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By default, Microsoft Office Project defines a task (task: An activity that has a beginning and an end. Project plans are made up of tasks.) as critical (critical task: A task that must be completed on schedule for the project to finish on time. If a critical task is delayed, the project completion date might also be delayed. A series of critical tasks makes up a project's critical path.) if it has zero days of slack (slack: The amount of time that a task can slip before it affects another task or the project's finish date. Free slack is how much a task can slip before it delays another task. Total slack is how much a task can slip before it delays the project.). However, you can change this definition and make a task critical if it has, for example, one or two days of slack.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab.
2. In the Tasks are critical if slack is less than or equal to box, type or select the number of slack days. If the number of slack days for a task is less than or equal to the number that you specify here, the task is considered critical.
3. Click Set as Default if you want to make this setting the default for all your projects.