Dates and Durations: Start, Due, and Duration

A task in 2Do can carry up to three time-shaped properties: a Start Date, a Due Date, and a Duration. Each one is optional. Used together, they decide when a task is visible in your Today list, when it is hidden as Scheduled, and how far in advance 2Do should start nudging you about it.

This page explains exactly how each property is interpreted on its own, and what happens when you combine them. Same rules apply on iPhone and iPad.

Think of them this way:

• Start Date means “do not show this until it is time to begin.”
• Due Date means “this is the deadline.”
• Due Time makes the deadline precise.
• Duration means “this task needs this much working time before the deadline.”

You do not have to open the dates panel to set any of them. Type the date, time, or duration into a new task's title and Natural Language Input fills in the fields for you. Work on the report starting tomorrow sets a start date, and Field trip from 19 July until 21 July sets a start and a due date at once.

Choosing Between Start and Due

Most tasks need only one of the two. Pick by asking what you want the date to do:

• Use a Start Date when you want the task to stay hidden until the day or time you plan to begin it.
• Use a Due Date when the task genuinely becomes late after that date or time.
• Use both only when there is a real working window between the two: a day you can begin, and a later day you must be finished by.

Only a due date can make a task overdue. A start date decides when a task appears; it never decides whether the task is late. When a task has no real deadline, leave the Due Date off and let the start date bring it into view.

tip

Use Start Date for anything that shouldn't bother you yet: appointments, scheduled work, recurring chores you don't want cluttering Today. Use Due Date for actual deadlines. Use Duration to surface a lead-up window for tasks that need preparation.

Daily Routines

For a recurring task you want to see at a set time of day but do not have to finish by then, set a Start Date with that time, repeat it daily, and leave the Due Date off:

• Update journal starting at 8:00 AM: hidden until 8:00 AM, then available for the rest of the day.
• Check bank account starting in the evening: out of the way until then.

The task never becomes overdue, and each occurrence gets the next start date. Add a Due Date and Due Time only when finishing by a particular time genuinely matters. See Repeating Tasks for the repeat options.

A Plain, Undated Task

A task with no dates stays in the list it was created in. It does not appear in Today. It is never "overdue" because nothing was promised.

Use this for the long tail of intentions: rough notes, someday/maybe items, anything that genuinely doesn't have a deadline.

Just a Due Date

A task with a Due Date appears in Today for the whole due date, then becomes overdue until you complete it.

• If the task also has a Due Time, Alerts can be anchored to that time. Without a due time, the task is simply due on that day.
• Overdue tasks can continue to appear in Today with an overdue indicator, depending on your Today list settings. They stay overdue until checked off.

This is the simplest pattern, and the right one for genuine deadlines: Submit invoice on Friday: appears in Today on Friday, then stays overdue until you submit it.

note

A due date without a due time has no specific clock time attached. If you use automatic due-date Alerts, 2Do treats the beginning of the due day as the reference point for that Alert. To anchor to a specific time of day, add a Due Time.

When a list is sorted by Due Date, a task with no due time sorts as due at the end of its day, after every task on that day that has a due time. Alert times do not affect the order; only the due date and due time do.

Just a Start Date

A task with only a Start Date is scheduled to appear at that start date. Until the start date arrives, the task is hidden from the regular list and from Today: by design.

This is how 2Do quietly keeps your active list focused on the now.

To see what's scheduled before its start arrives:

• Tap the Scheduled focus list at the top of the sidebar.
• Or, in the top-right of the sort bar, tap the clock icon to toggle display of scheduled tasks alongside your normal view.

Showing or hiding scheduled tasks changes which tasks a view includes, which is why the same task can appear and disappear as you tap the clock icon or switch to the Scheduled focus list. Sorting only changes the order of what is already there; it never adds or removes a task from a view.

A scheduled task with no due date shows up on its start date and stays in the list until you complete it.

Projects and child tasks

Each item uses its own Start Date for scheduled visibility. A project with no Start Date stays visible when Hide Scheduled is on, even if one or all of its child tasks start in the future. Those children stay hidden until their own start dates arrive or you show scheduled tasks.

Changing a project's dates resets its completed children

Changing or removing a project's Start Date or Due Date reschedules the project, and 2Do sets its completed child tasks back to active so the rescheduled project is treated as work to do again. Starring a project does not do this. If you want finished children to stay completed, adjust the project's dates first and complete the child tasks afterwards.

tip

A task with start = today and no due date is just a "today task": it appears in Today without overdue behavior. Useful for soft daily intentions.

Start Date + Due Date

The most expressive pairing.

• Hidden from the list until the start date arrives.
• Visible in its list between the start date and the due date.
• In Today on the due date, and from the start date onward when Include 'Still Working On' tasks is on in Settings > Today & Lists.
• After the due date, overdue.

Use this for tasks with a real working window: Prep talk for Thursday's meeting with a start date of Tuesday and a due date of Wednesday gives you Tuesday and Wednesday to work on it; on Wednesday it appears in Today as a deadline.

Just a Duration

Without dates, a duration is just an estimate of how long the task will take. It doesn't drive visibility.

But combine it with a due date and it becomes one of 2Do's most useful tricks.

Due Date + Due Time + Duration: Effective Start

When a task has a due date, a due time, and a duration, 2Do counts the duration backward from the deadline. That creates an effective start time without you having to set a separate Start Date.

Example: a meeting deadline is tomorrow at 3:00 PM and the task has a 30-minute duration. 2Do treats 2:30 PM as the point where the task starts needing your attention. The task still has a 3:00 PM deadline, but the duration gives it a useful “start working now” window.

Use this for time-boxed work:

• Join Zoom meeting due 3:00 PM, duration 30 minutes: start preparing at 2:30 PM.
• Submit proposal due 5:00 PM, duration 2 hours: begin treating it as active at 3:00 PM.

note

If you set a Due Date and Duration without a Due Time, 2Do treats it as a date-only lead-up window. For precise meetings and deadlines, set a Due Time too.

tip

For appointments and meetings, combine Due Date + Due Time + Duration. It keeps the actual deadline clear while also telling 2Do when preparation should begin.

Due Date + Duration: Lead-Up Window

When a task has a due date and a duration, 2Do uses the duration as a lead-up window before the due date. This can surface the task before the due date when the duration reaches back into today or an earlier day.

Example: a task due Friday with a duration of 2 days can start surfacing before Friday because the work needs time before the deadline. This is useful for tasks like prepare slides, review contract, or pack for a trip where the due date is not the first moment you should think about it.

A small consequence to be aware of: a task that's due tomorrow but has a duration assigned can already be showing in Today. That's normal and intended. (See the matching FAQ.)

Duration + Start Date

A duration on a task that has a start date but no due date has no special visibility behavior. The task appears on its start date and the duration is purely informational.

If you want the lead-time-reminder pattern, attach the duration to a due date, not a start date.

Start + Due + Duration

When all three are set:

• Usually hidden before the start date.
• Visible once the start date arrives.
• Can surface earlier if the duration window before the due date starts before the start date.
• Overdue after the due date.

Use this when you want both a “do not show before this date” boundary and a realistic amount of working time:

• Prepare conference talk starts 1 June, is due 10 June at 5:00 PM, duration 4 hours: kept out of the way before June, then available while you plan, and treated as active as the deadline approaches.
• Renew passport starts Monday, due Friday, duration 1 hour: hidden before Monday, visible during the week, and due Friday.

Repeating Tasks and Dates

The mental model gets one extra wrinkle when a task repeats. See Repeating Tasks for the full reference; the relevant points for dates:

• When another occurrence remains, 2Do keeps a completed copy for your history, then moves the active task to the next occurrence.
• The next occurrence carries the same date shape forward: start date, due date, due time, and duration are kept where they were used.
• Only a due date: the next occurrence gets the next due date.
• Only a start date: the next occurrence gets the next start date and stays hidden as Scheduled until that date arrives.
• Start date + due date: 2Do keeps the same gap between them. If a task starts 2 days before it is due, the next occurrence also starts 2 days before it is due.
• Duration carries forward intact: a recurring "Quarterly review" with a 1-week duration starts surfacing in Today one week before each quarterly due date.
• Repeat from Due Date keeps fixed schedules fixed. If rent is due on the 1st and you complete it on the 3rd, the next occurrence is still based on the 1st.
• Repeat from Completion restarts the cycle from the day you actually completed the task. If you change your car's oil roughly every 3 months and complete the task today, the next one is scheduled 3 months from today, not from when it was originally due.
• Changing a date on a repeating task changes what the next occurrence is counted from. With Repeat from Due Date, moving the due date moves the following occurrences with it. See Changing the Dates of a Repeating Task.

If the task has reached its End after count or End on date, it simply completes instead of creating another occurrence.

tip

For chores that drift in real life, use Repeat from Completion. For dates that must stay anchored to the calendar, use Repeat from Due Date.

Showing Scheduled Tasks

2Do hides scheduled tasks (start date in the future) from normal lists by default. This is Smart Scheduling, and Focus Lists covers it in full. To see scheduled tasks without changing anything, tap the Scheduled control in the sort bar above your tasks, open the Scheduled focus list, or use the notice row that appears at the bottom of a list holding hidden scheduled tasks.

Building a Daily View

For everyday work the built-in Today list is usually enough. It already combines tasks due today with overdue tasks and tasks you are still working on.

If you would rather build your own Smart List, the distinction that matters is which date the search token looks at:

• type: today matches tasks whose due date is today. Use type: anytoday for tasks whose start or due date is today.
• type: duetoday matches tasks due today only.

See Smart Lists for the rest of the search syntax.

Practical Examples

Task	Start	Due	Duration	What you'll see
Buy milk	None	None	None	Lives in its list. Never appears in Today.
Submit invoice	None	Fri	None	Appears in Today on Friday. Overdue Saturday onwards.
Take out the bins	None	Wed 8 PM	None	Appears in Today all of Wednesday. Alarm at 8 PM if set.
Take out the bins	Wed 8 PM	None	None	Hidden until Wednesday 8 PM, then appears in the list.
Prep quarterly review	Mon	Fri	None	Visible in its list from Monday; in Today on Friday, or from Monday with Include 'Still Working On' tasks on.
Join meeting	None	Tomorrow 3 PM	30 minutes	Deadline is 3 PM; duration creates a 2:30 PM effective start.
Submit proposal	None	Fri 5 PM	2 hours	Deadline is 5 PM; duration creates a 3 PM effective start.
Prep quarterly review	None	Fri	2 days	Starts surfacing before Friday when the lead-up window reaches the current day.
Prepare conference talk	Mon	Fri 5 PM	4 hours	Hidden before Monday, visible during the week, and treated as active before the Friday deadline.
Renew domain	Jan 1 (next yr)	None	None	Hidden until Jan 1 next year. Appears in Today then.

Where to Set Each Field

All three live in the task editor's Dates panel, which has a segment each for Start, Due, and Duration:

• Start: pick a day on the calendar or use the quick picks, then set a time with the clock or one of the four quick start times.
• Due: the same calendar and quick picks, with a Time switch that turns the due time on or off.
• Duration: quick lengths from 5 minutes to 6 hours, or any number of minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

See The Task Editor for the panel in full.

Defaults for Default Due Date, Default Due Time, and Default Start Time are under Settings > Tasks, so new tasks pick up your preferred pattern automatically.