A Flexible Task Scheduling App Idea for Tasks Without a Fixed Deadline
A task manager that treats 'soft' target dates as fluid, resurfacing signals rather than hard deadlines, so flexible-window tasks stay visible without gaming the calendar.
Only assign tasks to a day they MUST be done?
I'm a dedicated Todoist user (maximum karma level), but I have a problem I've had since originally using GTD circa 2003. Some tasks MUST happen on a given day; I understand how to handle those. But many tasks don't depend on the exact day; I could do them today, or tomorrow, or Friday, but not never. E.g., laundry, the next step in doing my taxes, background research for something I must become familiar with for work. How do people approach scheduling these? Right now in Todoist I have a "@next" tag and a "@backlog" tag, but that hides them; the whole core idea of GTD was that you pick a day or month and then take seriously the challenge of doing the task in the (admittedly arbitrary) time window you picked.
The problem, in the searcher’s words
I use Todoist (or another GTD-style app) and most of my tasks aren't hard-deadline items — they're things like laundry, research, or the next step on a project that could happen today, tomorrow, or Friday, but not never. Putting a due date on them feels fake, and once I do that a few times and blow past the date, I start ignoring due dates altogether.
If I instead tag them as 'next' or 'backlog' to avoid the fake-deadline problem, they disappear from my daily view and I forget about them. I want something in between: a way to say 'this should happen soon, in this rough window' without it being either a lie (a fake due date) or invisible (a tag with no date at all).
How do other GTD/Todoist users actually handle the tasks that live in that gray zone between 'must do today' and 'someday maybe'?
What the thread shows
Multiple experienced GTD/Todoist users independently describe the same gap and each built a different ad-hoc workaround (org-mode's SCHEDULED/DEADLINE split, priority-based execution windows, weekly-review triage, custom 'next action date' fields), showing a real, recurring pain point without a shared standard solution.
“Some tasks MUST happen on a given day; I understand how to handle those. But many tasks don't depend on the exact day; I could do them today, or tomorrow, or Friday, but not never.”
“What's actually missing is a do-date: a rough window where you've decided this gets looked at, and nothing breaks if it slips a day.”
“Making Todoist not date-centric is my ultimate life hack tbh”
“I use a tool that has a soft and re-usable 'next action date'. I don't add dates to most stuff, but I add when I need a card to wake up and get my attention. The date becomes more visible leading up to the 'next action date' and moves to the top of the column regardless of ordering when the date arrives.”
Target customer
Who
Power users of GTD-style task managers (Todoist, org-mode, similar) who juggle many non-deadline 'should do soon' tasks alongside hard-deadline tasks.
Context
During daily planning or weekly review, when flexible-window tasks (laundry, research, project next-steps) get buried in a backlog/next tag and silently ignored because the app's date field only supports fixed due dates.
What to build
- Two distinct date types per task: hard deadline vs. soft 'do-date' window
- Soft-date tasks resurface and gain visibility as their window approaches, instead of just turning 'overdue'
- Non-punitive rescheduling: slipping a soft date doesn't flag it red or shame it
- Weekly review flow to triage a 'someday/next' list into scheduled soft-date windows
- Recurring soft-date tasks (e.g. laundry every 7 days) reset automatically
Build note — Could be built as a Todoist companion/plugin via the Todoist API rather than a standalone app, given the existing user base's attachment to Todoist; alternatively, a lightweight app implementing org-mode's SCHEDULED vs DEADLINE semantics for non-technical users.
Later, if it lands
Who’s already out there
Mainstream GTD-style task manager with due dates, labels, and priority levels.
Gap: No distinct soft/flexible date type; the date field is treated as a fixed due date, so users resort to tags (@next, @backlog) that hide tasks from daily view instead of resurfacing them.
Plaintext outlining/task system with native SCHEDULED and DEADLINE properties, letting a task have a planned start date separate from a hard due date.
Gap: Solves the semantic distinction the OP wants, but only within Emacs' plaintext workflow, making it inaccessible to non-technical users seeking a mainstream app.
Built-in list/reminder app mentioned by a commenter as sufficient for their simple list-and-exhaust workflow.
Gap: Thread gives no detail on whether it supports soft/resurfacing dates as opposed to plain due dates or no dates at all.
Demand read
The pain is corroborated across many long-time GTD/Todoist users who each built distinct ad-hoc workarounds (priority tiers, custom date fields, recurring resets, org-mode's built-in scheduling), suggesting a durable, widely-felt gap in mainstream task apps — but no one in the thread signals they'd pay for a dedicated solution.
Worth digging into before you build
4 to considerNo idea is a sure thing at this stage — these are open questions worth checking yourself, not a verdict against building it.
Generic Idea
Task/todo-list management is a saturated app category, making differentiation and SEO ranking difficult.
Already Solved
Org mode's SCHEDULED vs DEADLINE properties (per fattylimes) already provide much of the requested semantics, though only within Emacs' plaintext workflow.
Weak Demand
No commenter states willingness to pay for a new tool; the thread is workaround-sharing between existing Todoist/org-mode users, not tool-shopping.
Verify Competitors
Apple Reminders was casually mentioned by Unusual-Quiet-5762 without detail on whether it actually supports soft/resurfacing due dates; confirm before publishing.