@rockingthemoment

I believe the answer to all those questions except the last one is the fact that dates and calendars can be used in so many ways, and Doit has focused on one particular way.

For me personally, none of this is an issue, because I use the dates in such a way that I do not even need to see them on a calendar. I use the "Scheduled" date only as an "earliest possible date" (GTD Tickler date), i.e the date until which I do not want to have to see the task on my Next list. The Deadline date I use as a deadline date, i.e. "last possible date". When used together, they define a time window during which the task can be done, but I would not want to clutter my calendar with all such time windows. And I have no need for it, because I have it fully covered in my lists - and I can even keep my Next list sorted by deadline. My true GTD calendar actions, such as appointments, I schedule straight in my normal calendar and "sync" manually to the extent I find appropriate. My real calendars also serve as a journal, often shared, and I do not want them interfered with (deleted or checkmarked etc).

The type of use I believe Doit had in mind when designing this was that if you are a person (time planner) who uses scheduling as a routine method for your tasks in general (not just for appointments and other externally agreed events), for example, take the cat for a walk from 4pm to 6pm, then you can do this, and it will show up neatly on your calendar, or if you just schedule it for Sunday, with no exact time and no deadline, it will be represented as an all-day event for Sunday. I have checked it out, and it worked (but I do not use it).

It seems you have a third type of use in mind - to show your deadlines. That need apparently had not been foreseen. Personally I would not want to do that (some apps have it and I have tried it) but it creates a terrible clutter on your calendar (as does showing tickler dates on a calendar). You cannot see the forest for all the trees. If I have a particularly important deadline that I want to see on my calendar I simple create an "event" for it manually straight on the calendar.

Forgot to mention:

I think it would be a good idea, in the entry form where you create/edit a task, if there was a checkbox called "Show on calendar". For the most part, for ticklers and minor deadlines, you would leave this off, but if a certain task is really something you want to see on your calendar you simply check this checkbox. This would make it possible for many types of users to use the sync functionality. I might even use it myself :-)

Thanks for your ideas, yes the suggestion you just made would be really nice.

I can understand that in some cases the current implementation would be useful, BUT Doit.im is a 'GTD' app and in GTD there's a clear idea that 'due dates belong on the calendar'. That's why it's really surprising to me that I can't sync tasks with deadlines to my calendar (unless they have a start time)

I also don't understand why tasks with deadlines don't show in 'Tomorrow'. A dedicated tomorrow list is great, but if it doesn't show the tasks that are really due tomorrow I don't see the point of it :)

Well ...

My interpretation of GTD is this:

GTD allows you to put tasks on a calendar even if the exact time is not known, only the date. This is primarily useful and recommended for long events, such as a seminar, but usually not very meaningful for smaller things, such as the mailing a daily report. But it is up to you, and GTD is not very clear about where to draw the line. In any case, these are due dates in the sense of Do dates, not final deadlines. They are called calendar actions in GTD, and they are scheduled for being done on that particular day because the MUST be done on that particular day - otherwise you would not schedule them at all. Remember that GTD relies completely on thorough weekly reviews of your lists and quick daily scans of your calendar, tickler file and Next list (and Waiting and Inbox). The main reason you even use a calendar is to avoid double bookings.

Normal due dates (deadlines) as such are not a fundamental part of the GTD management system, only indirectly a part of its philosophy. It is most certainly discussed and is indirectly a part of the four "factors" of the task (context, priority etc). The task's proximity to a due date (if it has a due date), in conjunction with the task's importance and size/complexity etc tends to affect the task's priority. Priority is indeed part of the GTD "system". GTD emphasizes the relevance of priority, especially at higher horizons, but is a bit unclear about its exact use a lower horizons, and sometimes even recommends against overusing it in the momentaneous selection and ordering of tasks to do right now.

What GTD generally emphasizes regarding dates is that you look at the "hard landscape" only - externally objective dates such as agreed meetings or agreed (or stipulated) deadlines. You do not put any "artificial" deadlines or "artificial" calendar dates on anything else just for "planning" purposes. You leave it all as open as possible and select tasks dynamically by looking at context, energy, time required and priority.

But I agree with you that it is probably good for Doit to cater for all kinds of uses of dates, especially since they have put so much work into this already.

Personally, I make very active use of Doit's Priority field for speeding up my scanning of the Next and Waiting lists, which is something I do at least once per day. By routine I mark all tasks as Medium. Sometimes I realize that certain tasks do not require daily scanning; weekly will do; then I mark these as Low. Only tasks that would be so DANGEROUS TO DELAY that I want to see them every single time I look at the list (even multiple times per day) I mark as High Priority. This works very well for me. Only a very small percentage of my tasks have deadlines - how often do you get an ultimatum or agree to finish by a certain date? But almost always my tasks have a silent threat over them - that any day could be too late; it could even be too late already; somebody else may have moved faster than me; etc. etc. Priority is a more efficient way to deal with this than having to invent any adjust phony deadlines all the time..

My workflow is obviously a bit different, but thanks again for sharing your ideas. I do hope that Doit.im will reply to my question about why I'm not seeing tomorrow's deadlines in the Tomorrow box?

Yes, I am quite curious about Doit's answer, too.

I definitely do think you have a point. I agree it would seem the most natural and consistent to see in Tomorrow everything that will show up in the Today list tomorrow, which will include both "scheduled" (whether calendar or tickler) as well as tasks with deadline.

And I also agree that since ticklers are already shown on the calendar, then why not show deadlines as well.

And in addition, I would consider it best to be able to suppress both ticklers and deadlines by default (have a checkbox for "show on calendar" etc), especially for those people who perhaps use "Scheduled" for actually scheduling true calendar actions and need to see those clearly on the calendar without the clutter of ticklers and deadlines.

(But none of this is of any great concern to me personally since I schedule calendar events straight on the calendar itself, and normally have no desire at all to see ticklers or deadlines on any calendar. But I think it is good for Doit to be as consistent as possible.)

@rockingthemoment @Folke

Q: I do hope that Doit.im will reply to my question about why I'm not seeing tomorrow's deadlines in the Tomorrow box?
A: It is according to the Start Time of the task Which the box is the task in. If the task's deadline is today, the task is due. So it comes to Today.

Ok, but can I ask why you set it up this way? Isn't it strange to have a task with a deadline of tomorrow NOT show up in the 'Tomorrow' box?
Now you are forcing me to check both in Next AND in Tomorrow what's coming up tomorrow. Why can't I just see this in one place? If you're gonna make a dedicated tomorrow list I really don't understand why you choose to show only start dates in there.

@rockingthemoment

Thank your for your feedback. If you want to plan the tasks for tomorrow,it will be convenient to see it in Tomorrow when the deadline is tomorrow.

We will consider it seriously. Thank you.

Ok, thanks.

@rockingthemoment

You are more welcome. :)