Workflow & Conventions

Tasks Eye provides one low-friction point of contact for task work. When you do not know what to do next, run Tasks Eye: Show Focus or Tasks Eye: Show Open.

Obsidian Tasks provides excellent task primitives, but Tasks Eye provides a streamlined workflow for managing the notes that contain those tasks. The goal is to minimize friction between asking “what should I do next?” and reaching the relevant task and its surrounding note context.

The Note-Centered Model

In many task systems, the task is the atomic unit. In Tasks Eye, the note is the atomic unit of work.

Any note containing tasks may participate in the workflow—you do not need to prescribe notes as formal “projects” or “outcomes.” A board row simply represents a note and surfaces its earliest unchecked dated task as the visible next action.

Inside the configured indexing boundary, notes declare their place in one explicit tree: the root uses up: "-", and every other note links to its parent with a single wikilink. A note’s context is the first-level branch in that tree; folders only decide which notes are indexed.

The Meaning of a Due Date

Treat a scheduled or due date as the next due date—the date on which an action should surface again for your attention—not necessarily as a hard external deadline. If today is not the right moment for a task, rescheduling it to tomorrow is a valid decision, not a failure.

A daily attention workflow

Attention is limited, so Focus is the committed list for today. Start with its highest-priority note. Finish the task you can do, add context or another task when useful, and close the note once all its work is complete. If work remains, continue or decide when it needs attention next: lower its priority for later today, or move its date to another day. Return to Focus until its list is empty.

Open the full-size workflow diagram. Scroll horizontally to read it here on a narrow screen.

Repair Inbox at a natural break and keep it close to zero; a repaired note may bring work into Focus. Once Focus is empty, review tomorrow in Open. Keep only important work or work that must advance that day, raise the priority of what matters most, and postpone what can wait. Then stop for now or, if useful, work ahead on tomorrow’s and later notes.

Note Statuses

Tasks Eye respects the lifecycle of your notes using two explicit statuses (defined in your YAML frontmatter or properties):

• open: For notes you are actively working on. They must be actionable (i.e., have an unchecked dated task). The system forces this actionability so nothing slips through the cracks.
• closed: For notes that are no longer active tasks. If a note is purely informational, completed, or abandoned, it should be closed. Closed notes with unchecked tasks will trigger an Inbox validation.

Note: Missing or blank note statuses are treated as open.

An open note that does not need attention yet remains open with its next unchecked task dated for the day it should surface. Done is strictly for reviewing history, with no required cadence.

Anti-Patterns

To keep your system fast and trustworthy, avoid these common pitfalls:

• Treating the Inbox as a To-Do List: Inbox is for fixing broken note metadata, not for executing work. Clear the metadata errors, then execute the work from Focus or Open.
• Using Notes as Undated Checklists: The workflow requires due dates. An open note must have at least one dated task to tell the system when it matters.
• Hiding deferred work in another state: Keep the note open and move its due date forward so it returns when you need to decide again.
• Stressing over External Deadlines: Tasks Eye does not attempt to track ultimate hard deadlines or Gantt charts. The system is explicitly designed for managing your current workload and due dates.

A Day in the Life

A typical day using Tasks Eye looks like this:

1. Morning: You run Tasks Eye: Show Focus. You see 4 notes demanding attention today.

Complete or reschedule the task right from the board, or open the note for full context.

2. Execution: You complete the task in the first note. For the second, you need input from a colleague, so you add an actionable task, “Ask about X because it blocks Y,” and date it for tomorrow.
3. Capture: A random idea strikes. You create a quick note and jot down a task. It lands anywhere inside the indexed boundary.
4. Afternoon Repair: You run Tasks Eye: Show Inbox. You see your quick note flagged because it has no up link. Link it to the right parent note and date the task for next week.
5. Closing out: You finish the remaining items in Focus and repair Inbox to zero. In Open, review tomorrow’s list, raise the priority of the most important work, and postpone what can wait. With that list ready, you can finish for now or work ahead.