Guides

Longer pieces about the things task apps get subtly wrong — which date field does what, why a repeat lands on the day it does. Written for the moment your app will not express what you meant.

• Repeat a task after you finish it, not on a fixed schedule"Every 2 weeks" and "2 weeks after I last did it" are different rules. Here is why most task apps only do the first, and what to do about it.
• Deadline vs due date: which one does whatA due date schedules work; a deadline records a consequence. Here is what each one is for, a rule for deciding, and which task apps give you both.
• Todoist deadline vs due date — which to use, and whenTodoist's date and deadline answer different questions. What each one actually controls, which plan you need, and how to decide which a task wants.
• Does Todoist have a start date?No — Todoist says so itself. Here are the six workarounds its help centre suggests, what each one costs you, and what a real start date does instead.
• Can Apple Reminders repeat after completion?No — every repeat option Apple documents counts from the schedule. Here is what Reminders can express, the two workarounds, and what each one costs.
• The GTD weekly review checklistAll eleven steps of David Allen’s weekly review, in order, with what each one is actually for and where people give up. Works with any app, or none.
• How to export your Todoist dataTwo routes out — a per-project CSV, or an account backup on Pro. What each one leaves behind, and how to keep your completed tasks, which neither includes.
• How to choose a task managerSix questions that actually decide it, in the order that matters. Feature lists are the last thing to look at, and the first thing every comparison shows you.