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Projects and Checklists

2Do has three structures for breaking work into smaller pieces: Projects, Checklists, and Sub-Tasks. They look similar but serve different purposes.

Tasks and Sub-Tasks​

A regular task can carry a quick checklist of sub-tasks — children that live entirely inside the parent. Sub-tasks are best when the children are tiny and only meaningful in the parent's context: Pack: passport, charger, headphones. If you want each child to act like a real task with its own due date, Alert, or tag — promote to a Project.

Projects​

A Project is a parent that contains real tasks. Each child carries its own properties — date, Alert, tag, action — and shows up individually in your Focus Lists. Use a project when:

  • The goal is made of multiple actions that don't have to happen in order.
  • Individual actions deserve their own dates or alerts.
  • You want each action to appear in Today on its own.

Creating a Project​

  • Tap the floating [+] button on the Tasks screen.
  • In the editor, use the type picker below the title field to choose Project.
  • Or convert an existing task from the task's tap-and-hold popup or the editor's more-actions menu: Convert... → To a Project.

Project View​

Tap a project row in the task list to open Project View. This focuses on the work inside that project. Use the back button in the project header to return to the previous list.

Project View on iPhone

Checklists​

A Checklist holds items — titles that can be checked off but cannot have their own individual dates, alerts, or tags. The whole checklist behaves like one task in your Focus Lists, and the items inside are simply children of that task.

The other differences between projects and checklists are mostly visual — checklists render as a single rolled-up unit while projects render as a folder of independent tasks.

Use a checklist for:

  • Sequences that only matter together (packing, pre-flight, onboarding).
  • Templates you'll duplicate.

Creating a Task or Item Inside a Project / Checklist​

When you tap [+] to add a new task, the type-picker just below the title field offers three options: Task (default), Project, Checklist. Once a project or checklist is open, tapping [+] adds children of the appropriate type — and tap and hold on [+] opens Quick Add so you can rapid-fire titles into the parent.

Creating a Checklist​

  • Tap the floating [+] button on the Tasks screen.
  • In the editor, use the type picker below the title field to choose Checklist.
  • Or convert an existing task from the task's tap-and-hold popup or the editor's more-actions menu: Convert... → To a Checklist.

Converting Between Types​

You're never locked into the first choice. Use Convert... from the task's tap-and-hold popup or the editor's more-actions menu:

  • Task → Project or Checklist.
  • Project → Task or Checklist.
  • Checklist → Task or Project.

When a conversion would remove child-task details, 2Do warns you first.

Behavior in Focus Lists​

  • Project children appear individually in All, Today, etc.
  • Checklist parents appear as a single item.
  • Sub-tasks stay nested under the parent and don't surface separately.

Tips​

tip

Start with a simple Task. Promote to a Project only when you find yourself wanting per-child dates or alerts.

tip

Checklists are perfect templates. Long-press → Duplicate when you need a fresh copy for the next trip or onboarding.

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