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What design/architecture decision did Notion make that made this nut so hard to crack for years? When to-do apps (glorified calendar lists) have this as table-stakes?

But in Notion, it's not that simple. In Todoist, the app-builder has already decided that the checkbox means "this task is done" and that it should trigger other things to happen. In Notion, the user makes that checkbox. It's entirely up to users to decide how all the parts interact.

As for "table stakes" in other apps, that's because other apps do everything you for you, and don't have to content with all the underlying tools being available to the user. If I'm building a to-do app, it's trivally easy to calculate a new due date and set it when the user checks off a task.

But until now, there was no native way to automatically modify the due date with that calculated next due date. When the API released, we were able to do it using external tools. Now we can finally do it natively.

@jguzman-leal.bsky.social

The new formula features within Automations and Buttons are the key to everything. We've always been able to use a formula to calculate a task's "next due" date given a current due date and a user-defined interval (e.g. "every 2 weeks").

jguzmanleal

18 Nov 2024

Any video you have to illustrate the use of automations and buttons? @thomasjfrank.com

thomasjfrank.comRecurring Tasks - Ultimate Brain DocsUltimate Brain comes with out-of-the-box support for recurring tasks. They just work. 😎 When you give a task a Due Date and a Recur Interval, each time you set that task’s Status to Done, Notion will ...

18 Nov 2024

That video is coming this week! But if you want to see an example now, check out the last video here: thomasjfrank.com/docs/ultimat... This video is primarily showing an upgrade for Ultimate Brain, but the latter part of the video shows how to build a fairly advanced automation.

Marina Lobato

@mlobato.bsky.social

30 Nov 2024

I know it’s not the right post. But.. are you planning to do any Q&A on notion formulas at some point or any other sessions? I’ve been through your full reference and the videos and I’m still stuck.