Due and planned dates
The difference between a task's due date and its planned date, how to set each, and how Today, Upcoming, the calendar, the timeline and the auto-planner use them.
A task has two dates, and they answer different questions:
| Date | Question | Time of day |
|---|---|---|
| Due date | By when must it be finished? This is the deadline. | Optional, such as 17:00 |
| Planned date | On which day will you work on it? | Yes, optionally: Start in the details panel, or a drag onto an hour in the week view. The task is then a block from that time, as long as its estimate, until its Finish |
Both are optional and independent. A task can have a deadline next Friday and be planned for Wednesday. Set a due date only for real deadlines, and use the planned date to spread the work over the week.
Set the dates
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Quick add | A date typed in the title, such as friday 10:00 or next monday, becomes the due date. The Plan for a day chip sets the planned date. A click on a day in the calendar or on the timeline opens quick add with that day already planned. |
| Details panel | Due date (Add a deadline) and Start (Pick when to work on it), a day with an optional time; with a time, Finish sets when the block ends. |
| Calendar, month view | Drag a task to another day. Drop it on the Due flag to make that day its deadline. |
| Timeline | Drag a bar's start edge for the planned date, its end edge for the due date, or the whole bar to move both. A bar without a deadline also gets one, at its end, when its start edge is dragged. |
| Agents | due and planned in create_task and update_task, or a whole day with reschedule_day. |
The date picker has three ways to choose a day:
- Type a date: phrases like fri, tomorrow 15:00, in 2 weeks or oct 15. The picker shows the date it read; Enter takes it. A time on its own (2pm) keeps the day already chosen.
- Suggestions: Today, Tomorrow, Weekend (the coming Saturday) and Next week (next Monday), each with its day.
- A calendar of one month, weeks from Monday, with today outlined and the chosen day filled. The arrows beside the month, or the arrow keys, move to other months.
Both Due date and Start can have a time: choosing a day leaves the picker open and moves to the time field at the bottom. Type a time (9, 1300, 14:30, 2pm) and press Enter, or click the field and pick one from the half hours, and the picker closes. For no time, Enter, Done, Esc or a click outside closes it. A typed date and Enter close it at once, so fri 10:00 sets both. Another day chosen keeps the time, and a time set before any day is for today. The × beside the time removes it. Clear removes the date.
How the views use them
| View | Due date | Planned date |
|---|---|---|
| Today | Overdue lists open tasks due before today. Due today lists tasks due today. | Planned for today lists tasks planned for today that aren't overdue or due today. |
| Upcoming | Each of the next 14 days lists its deadlines first, sorted by time. Deadlines only hides planned tasks and activities; project targets stay. | Tasks planned for the day follow the deadlines. |
| Calendar, month | A chip with a flag on the deadline's day, red when overdue. | A chip with a calendar check mark on the planned day. When both dates fall on the same day, the task shows once, as its deadline. |
| Calendar, week | The day's header counts its open deadlines, shows the time of a single one, or says how many were missed on a past day. | A task planned at a time is a block at that time; one planned for a day only is in the day's top row, or in a focus block the auto-planner placed from that day on. |
| Timeline | The bar ends at the deadline, marked with a flag. | The bar starts on the planned day. |
| Auto-planner | Overdue tasks come first, then the earliest deadlines. | A task planned for a later day isn't placed before that day. |
Planned days don't carry over
A planned date is a single day. When it passes and the task isn't done, the task doesn't move to the next day: without a deadline, it leaves Today, the Today count in the sidebar and Upcoming. It stays on its planned day in the calendar, in its area's or project's list, and on the timeline; when the task is yours, the auto-planner still places it in your next free focus time. Give it a new planned day to bring it back to Today.
Overdue
An open task is overdue once its due date is before today. With a time, its deadline turns red as soon as that time has passed, even on the same day. Today lists tasks due on earlier days in the Overdue group; a task due earlier today stays in Due today, with its time in red.
A task row shows its deadline as a short chip:
| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 3d overdue | The deadline was three days ago. |
| Yesterday | The deadline was yesterday. |
| Today | Due by the end of today. |
| 17:00 | Due today at 17:00; red once that time has passed. |
| Tomorrow, Tomorrow, 10:00 | Due tomorrow. |
| Sat 26 | Due within the week. |
| 12 Oct | Due later. |
The details panel adds the distance, such as in 3 days or 2 days late.
Dates and agent sessions
Dates don't start agent sessions, and neither do dependencies: a session starts when you start it, or at a request that you allow or that the computer's own settings let start. See Start a session.
Tasks
Task keys, the six statuses, priorities, labels, estimates, descriptions, Done when lists, sub-tasks and dependencies, and the difference between canceling and deleting.
Who does a task
The Done by field decides whether a task is yours or an agent's, and with it whether the task can run as an agent session and whether it fills your focus time.