Due Dates...

There are a lot of articles written about using due dates in your organisation system, and reading these can cause a lot of confusion. The confusion originates from the two different approaches that are recommended. The first approach tells you to set due dates for all the tasks that you want to achieve on a specific day. The second approach is to not set any due dates except for tasks that absolutely must be done on a specific day. 

Over the years, I've tried both methods, and have settled on setting due dates only for things that absolutely have to be done on a specific day. The reason I chose this approach is because when I do have a 'do or die' task, that task is highlighted in my daily list. Everything else are tasks that I would like to do that day, but nothing will die if I don't get round to them. I find this approach is much less stressful than trying to get everything done that I have assigned for the day. It also means I can largely forget about my daily list after I have taken a look at it first thing in the morning because I rarely have more than one or two tasks that have to be done that day. These tasks I try to get done as early as possible so that the rest of the day feels stress free and relaxing, no matter how busy the day is. 

If you are a Todoist user, one of the great things about Todoist is that if you do not assign a due date it does not show up in your "Today" list. If you follow the approach of only assigning due dates to tasks that must be done that day, then your "Today" view will never be overwhelming and that will help to motivate you to get those "Today" tasks done as soon as you possibly can. 

In Todoist, to assign tasks that you would like to get done that day, you can use the priority labels, this means that once you have completed your must dos, you can switch views to the priority you have assigned for tasks you would like to get done that day. A quick tip here is to not use the red priority for these tasks. Save the red priority (priority 1) for special tasks that may come up during the day that you need to get done that day. I would suggest you use priority 2 (blue) for these tasks.

Of course, you could always use the labels for this too. I think using priorities would be a little quicker to assign, but there's nothing stopping you from using labels to allocate tasks you would like to get done that day. 

The point though it to manage your tasks for the day so that your list is not overwhelming when you look at it. You want to be motivated, not having the feeling of dread about the tasks that you think you have to get done that day.