You can't do it in Project - indeed, what you are asking for isn't a project
plan at all, just a to-do list. A project is defined as a time-limited
undertaking having observable starting and ending points that results in the
creation of a measurable and unique deliverable. Tasks are defined as the
observable physical work activities required to create that deliverable and
they too have clearly defined and observable start and end times. In
Project Management terms, until you have determined specific start and
finish times, you really don't have a task, just an objective. Project
planning software such as MS Project is a tool designed to create the
schedule for and manage the work required to achieve that undertaking. A
"schedule" implies that we are looking not only at WHAT work needs to be
performed but also WHEN it needs to be performed. Indeed, the whole purpose
that planning software such as MS Project has for existing is to create such
a plan so that you are able to schedule and manage the activities of a
number of resources down to the level of being able to tell a plumber that
he is to show up at the job-site on Tuesday ready to install a bathtub and
tell the painter that the plumber will be done and out of the way by
Wednesday so he can start painting that bathroom then.
No offense but your statement that "timelines make everything look like
they're 2% when they're really 80%" also reflects a fundamental conceptual
error. % Complete is defined as the duration of a task that has passed
since it actually began compared to the total duration required to complete
the task. It is a measure of the passage of time where work has actually
been done. The project, or a task within it, cannot be 80% done when 2% of
its required time has passed by because "% Done" is "% of Required Time That
Has Been Worked" by definition and 80<>2.
Hope this helps
