How to Automatically Prioritise Todoist Tasks Based on Due Date

A task’s priority in Todoist is static. You set it once and it stays exactly where you left it, even though how urgent a task feels usually tracks its due date. Something scheduled for next week doesn’t need to be a P1 today, but on the day it’s due it probably should be. And once you clear a date off a task entirely, it shouldn’t keep sitting near the top of your list at an inflated priority.

The trouble is that Todoist happily stores a priority and a due date side by side without ever connecting the two. So you end up nudging priorities up and down by hand as dates come and go, which is exactly the kind of repetitive bookkeeping that’s easy to forget and tedious to keep on top of.

So, in this post we’re going to look at how to hand that work over to Doify. By the end of it, you’ll have a set of rules that automatically raise, set, and clear a task’s priority as its due date is added, reached, and removed, with no manual edits required.

Why Todoist Can’t Change Priority Based on a Due Date

To be clear up front, Todoist isn’t missing priorities or due dates. You can set a priority as you create a task with the `p1` to `p4` quick-add shortcuts, change it by hand whenever you like, and due dates are core to how the whole app works. What Todoist has no concept of is linking the two together. Priority never changes on its own when you add a date, when a task becomes due, or when you take a date away. Every one of those is still a manual edit that you have to remember to make.

The workarounds people reach for don’t really close that gap for most users. The first set of options are open-source scripts you self-host, like autodoist or todoist-prioritizer . These can manage priorities to a degree, but they’re tools you have to install, configure, and keep running yourself. For a developer that might be fine, but for most people the setup and ongoing upkeep make them a non-starter.

The second set are general-purpose automation platforms like Zapier, Make, or SureTriggers. These can connect to Todoist, but they’re priced and built for broad, multi-app workflows rather than this kind of Todoist-specific bookkeeping. Zapier’s free tier only covers 100 tasks per month, and the cheapest paid plan after that is $29.99 per month, which is more than most people pay for Todoist itself, all to handle a couple of small rules.

So, both of the common routes have real downsides. This is where Doify can help.

How Doify Links Priority to a Task’s Due Date

Doify lets you listen to events that happen in your Todoist account and run actions in response to them. We call these triggers and actions , and rules are how you pair them together into an automation. For this workflow we lean on a single action, Set Priority , paired with three different due-date triggers, one for each point in a task’s date lifecycle.

That lifecycle is the whole idea here, and it’s something no single native feature handles. We’re going to set a task to P3 when a due date is added , escalate it to P1 when it reaches that due date , and drop it back to P4 when the date is removed . Each of those is its own rule, so you can run all three together as a complete system or pick only the ones that fit how you work.

Before we configure anything, there are a couple of details worth stating plainly. The Add a Date and Remove a Date triggers respond to the change as it happens, so the priority updates moments after you add or clear a date. The Task Reaches Due Date trigger works a little differently, as Doify checks for due tasks on a regular schedule rather than responding at the exact moment it becomes due. In practice that means the priority change lands within about five minutes of the task becoming due, which is worth keeping in mind.

How to Automatically Set a Priority When You Add a Due Date

The first rule covers the moment a task gains a due date. By pairing the Add a Date trigger with the Set Priority action, you can have any task pick up a priority as soon as you schedule it. Setting it to P3 works well here, since it lifts dated, planned work just above the undated clutter sitting at the default P4 without immediately shouting for attention.

How to Configure This Rule

1. Sign up to Doify (the free plan is fine for this guide). During sign-up you’ll connect your Todoist account, which is how Doify is able to listen for events and set priorities on your behalf.
2. Create a new rule. Rules are the core of Doify’s automation, with each rule pairing a trigger with an action to run when the trigger fires.
3. Choose the Add a Date trigger. This tells Doify to watch for due dates being added to tasks in your account.
4. Choose the target project you want the rule to monitor. The rule only fires for tasks inside that project, which keeps it scoped to where it’s relevant. On the Pro plan , you can target every project with a single rule instead of creating one per project.
5. Choose the Set Priority action. This is what applies the priority whenever a date is added.
6. Pick the priority you want to apply, for example P3.
7. Create your rule. Doify starts watching for newly dated tasks straight away.

With the rule active, every task that gains a due date in your chosen project is set to your chosen priority automatically, without you touching the priority field.

How to Escalate Priority When a Task Reaches Its Due Date

Setting a priority when a date is added is useful, but the bigger win is escalating that priority when the task becomes due. To do this, pair the Task Reaches Due Date trigger with the same Set Priority action and set the priority to P1. That way, whatever is due today automatically rises to the top of your list on the day it matters, without you sweeping through tasks to bump them yourself.

The configuration follows the same steps as the previous rule, with two changes. When you create the rule, choose the Task Reaches Due Date trigger instead of Add a Date, and set the Set Priority action to P1 so due tasks are marked as urgent.

How to Clear Priority When You Remove a Due Date

Finally, if a task loses its due date, perhaps because you’ve deferred it indefinitely or decided it’s a someday item, it shouldn’t keep sitting at an elevated priority. To handle that, pair the Remove a Date trigger with the Set Priority action and set it back to P4.

Once again the steps mirror the first rule, with the Remove a Date trigger in place of Add a Date and the priority set to P4. From then on, any task that has its date cleared in the target project quietly drops back to the default priority, so your undated tasks stop competing with genuinely scheduled work for attention.

Putting It Together: A Full Due-Date Priority Workflow

Each of these rules is useful on its own, but the real benefit comes from running all three together on the same project. With the set in place, priority tracks a task’s entire date lifecycle on its own. A task starts at P4, rises to P3 the moment you schedule it, escalates to P1 on the day it’s due, and falls back to P4 if you ever clear the date. You decide the priority logic once and then stop thinking about it.

You don’t have to adopt the whole system, though. If all you want is for due tasks to surface, the escalation rule on its own does the job. And, if you’re on the Pro plan , you can target all of your projects with a single rule rather than recreating each one project by project, which makes it straightforward to apply this workflow across your entire account.

Recap

In this post we’ve looked at why Todoist stores a task’s priority and its due date without ever linking the two, leaving you to adjust priorities by hand as dates change. We then built a set of Doify rules that pair the Add a Date , Task Reaches Due Date , and Remove a Date triggers with the Set Priority action, so priority moves through a task’s date lifecycle automatically, from P3 when it’s scheduled, to P1 when it’s due, back to P4 when the date is cleared.

If you’d like to take your priority automation further, our guide on automatically setting a task’s priority when it’s created uses the same Set Priority action from a different starting point. And if keeping your dated tasks in order is on your mind, you might also like how to automatically reschedule overdue tasks to today . If you have any questions about Doify or this workflow, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

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FAQs

Can Todoist Automatically Change a Task’s Priority Based on Its Due Date?

No native automation links priority to due dates. You can set a priority with the `p1` to `p4` shortcuts or change it by hand, but Todoist never adjusts it for you when a date is added, reached, or removed. To automate it you need a third-party tool like Doify and its Set Priority action.

How Do I Raise a Task’s Priority Automatically When It Becomes Due?

Pair the Task Reaches Due Date trigger with the Set Priority action and set the priority to P1. From then on, any task that reaches its due date in your target project is bumped to P1 automatically.

How Quickly Does the Priority Change After a Task Reaches Its Due Date?

Within about five minutes. The Task Reaches Due Date trigger runs on a regular schedule rather than firing the instant the date is hit, so there’s a short delay. The Add a Date and Remove a Date triggers respond as the change happens, so those updates are effectively immediate.

Can I Combine Setting, Escalating, and Clearing Priority?

Yes. These are three separate rules built from the Add a Date , Task Reaches Due Date , and Remove a Date triggers, and you can run any combination of them on the same project. Using all three gives you a complete workflow where priority follows a task’s date from start to finish.

Which Priority Levels Can I Set?

Any of P1 through P4, the same scale Todoist uses, where P1 is the highest and most urgent and P4 is the default. You choose the exact priority each rule applies when you configure it.

Does This Work on iOS and Mobile?

Yes. Doify runs independently from the Todoist app, so it applies your rules based on what happens in your account regardless of the device or platform you’re using, whether that’s web, desktop, Android, or iOS.