How to see what is overdue on your to-do list

Open the Overdue smart view in Task List by Zaweba's sidebar. It gathers every task past its due date from all your lists, and each row says how late it is in plain words, such as 3 days overdue in red, or Overdue since 14:00 for something due earlier today. The Today view shows the same overdue tasks alongside what is due today.

You do not have to hunt through lists or compare dates in your head. The app does the sums and puts them in words.

Where overdue tasks show up

Overdue is one of the smart views, built on the fly from every list. A task in it is the same task as in its own list, not a copy, so ticking it in either place ticks it everywhere.

Today includes anything overdue as well as tasks due today. Many people start the day there, which keeps late items in sight without a separate look.

In each list, overdue rows are tinted red, and today's are tinted sky blue. The sidebar adds a red overdue badge beside any list that has late tasks, and shows a count of everything overdue now. Even before you open a view, you can see which areas of your life are slipping.

Reading the wording

Rows use plain phrases rather than bare dates: 3 days overdue, Overdue since 14:00, Due today, Due tomorrow, Due in 5 days, Due in 3 weeks. That is quicker to take in than a column of dates, and it makes the red rows impossible to miss. The created date on each task, which cannot be edited, also tells you how long it has been on the list.

Dealing with the list

An overdue list is a set of decisions waiting to be made. For each task, there are only a few honest answers. Do it now, if it is quick. Give it a new due date you believe in. Move it to a Someday list if it no longer has a deadline. Or delete it if it no longer matters. Sorting a list by most overdue puts the oldest ones first, which is a good order to work in.

A weekly session with the Overdue view keeps it short. Ten minutes on a Friday afternoon is often enough.

Keeping it from growing

Overdue lists grow when dates are hopeful. Set due dates only for things that really have them, and leave the rest undated so they never turn red. For deadlines that matter on the day, add a linked reminder with Remind me about this task, so a pop-up arrives at the right time rather than a red row afterwards.

The optional daily summary email also lists overdue tasks each morning, at 07:30 unless you choose another time. Seeing them before work starts is a strong prompt to deal with them early.

Overdue reminders

Reminders are a little different. A reminder missed while your PC was off pops up once at the next start, marked late, and the reminder history shows when it was due and when it fired. That way nothing slips past silently, even when the computer was switched off.