Best way to handle dates?

[Mark S.]

Many todos have a date element associated with them.

I started out creating tags like 2012/08/04.

But then I saw a post suggesting this was not the best approach.

So I reworked it and now use the creation date as the action date. The main problem with this is that now I have no true creation date for the item. It would be more ideal if there was a 3rd date field "action date".

I've also considered creating titles like "2012-08-04 Stuff to do today"

What do other people use, and what is generally the best approach?

Thanks!
Mark

[Noddy330]

Mark

Here's what I do viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1131&p=4134&hilit=to+do#p4133

But ... as I said, works for me, but ymmv

Nod

[Mark S.]

I already know how to use CN for todo lists. I use tags to change the status of a task.

The question is how to organize dates.

In the GTD work flow, the first thing you do is check your calendar. For a complete GTD system, you need a way to organize date-based information.

So far I could organize dates by:

* Tags like 2012/08/05
* Titles like 2012-08-05 Wash Car
* Creation date where modified creation date items are tagged with something like _CAL

Another post suggested that you shouldn't use tags for dates, but I'm not sure why.

Mark

[Noddy330]

Maybe this?
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=282&hilit=date+tag

Nod

[Mark S.]

Maybe this?
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=282&hilit=date+tag

Nod

That post was back in 2009 -- long before hierarchical tags.

But it does get me thinking that I might want to do tags like

2012/08/W3/20

Where W3 would be the week in the month.

That way one could quickly can get a calendar by year, month, week, or day.

I'm thinking it might be possible to write a Ruby script that would generate a year's calendar.

Mark

[Noddy330]

agreed - but it still works
Nod

[CintaNotes Developer]

With hierarchical tags, using tags for dates is actually a quite convenient approach.
Before it was not recommended mostly because it would clutter the tag sidebar beyond repair - when all tags
are listed flatly, very soon you'd get a very, very long list of dates.

But now, you create a hierarchy like "deadline/2012/08/13" or "review-on/2012/08/W3" and it's hidden in the
tag tree until you need it.

In future versions, Alarms and Reminders could become a better match for this functionality, but as for now
tags seem to be a good choice.

The only problem with tags is that there's no sorting by tags, so you won't be able to view notes in the order
of, say, increasing review date (that is, in one list). If you need this, you'd probably be better off using note titles and sorting by
title.

Using creation and modified dates is a hack where you give up some functionality in exchange for another.

[ChrisCN]

The only problem with tags is that there's no sorting by tags, so you won't be able to view notes in the order of, say, increasing review date (that is, in one list). If you need this, you'd probably be better off using note titles and sorting by title.

Hi Mark
If you like grouping/sorting by tags you can vote for it here
http://roadmap.cintanotes.com/topic/3388-note-grouping/