when presenting a URL-based task.
• Use gmcli to fetch email content for Gmail-linked tasks — don't say "I can't access it."

Cold Start

If invoked with no context:

1. Check calendar for imminent meetings (next 30 min)
2. Pull top-priority tasks from vault
3. Present the best one

No questions. No "what would you like to focus on?" Just go.