A tree is good for holding everything. It isn't a good way to decide what to do this morning. For that you want a short list, and you want to choose it yourself.
That's what Today is. Star a task anywhere in your tree and it appears in Today. Star five things and you have a five-item plan for the day. The rest of the tree is still there, and none of it is on screen.
Chosen, not generated
Plenty of apps build a "today" view from due dates. That works when your day is run by deadlines. It works less well when most of what matters has no date, or when twenty overdue items pile up and turn the list into a guilt report.
Tatask keeps the two ideas apart:
- Today holds what you've starred. You decide what's on it.
- Due holds what has a date: overdue, due today and coming up. See due dates and repeats.
When something due today also matters today, star it. It will show in both places.
Starring is quick on purpose
On the web, a star appears when you hover over a task; click it. On your phone, swipe a task a little to the left and it's starred, with a light tap of haptic feedback. Swipe right to complete it. Picking today's list takes a minute or two, which is about as long as planning a day should take.
On the web, the nav shows how many starred tasks are still open, so you can see at a glance whether you've signed up for four things or fourteen.
Today keeps its context
A starred task is still part of its tree. Open it from Today and you see where it lives and what sits around it. Complete it and its parent's progress ring moves on. That link back to the bigger goal helps on days when the steps feel small.
How many tasks should be in Today?
Fewer than you think. A useful rule is that today's list should be finishable today with time left over. If you're curious about the reasoning, I wrote about how many tasks to plan per day and about the Ivy Lee method, a century-old habit of choosing six tasks the night before.
A routine that works
- At the end of the day, open your tree and walk the branches you're working on.
- Star the next step on two or three of them, plus anything with a hard deadline tomorrow.
- Drag Today into the order you'll do things.
- In the morning, start at the top.
For a fuller version, see how to plan your day.