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Re-envisioning the due date as "when this will be actionable"

awuerl says:
I use [RTM as a GTD manager](http://wuerl.calepin.co/remember-the-milk.html) and have never understood the "due date" field. I put due dates in task names; that way I can see them right there in my list along with everything else and easily weigh my options.

IMO, if you have a "due today" smart list then you're already backed into a corner where due dates, not importance, are driving your activities, and you'll never find time for anything but putting out fires.

So I've re-envisioned the due date field as when a task becomes actionable, not when the action has to be complete.

The garbage is a good weekly example: take out garbage @home ^tuesday *weekly
But it works well for long-range things as well: replace air filters @home ^3 months *after 3 months

Then I just include the query `(dueBefore:Now OR due:never)` in all my smart lists so that anything without a "due date" or anything with a "due date" in the past shows up.

Now I can put an action in my system at any time and have it show up in my context list when it's actionable.
Posted at 2:27pm on February 3, 2012
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
You could also look into the sleeper tag method, where repeated tasks are hidden from view until some time before the next due date:
http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2009/04/tips-tricks-tuesday-using-sleeper-tags/
Posted 13 years ago
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