Digital Habits: To-Do

Hover over the task and click its focus button (Focus on this task). It opens in a small focus window that stays on top of every other app, even full-screen ones on a Mac; tick it off or press Switch task from there. You can have two at a time: one for the task you work on, and one for something running alongside, such as an AI agent working on a task. A third takes the place of the newer of the two.

The app counts the time a task spends in a focus window. Give a task the time you expect with the clock chip (for example 45 or 1.5h), and a finished task shows the time you actually spent. Worked on it without a focus window? Add time spent in the … menu of the done task. To hide the timer, turn off Settings › Features › Always show timer in Focus Mode; the time is still counted.

Turn on Board View in Settings › Features (the app starts as a plain list). Then:

• Tasks sit in Backlog, Soon (-ish), and Today, and the Someday column adds a fourth for work you may or may not do.
• Drag tasks between them, and sort each column by due date, person, name, duration, or Manual.
• Press Start on Today to work through the day one task at a time: Mark done, Skip, or Pause, and Esc to go back.
• With Assign tasks on, mark yourself with This is me to filter the board by My tasks.

Turn on Calendar View in Settings › Features. Tasks with a due date show on their day, and you can write notes on days and set week goals. To add a calendar, press Add Calendar and paste its private address (https:// or webcal://) from Google Calendar, iCloud, or Outlook; Where do I find the address? shows where each keeps it.

Yes. Set it to Marked only, and it shows just the events whose description starts with DH-TO-DO. Handy for a busy work calendar where only a few events are about your tasks.

To connect:

• Settings › Integrations › Basecamp › Connect, sign in to Basecamp in your browser, and come back to the app.
• Connecting alone brings nothing in: make a new list (the + shows when you hover over the list tabs), or open Edit task list on one you have, and choose the Basecamp Project and Basecamp List it should follow.
• With Tab Groups on, a new group can bring in every to-do list of a project at once.

On a Mac:

• Settings › Integrations › Apple Reminders › Continue, and allow access when macOS asks.
• Then make a new list, or open Edit task list on one you have, and choose the Reminders list it should follow.
• If you said no to macOS, allow it in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Reminders.

Task names, done ticks, notes, and due dates, both ways; Basecamp also brings subtasks and who a task is assigned to. Each linked list syncs:

• when the app starts, and every 10 minutes
• when you open or leave it
• when you press the sync button beside it

Lists you have not linked stay only in To-Do.

Google Tasks and Microsoft To Do are coming soon. For any other app, tell us and we can add it: email team@digitalhabits.org or open an issue at github.com/digitalhabits/dh-to-do.

In a file on your computer, with no account and no server of ours, so we never see them. Basecamp sign-in passes once through our small sign-in service, which does not see your tasks either. The app sends only an anonymous daily usage count; turn it off in Settings › General › Send anonymous usage count.

Settings › General › Tasks and lists › Export saves a file with your tasks, lists, tab groups, and people, pictures included. Import on the other computer adds them and deletes nothing. Calendar notes and linked calendars are not in the backup.

Yes. A deleted list keeps its tasks: Settings › Deleted lists › Restore brings it back. A deleted task or group can be brought back with Undo for a few seconds.