The short answer: turn on the Sort my tasks routine in alfred_. Every morning at 7:30 it reads your open tasks and emails you three groups (do now, schedule this week, consider dropping) with one line of reasoning each and anything overdue at the top. It changes nothing itself.
The list that only grows
You’re the office manager at a property maintenance company with four crews. Every phone call, email and hallway conversation becomes a task: renew the general liability certificate, chase the late invoice from Harbor Supply, order uniforms for the two new techs, update the vendor list, call the landlord about the parking lot.
By Tuesday there are 40 of them. Some are due today, some are due never, and two are already late. Every morning you read the whole list, pick the three most recent, and the certificate that expires Friday sits at number 31.
The native ways, and where they stop
Due dates. Task apps sort by due date, which works for the tasks you gave a date to. Most of the 40 don’t have one.
Priority flags. You can mark tasks high, medium and low. Everything ends up high.
A weekly review. Twenty minutes on Friday to sort the list properly. It works the weeks you do it.
Turn on Sort my tasks
- Open alfred_ on your desktop and go to Routines.
- Open Sort my tasks and press Turn it on.
- Keep adding tasks the way you already do: in the app, by text, or by accepting the to-dos alfred_ suggests from your email.
It runs every morning at 7:30 in your time zone and emails you the sorted list.
What the 7:30 email looks like
Your tasks today
Overdue
- Send the Westgate Plaza COI to their property manager (was due Monday): their vendor list locks Friday.
Do now
- Renew the general liability certificate: it expires Friday and two clients need the new one.
- Approve the Harbor Supply invoice: it’s 12 days past due and they’ve emailed twice.
Schedule this week
- Order uniforms for the two new techs: they start the 3rd.
- Call the landlord about the parking lot: no deadline, but crews are parking on the street.
Consider dropping
- Update the vendor list spreadsheet: nobody has opened it since spring.
Illustrative example, not output from a real run. The tasks are invented, and the wording differs day to day.
Where each step happens
- Desktop: turn it on from Routines; tasks live on the Tasks page.
- Email, 7:30 AM: the sorted list arrives before the first call.
- Phone: add a task by text (“remind me to call the landlord Thursday at 10”), or mark one done (“done with the uniform order”).
The honest caveat
It sorts the open tasks in alfred_, so a task that only lives in a notebook or another app isn’t in it. The groups are suggestions with reasons; check them against what you know. It doesn’t complete, delete or reschedule anything. alfred_ is a paid product, and routines run on the credits your plan includes; plans are on the pricing page.
