Todoist does not support start dates that hide your tasks until their start date is due. This would prevent you from easily accessing important task information like comments. By keeping your tasks visible in your projects, you are able to access and manage all their details at any given time.
Despite Todoist not supporting actual start dates, it does support a start-date-like workflow which allows you to focus on the tasks you’re actively working on:
Start tasks and sub-tasks
If you want to start a project on a specific date, add a "start [project name]" task in the project and set the date for the start day. Then drag and drop the project underneath a parent project like "Someday/Maybe" to hide it from your task list. When it comes time, your start task will appear in your Today view to remind you to get started.
Similarly, if you have a date where you want to start a particular task, add a "start task" sub-task and set the date for the day you want to start that task. When it comes time, that sub-task will only show up in your Today view as a reminder to get started.
Recurring dates
In place of a start date, you can have a task that recurs for every date you want to be working on this particular task.
Set a recurring date with both a start and end date. For example, type "every day starting may 3 and ending may 6". The task will appear in your Today view on May 3. Each time you complete the task, it will reset for May 4, May 5, and May 6.
You can also set an open-ended recurring date like "every day starting may 3". When you've finished the task, select "Complete forever" from the task options menu to complete and remove it from your active task lists.
Deadlines
If you need to finish a task before a specific date, consider adding a deadline. For example, create a recurring date every 2 days at 12:00 and add a deadline {Feb 28}. As you work on this task, you will always see its deadline, while the recurring date will change. In the calendar view, the deadline will have its own chip on that day.
Use sorting options in a view to sort or group tasks by deadlines.
Use filters
When you don’t want to see all your tasks at once, use the Today view or create a custom filtered view. This way you can focus on the tasks that you actively need to work on right now.
Use Todoist with your calendar
See what’s planned for this week or when you’re available to work on new tasks, by using Todoist Calendar feeds or by 2-way syncing your Todoist with Google Calendar.
Use Reminders
Get a notification or email on the time and date you should start working on a task, by adding reminders to your tasks. You can even turn on automatic reminders, to always receive a reminder for any task with a time.
Share your feedback
If the workarounds shared above don't meet the needs of you and your team, share your feedback with us. We review all feedback as we continue to make Todoist even better.