November 4, 2025

Why I don’t use due dates on todos

In yesterday’s message (subj: How I use my todo list), I mentioned that I don’t put due dates on my todos.

Why not?

Because then I’d only ever see my todos on the day they were due.

This would put me in constant crunch mode, stressed out all the time.

Which raises the question...

Why wouldn’t I see the todos that had due dates set in the future?

Because when I look at my todo list, I only see the ones with today’s date on them.

This is a critical component of my system.

Here’s why...

I look at my todo list probably fifty times a day.

If I got slapped in the face by every incomplete todo I’ve ever added to the app every time I opened it, I’d probably curl up under my desk in the fetal position.

To stay productive, I need to only see the tasks I can work on right now.

If I can’t work on a task right now, I need to NOT see it.

For example...

As of today, I have 1196 incomplete todos in my todo list app.

NOTE: 1167 of these tasks have no date at all. More on that tomorrow.

If I saw all of them fifty times a day, I’d be way too distracted to ever make progress on anything.

So what date do I add to the task instead?

I call it my “Radar Date”.

This is the date at which I want the task to appear “on my radar”.

NOTE: In the app interface, this date is still called the Due Date, but in my mind, it’s more like “the earliest possible date I can start working on this task”.

By default, when I create a task, the date is stamped as today - i.e., the current date, not Nov 4th 2025 ;-)

If I can’t work on the task until a future date - because something else has to happen first - I set the date to be the earliest future date that I think I can begin working on it.

So when I check my todos, I only ever see the ones that I can actually do something about right now, which keeps things from getting overwhelming.

Of the 1196 todos in my todo app, I only have 11 on my TODAY list. Not bad!

And I’m about to tick off “Send daily email” ;-)

Yours,

—J