Deadlines and start dates
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The due date is when you plan to work on a task. Two more dates say when it must be done and when it becomes relevant.
Deadlines#
A deadline is the day a task must be finished by, and the two are separate: you can plan a report for Tuesday that is due to your boss on Friday. Moving or clearing the due date never changes the deadline, and you may even plan a task after its deadline; the countdown then turns red.
A task with a deadline shows a countdown on its row, next to an hourglass: 3d for three days to go, Today on the day, and 2d over once it has passed. It turns amber in the last week and red on the day and after. Hover it to see the full date. The countdown follows the calendar on your device, so it moves on at midnight even offline.
Deadlines also bring tasks into Today and Upcoming, and you can add a reminder before the deadline (see Reminders). From the list, d sets the deadline (fri, 2026-11-06).
When a task starts#
Not every task is for now. Start, in the panel's When editor, says when a task becomes relevant:
- Anytime, the default: the task is in your lists as usual.
- A start date defers the task until that day: it disappears from Today, Upcoming, Anytime and the counts, and its project or Inbox lists it at the end under Later, with a Starts 21 Oct chip. On its start day it appears in Today with a Started chip and stays there until you deal with it. The start date can't be after the due date.
- Someday parks the task: it moves to the Someday view and its project's Later group, and its due date is cleared (a repeating task stops repeating). Giving it a due date or a start date brings it back.
A due date or a deadline that has come always shows the task in Today, even if it is deferred or parked.
This Evening (the Evening switch in the same editor, or Add › This Evening) moves a task due today into its own group below the day's tasks in Today, and shows a moon on its row elsewhere. It says nothing about the time of day.
From the list: n parks a task or brings it back, Shift+N asks for its start date, and Shift+E toggles This Evening.