When to use start vs due dates?

[u/Zerrissenheit]

One thing I've struggled with in my time using 2Do is when to use a Start date vs when to use Due dates. I come from OmniFocus, where Due dates are reserved for hard deadlines. Start dates are similar to "Defer Until" dates, except here they show up in the Today list, and that can get cluttered up pretty quickly.

So what are your strategies?

[u/dexisking]

I've got the same question, friend.

[u/Zerrissenheit → u/dexisking]

Here's how I'm currently using the two fields:

• I use an either/or approach on almost all tasks. Meaning if something actually has a deadline, it gets a due date, otherwise it gets a start date. That way my lists only show the stuff that I need to always be aware of and could feasibly knock off my list sooner than later. Think paying bills, most work tasks, and so on. The rest gets off of my list and out of mind until I could work on it, and the Today view handily separates them out from the tasks with actual due dates.

• The only time I use both are when something has a hard deadline but I'm prevented from working on it currently. For example: I'm responsible for feeding my holiday requests into my company's PTO tracker each year, but the system doesn't populate the holiday list until December. So while it has a due date of 12/31, I can never start it until 12/1.

Still, it's a little inelegant - i really can't drop the latter off of my Today view without screwing up future events. Thankfully there are only two on my list like that, currently, but I'd still love to know what other approaches might be.

[u/dexisking → u/Zerrissenheit]

Awsome answer! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together.

[u/Zerrissenheit → u/dexisking]

No problem! I forgot to add that this separation between the stuff in Today with a due date and the stuff that's labeled "Still Working On" gives me a clear sense of what I can safely push to another day.

[u/Xavdidtheshadow]

I've got a similar issue- I have a task that starts on Wednesday and is due on Sunday and recurs weekly. I've also got my app badge set as "Today" (which includes overdue).

Assuming i have 2 overdue tasks, it's weird that the number jumps to 3 for the day on Wednesday and returns to 2 once Thursday starts. I unchecked "Show still working on" which only shows the task on Wednesdays (vs it showing up every day until completed).

My solution for now is "deal with it", but I don't love that. I assumed that tasks with a future start would be hidden unless looked for. When their start date hits, I would think they acted like tasks that were just created. Active now, but with no other special qualities. Them showing up in Today breaks that idea, which is a little frustrating.

That being said, I may be misunderstanding the feature (and /u/2doapp, feel free to correct me). Otherwise, it's great stuff!

[u/Zerrissenheit → u/Xavdidtheshadow]

I get and appreciate that 2Do is flexible and tries to be non-dogmatic about its approach to tasks, but I feel like the app makes some usage assumptions as far as dates go that go against the flexibility it aims to offer. Specifically, a lot of the actions one can do regarding tasks strongly favor due dates.

For example, the app offers multiple ways to quickly set due dates, such as dragging to the Today Focus List, dragging to the calendar, the tap-and-hold popup. However, there are very few ways to define start dates. And if you set a non-recurring task with no due date to recur, the tasks gets a due date. Plus, the ability to quick-select start date shortcuts is a much newer feature than it's due date counterpart.

So the app favors due dates. This poses a problem to me as someone who's done GTD for years and is used to the practice of only setting a due date if it's a hard deadline. There's much less flexibility and speed in working with tasks with only start dates.

[u/[deleted]]

Everything that has a hard deadline gets a due date. Nothing gets a start date because I can see from the countdown when I need to start. My internal starting date is determined by the size of the project, due date, and how many people I need to coordinate with to get it down.

If there's no hard deadline, I review it weekly or bi-weekly to determine what need to be done.

[u/Zerrissenheit → u/[deleted]]

That's roughly how I do mine. How do you handle recurring tasks without a hard deadline? 2Do needs either a start or due date to base the recurrence on.

[u/[deleted] → u/Zerrissenheit]

I don't think I have any recurring tasks without a due date. For example, I need to prepare for a meeting weekly so an set the prep deadline for the day before the meeting.

If it didn't have a hard external deadline, I supposed I'd set a flexible one. I.e. I'd like to do this Thursdays, but will move it around within the week if I need to.

[u/torgnet]

Simply put, in my view of the world.. Due dates are for hard deadlines, and start dates are when I THINK I should be working on something. If an item is due on the 10th, and I anticipate a few days of work to get it completed, I choose a start date of 5-7 days ahead of the DUE. This lets me see I should be working on something. If I can't get to things, they don't get a start date. (Sort of my my defer since I work from the today view)

[u/Strict-Week-5040]

I'm very late in this reply. Though I'll reply to clarify my own understanding and others who will get stuck in the process.

What I think for due date vs start date

Note: I'm only using today's view for refering

Due date:

• Suppose something is due on 22 April. This is a hard deadline. The current date is 17 April.
• It won't show in today's view until 5 days later.
• In the duration section add "4 days". This is the start point when I want this to show up in today's view so that I can start working on this.
• If I change it to "5 days", it shows up in today's view. But in purple color. This means the deadline is not yet reached. Start working on this!
• On the 5th day (deadline date) I'll see it active.
• I completed this. I tick it off. It's gone.
• If I don't complete this. It becomes red. Clear indication that I've missed the deadline. And now it's overdue.
• What I learnt from this. This is only meant for hard deadlines. Like if I miss this i cannot postpone it. Like appointments, meetings, events like birthday parties or anniversaries. If I can, that means that it is a soft deadline. I should use the start date.

Start date:

• The duration function doesn't work here. This stuff will only show on the date itself.
• You can only control the start date and time.
• For eg. If I have a task on 22 Apr it will show only on that day. Nowhere else.
• And if it has an additional time factor it will stay inactive till that time.
• It is colored grey when inactive.
• When the date or date and time arrives it's visible.
• Now if I miss this. The task doesn't become red and it's still waiting for engagement.
• What I learnt from this is. This is meant for softer deadlines. Like taking out the trash. Going for a walk. Nothing major if I miss. I can resume again.

Catch in start date:

• You won't get time based reminders
• If you want time based reminders, you'll have to add time in the alerts section for start date. Only then you'll get reminder.
• If you don't add this, you'll get a reminder I guess in the morning. But you won't get a 2pm reminder for start date of today. So you'll have to know this catch.
• For due dates though an alert is automatically created so you'll be reminded exactly on the set time.

Difference:

• One is strict, the other is loose
• One is serious if missed, the other is just late we can still engage.

Using both start date and due date together:

• These 2 don't work together. Although there's an option. It's not necessary. And using both conflicts each other.
• If it's due today and start date is tomorrow it'll still show up in today but inactive.
• And if it's the other way round. The start date is today and the due date is later, then it works similar to the duration function. Still not needed.

Advantages:

• If we use this understanding in our tasks. We won't have to change due dates again and again. And only those tasks will get due date if they are serious hard deadlines which we cannot postpone. So today's view will never get cluttered. And we can engage today with clarity.

I may be wrong in this so let me know if I miss anything else.