Todoist was the first to-do list app I started using seriously. After trying out and failing at so many to-do list apps, Todoist was the one which made sense to me. But, around the start of 2020, I switched to another to-do list app called Things 3 and had been using it for months. My favorite feature by far is recurring tasks. Because you can use natural language like “Change sheets every two weeks starting Saturday” and you’ll get a reminder every other Saturday to change your sheets. It’s also amazing for remembering to cancel subscriptions before a free trial ends. 4 weeks” as the due date. That way if it takes me a week to make it to the stylist my next reminder will happen four weeks from when I complete the task instead of four weeks from the original due date (which would have prompted me in 3 weeks, not the full four weeks.). Next 7 Days: See every task due in the next week. Calendar, you can add, complete and edit tasks directly from your calendar and have those changes reflected back in Todoist using two-way sync.
- Todoist Every Two Weeks Meaning
- Todoist Every Two Weeks
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For many years, I have been using David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity app. It is simple and easy to follow. All along, I tried nearly every to do list possible - Outlook, Notepad, Wanderlist, Onenote, Excel. They all felt clunky and against the beauty and simplicity of GTD. When I finally found ToDoist, I was in ecstasy.
ToDoist is everything I could want in a time management app and productivity management tool - simple, elegant and quick. It gets out of your way. It has just the right amount of customization without being everything to everyone.
If you haven't used David Allen's Getting Things Done, review this quick reference chart as I walk through my process. Here are my top 10 tips on how to Get Things Done with ToDoist!
1. COLLECT EVERYWHERE USING TODOISTS MANY INPUT METHODS
One of the main reasons I love ToDoist is that you can put it everywhere. Install all the clients. Keep it open on your desktop. Have it in your mail client. Have a quick email to your main projects. Here are the ways that I input my tasks using ToDoist:
I enter most of my tasks using the PC client with Ctrl-Alt-A (which is the quick add shortcut on PC - I am sure it is similar on Mac)
I add tasks on my mobile and iPad when I am on them (usually when out or doing the reading) using the great iOS application.
I add tasks to my favorite projects with add task via email.
I add tasks in Gmail with the great ToDoist Gmail plugin. Got an email with a task? Just hit the ToDoist button.
I add tasks while browsing for a web page I need to remember via the chrome and firefox plugins.
2. SET YOUR TODOIST PROJECTS TO BE THE MAIN CATEGORIES IN YOUR LIFE
Don't go too deep on your ToDoist Projects. I like two levels. This is because you can still group related tasks into subtasks to do grouping inside of a ToDoist Project. I have three main projects: Work, Home, and Shared (for shared projects). Under Work, I have Sales, Marketing, and Operations. Under Personal, I have Career/Coaching, Chores, and Shopping.
3. REVIEW TASK LIST EVERY DAY / EVERY WEEK USING THE IPAD APP
I love the iPad app the most for reviewing my ToDolist. I have to confess that I do this before I get out bed every day. I have found doing my review in the morning avoids the end-of-day decision fatigue (this is a real thing!) When I am reviewing, I am trying to do a few things. Reprioritize my list, move things out of my inbox to correct projects and get items that are old to the right dates. The iPad application works best for me because not only is it small and great for my pre-morning blanket wrapped to do a review, but swipe left is the quick method for moving to a new date with an awesome interface to move something to today, tomorrow, next week, next month or custom. On Sundays, I usually try to look at the whole list, not just the stuff that has fallen into today 'pile'.
4. USE FLAGS AND DRAG TO ORDER TO PRIORITIZE IN TODOIST
Task Priority is one of the difficult things in any to-do list management system. How do you keep from having 20 top priority tasks? The red, orange and yellow flags will automatically default to the top of your list if you are using priority sort (which is the default). Thus, I use the colored flags to set my top priorities. I usually set one red flag for my main thing I want to get done that day, and it is usually customer related. I set 2-3 orange flags of important tasks that should get done that day. Finally, I have a few key habits that I leave yellow. My next priority is done via the drag and drop order. Inside a flag color (including no flag), you can just drag and drop to change the order.
5. SET CONTEXT AND TIME REQUIRED USING TODOIST LABELS
This may be one of my favorite things about ToDoist is the label/tagging system. This is where most people fall down on the GTD system. If you can set the context (where you are) and how much time you have (5 minutes or 60 minutes?), then you can always look at your to-do list in a 'gap' time and not have to think about what to do next. This is the key to productivity. Reduce your decisions. Know exactly what to do next. I have created color-coded labels for a few time frames from 5 to 60 minutes and a few contexts (PC, iPad, Home). You need to make your own, but as an example here is what my label bar looks like:
6. USE TODOIST'S LABEL AND RECURRENCE FEATURES FOR MANAGING HABITS
It is so easy to setup the Habit tasks in ToDoist. I try and do certain things like exercise and meditate every day. I set up a recurrence on these items using ToDoist's recurrence feature. If you want a task each day, you can just type in the date field 'Every Day starting today' or for a shortcut 'Ev Day start Today'. In fact, ToDoist can recognize most English dates like 'Each Weekday' or 'Every third Tuesday starting' or 'The first of every month.' I also use a label for my habits that is in red (see above) which easily lets me see my habits at a glance. I created a filter that shows my habits still left to be done today as follows: @Habit & (today | overdue):
7. DEFINE A SYSTEM FOR THE 3-D'S - DO, DELEGATE, DEFER
Todoist Every Two Weeks Meaning
One of the key points of GTD is to be able to continually parse the flow of your life. To me, this is mostly email. I try and read my email multiple times per day (I know this goes against the convention). I have found continually parsing to be easier and less stressful to me. I try not to be interrupt driven, but when I first sit down in a gap, I process. Emails are either done in real time (if less than a 2 minute action), delegated to someone else (I use ToDoists shared projects with some of my team to assign a task. Otherwise, I just fire off an email and star it to review later), or defer it (create an action for the future in your ToDoist). At this point, if it is trash, spam or FYI, I usually just leave it read in my email box for later searching (search to me is better than filing). I do set up a tag for a future task that 'NeedsProject' or 'Someday_Maybe', as you can see from above. These are both GTD categories on how to defer items that are not tasks, but instead are containers (projects) for several tasks and items that you may eventually get to respectively.
8. NOW USE YOUR PRIORITIES AND FILTERS TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO NEXT!
Now that you have tasks in and you are ready to sit down and start working, use your filters and priorities to decide what to do. Do you only have 5 minutes? Filter for just 5-minute tasks. Sitting at your computer, filter for your computer context. Stuck at the doctor's office with only your iPhone? Filter for just your tasks labeled phone. Are you ready to just do the next thing? Pull up your Today tab in ToDoist and do your next task. Try to finish your red and orange tasks every day. Go back and look at your completed tasks on Sunday and you will be amazed how much you are getting done.
9. HERE ARE SOME OTHER RESOURCES ON TODOIST AND GTD
No system is perfect. You have to find a system that works for you. Before I found my system, I had read many books and tried many different things. Here are some other links to resources about ToDoist and GTD:
Some of my methods were based on this ToDoist article on GTD.
This article helped me with some of my contexts and filters (note that ToDoist does not let you use labels with the < symbol anymore).
Here is a great blog post by Becky Kane (@19Kane91) about how she uses ToDoist and GTD.
Here is one more GTD and ToDoist Method.
10. BONUS TIP: USING A POMODORO TIMER
A Pomodoro timer is a method for driving flow - the ability to get lost in deep concentrative work where time seems to disappear, and you get tons of work done! Pomodoro is the best way I have found to get flow. The way it works is you set a timer for 25 minutes and work without breaking. Then you set another timer for 5 minutes and goof off on anything you want. You do this for four cycles and then take an extended break. Here is a quick and dirty Pomodoro Timer.
I hope your new year starts off great! But more importantly, I hope these tips will help you build a habit of organizing and attacking your tasks that will make 2016 your most productive year yet!
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Dates in Todoist can sometimes be a bit confusing. Here you will find a complete overview of the date formats and the ways of using dates in Todoist.
Note: I recommend to bookmark this post so that you can easily find it when you are struggling with dates in Todoist.
How to set dates in Todoist
You can set dates in Todoist using the calendar/date selector, or by using natural language.
Todoist Every Two Weeks
Todoist will automatically recognize and add due dates as you type them into a task name. This feature is called Smart date recognition. You can turn this feature on or off by going to Settings / General / Smart date recognition.
Disabling Smart date recognition for a single task
Sometimes, Todoist’s Smart date recognition can be a source of irritation. Let’s say the task is “Finish monthly expense report” By the time you type “Finish mon” Todoist will have interpreted this as a task named “Finish” that is due on Monday. To avoid this, press backspace or delete on your keyboard, or tap the highlighted word on your phone or tablet.
Natural language formats
Relative dates
Write | To get |
tod | Today’s date |
today | Today’s date |
today at 9 | Today at 09:00 (or 9 am) |
tom | Tomorrow’s date |
tomorrow | Tomorrow’s date |
tomorrow at 21:00 | Tomorrow at 21:00 (or 9 pm) |
next week | Next Monday (or what you have specified as the start of the week in settings.) |
end of month | The last day of the current month |
next month | The first day of the next month |
Specific dates
Write | To get |
25 feb | 25. February current year |
feb 25 | 25. February current year |
25th | The 25th day of the current month |
feb 13 2019 | 13. February 2019 |
13.02.2019 | 13. February 2019 |
13/02/2019 | 13. February 2019 |
2019/02/13 | 13. February 2019 |
02/13/2019 | 13. February 2019 |
13-02-2019 | 13. February 2019 |
2019-02-13 | 13. February 2019 |
02-13-2019 | 13. February 2019 |
Specific days
Write | To get |
mon | Next Monday |
monday | Next Monday |
tue | Next Tuesday |
tuesday | Next Tuesday |
wed | Next Wednesday |
wednesday | Next Wednesday |
thu | Next Thursday |
thursday | Next Thursday |
fri | Next Friday |
friday | Next Friday |
sat | Next Saturday |
saturday | Next Saturday |
sun | Next Sunday |
sunday | Next Sunday |
Recurring due dates in Todoist
The only way to set recurring due dates in Todoist is by using natural language. I’m tempted to say that your imagination is the limit but to make it easy to get started, I have made some tables below.
Relative numbers
Write | To get |
every | Every day, week, month, etc |
every 2 | Every other day, week, month, etc |
every other | Every other day, week, month, etc |
every 3 | Every third day, week, month, etc |
every third | Every third day, week, month, etc |
every 4 | Every fourth day, week, month, etc |
every fourth | Every fourth day, week, month, etc |
every 5 | Every fifth day, week, month, etc |
every fifth | Every fifth day, week, month, etc |
every 6 | Every sixth day, week, month, etc |
every sixth | Every sixth day, week, month, etc |
every 7 | Every seventh day, week, month, etc |
every seventh | Every seventh day, week, month, etc |
every 8 | Every eighth day, week, month, etc |
every eighth | Every eighth day, week, month, etc |
every 9 | Every ninth day, week, month, etc |
every ninth | Every ninth day, week, month, etc |
every 10 | Every tenth day, week, month, etc |
every tenth | Every tenth day, week, month, etc |
… |
The use of ! (exclamation mark)
Thanks to the tip from Keith in the comment section, I can list a very useful function that was unknown to me: The format Every! will calculate the next occurrence from when you complete the task. Meaning that if you complete the task later than on the first due date, the next occurrence will be calculated from when you completed the previous task.
Specific dates and days
Write | To get |
every 1st | Every 1st of the month |
every last day | Every last day of the month |
every other monday | Every other Monday |
every morning | Every day at 09:00 (9 am) |
every evening | Every day at 19:00 (7 pm) |
every weekday | Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday |
every workday | Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday |
Setting start dates for non-recurring tasks in Todoist
Start dates for non-recurring tasks are actually not supported in Todoist. The dates above are all due dates. You have three options to get around this:
- Register the start date as the due date. When the task shows up, use the every day until <due date> to make the task repeat until the desired due date.
- Register the task with due date every day from <start date> to <due date> .
- Register the task with a due date and set a reminder for the start date.
Start and end dates for recurring tasks in Todoist
Write | To get |
every day starting december 01 | Every day from 1st of December |
every day ending december 01 | Every day starting today, ending 1st of December |
Every day for 4 weeks | Every day starting today, ending in 4 weeks |
Every day for 5 months | Every day starting today, ending in 5 months |
Every day from 01 december to 10 december | Every day starting 1st of December, ending on the 10th of December |
Set due dates in Todoist with Smart Schedule
The Smart Schedule function in Todoist is an AI-based function that helps you schedule or re-schedule your tasks. It learns over time, making better and better predictions. To learn more about the Todoist Smart Schedule function, visit this help article from Todoist.
Dates in Todoist filters
For a complete overview of how to make filters in Todoist, please visit the below blog post.
The ultimate guide to Todoist filters
Read More
Date formats
- Given date: 15.01.2017
- Given date US format: 01/15/2017, Jan 15th
- Given date and time: 15.01.2017 16:00
- Given date and time US format: 01/15/2017 4 pm, Jan 15th 4 pm
- Relative date: yesterday, today, tomorrow
- Due Date: 2 days (due in the next two days), -2 days, (due in the past two days)
- Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Creation dates
- created:
- created before:
- created after:
Todoist Every Two Weeks Login
Due dates
- due:
- due before:
- due after:
- next X days
- overdue
- recurring
- no date
Filtering on Creation dates
Query | Shows |
created: today | All tasks created today |
created before: -365 | All tasks created more than 365 days ago |
created after: 01/15/2017 | All tasks created after Jan 15th, 2017 |
Filtering on Due dates
Todoist Every Two Weeks Medical
Query | Shows |
due today | All tasks due today |
due before: Jan 15 | All tasks due before January 15 |
due after: 01/15/2017 | All tasks due after Jan 15th, 2017 |
due in 2 day | All tasks due in two days |
next 10 days | All tasks due in the next ten days |
overdue | All tasks that are overdue |
recurring | All tasks with recurring due date |
no date | All tasks without a due date |
!no date | All tasks with a due date |