Smart views in Task List by Zaweba: Today, Overdue and more

Lists are where tasks live in Task List by Zaweba, but they are not always the best way to look at them. The smart views in the sidebar cut across every list at once: Today, Overdue, Next 7 days, Starred, All tasks, Completed, and Upcoming reminders for the next 30 days. Each is built on the fly from your lists, so a task can show in Today and in its own list at the same moment without ever being copied.

That is the design choice that makes them trustworthy. There is one task, seen from different angles. Tick it in Today and it is ticked in its list too.

What each view gathers

Today shows tasks due today plus anything overdue. It is the view to open first thing, because it answers the only question that matters at nine o'clock: what has to happen now.

Overdue shows only tasks past their due date. Rows say how late each one is in plain words, such as 3 days overdue in red, rather than leaving you to work it out from a date.

Next 7 days looks a week ahead, which is the right distance for planning: far enough to see what is coming, close enough to act on.

Starred gathers tasks with four or five stars. Stars are your own sense of importance, separate from dates, so Starred is where the things that matter live even when they are not urgent.

All tasks shows every open task from every list together. Completed lists finished tasks with when they were done, with restore and Clear completed. Upcoming reminders lists reminders for the next 30 days, with annual ones highlighted in their type colour, so a birthday, an MOT or a filing date stands out.

Why they are built, not stored

Because the views are worked out each time from your lists, there is nothing to keep in step. Move a task to another list, change its due date or add a star, and every view reflects it straight away. There are no duplicates to tidy and no risk that Today shows something you already finished.

It also means your lists can be organised however you like, by area of life or by project, while the views give you the time-based picture. You do not have to choose between organising by topic and organising by date.

Using views with tags

Any view can be filtered by tags. Choose one tag and you see only those tasks; choose several and you see only tasks carrying all of them. Today filtered by a work tag is a workday plan; Next 7 days filtered by a home tag is a weekend plan.

A daily routine

Many people settle into something like this. Open Today and work down it. When Today is clear, glance at Next 7 days to see what is coming, and at Starred for anything important without a date. Once a week, open Overdue and decide honestly about each item: do it, give it a new date, or delete it.

The optional daily summary email sends the same picture each morning: today's tasks, overdue tasks and the day's reminders.

Small cautions

A task without a due date never shows in Today, Overdue or Next 7 days. If something must happen by a certain day, give it a date. And remember that Today includes overdue tasks, so a long Today view is often a sign that the Overdue list needs a weekly sort out.