# Start dates and deadlines

> The difference between when a task starts and when it is due, and which one to set.

A task has two different date fields and they mean different things. Setting the wrong one is the most common source of confusion in Done Bear.

- **Start date** — when the task becomes relevant. This is what decides whether a task is in Today or Upcoming.
- **Deadline** — when it is actually due. It is independent of the view: a task can sit in Anytime with a deadline next month.

## Which one to set

If you know when something is **due**, set a deadline. If you know when you want to **start on it**, set a start date. Plenty of tasks want both, and plenty want only one.

Scheduling a task for today sets a start date of today. It does not set a deadline — the task shows up in Today because you decided to work on it, not because anything is due.

The reverse also holds. A deadline on its own does not schedule the task; it stays wherever you put it until the deadline is today or overdue, at which point it appears in [Today](/help/views) so you cannot miss it. If you set a deadline while capturing something new, and give it no other home, it waits in [Anytime](/help/views) rather than landing on today's list.

## Dates are whole days

Dates are calendar days. There is no time-of-day field on a task, so a task is due on a day rather than at an hour.

## Clearing a date

Clearing a deadline leaves the task where it is — it only removes the due date. Clearing a start date is what moves the task back out of Today or Upcoming: it lands in [Anytime](/help/views), still something to do, just not on a day. In the app that is the **Anytime** button under the calendar in the date picker.

## Repeating tasks

A repeating task is set up in the app, on the task itself. Repeats are a property of the task rather than something you approximate by making a series of dated copies.

You can open the next repeating copy in Upcoming to edit its description or checklist, or complete it early with its checkbox. A fixed schedule keeps its calendar dates; an after-completion schedule counts from the day you finish.

When you move a fixed repeating copy to another date in When, choose **Make Exception** to move only that copy, or **Update Rule** to move the future schedule too. After-completion copies move directly. Custom and count-limited rules can still have exceptions; edit their pattern in Repeat.

## Related

- [Views](/help/views)

Search for **Repeating** to see your repeat rules and upcoming copies together. Open a rule to edit it. Select multiple repeating tasks, then open **More** to pause, resume, or stop their series. Existing copies remain when you stop a rule.

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