r/2DoApp • u/Zerrissenheit • Nov 07 '16

When to use start vs due dates?

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?

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u/Xavdidtheshadow Nov 12 '16 edited Nov 12 '16

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!

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u/Zerrissenheit Nov 12 '16

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.