Scheduled Due Date
Please note: This article has been contributed by a user.
This post is by Darin.
Hopefully, I can help clarify Scheduled vs. Due Date rather than add to the confusion. I will not address repeating items in this post. I may edit this post as necessary to make it easier to understand.
SCHEDULED: A task or project placed in the Scheduled list will be hidden from active view (i.e. will not appear in other list views) until a specified future date. When that date is reached, the item will either move to the Today list or be highlighted in the Scheduled list, depending on the option you select when you first create or place the item in the Scheduled list. If you choose to leave it highlighted in the Scheduled list, the highlight will serve as a gentle reminder to either move the item to another list or reschedule it further into the future.
Basically, you would place an item in the Scheduled list when you don't want to think about it, or can't do anything about it, until the specified future date. It is for this reason that people often refer to scheduling an item as setting a "start date."
DUE DATE: Any task or project can be given a Due Date, which is the date by which the item must be completed. An item with a Due Date will indicate how long until it's due, and can reside in any list view (i.e. Next, Today, Someday), which is one of the things that differentiates it from a Scheduled item.
The item will move to the Today list (if it's not already there) on either the Due Date or a specified number of days prior to the Due Date, depending on the option you select when setting the Due Date.
As an example, let's say today is Monday and you have a task which must be completed by the end of Friday, but you plan to work on it occasionally between now and then. Additionally, on Thursday you want the task to move to the Today list, so that you are reminded that you don't have much time left to complete it. You can achieve this by creating the task in the Next list, giving it a Due Date of Friday and setting it to "Show in Today: 1 day before."
One final note: a Scheduled item does not require a Due Date, but may be given one if desired. Likewise, an item with a Due Date does not need to be placed in Scheduled, but you may do so if desired.
