Essential guide
Understand Today
Use this guide to open Today and decide what to do now without turning the screen into a backlog, score, or frozen morning list.
When to use it
Open Today when the question is: what should I do at the current moment of the day? It is an operational reading of present state, not a summary of everything in the account.
Use it before starting a session, after saving a review, or when the schedule changed. For a deeper planning explanation, read Today and planning.
Now
Now shows what you can review at this moment: due reviews, learning steps that are available, and new cards released for study. The list follows the current state of your review queue.
The practical action is to start with the work presented as current or prioritized. Calling it only the most important tasks loses the time rule: the item must be open now.
Later today
Later still belongs to the same civil day, but it holds items that do not need to replace the current action. A learning step, for example, moves to Now only when its real time arrives.
This block can change as reviews are confirmed, cards are released, capacity changes, or the day advances. It is not a backlog.
Optional
Optional shows additional opportunities, such as Safe Ahead when conditions allow part of future work to move earlier. This choice is not required.
If you ignore an optional item, the necessary core of the moment remains Now. If you confirm it, the workload origin stays traceable in the plan.
Completed
Completed shows confirmed work: reviews, sessions, or planned items that passed through the system's authoritative confirmation.
There is a difference between an action sent and confirmation. An answer still saving, an error, or an incomplete query should not be read as completed work.
After a review
The simple flow is: confirmed review -> memory changes -> Today can change. The change comes from the real attempt record, not from a local animation.
That is why Today is not a list frozen in the morning. After the session, a card can leave Now, another can open later, an optional opportunity can appear, or Completed can grow.
When there is no work
No work does not mean everything is learned. It can mean nothing is due now, nothing is released, a rest day is active, replanning is pending, the snapshot is offline, data is outdated, an operational error happened, availability is not configured, or there is no actionable item.
The next step depends on the real state: configure availability when missing, wait for the indicated time, resolve the error, check gradual new-card release, or continue creating material only if that fits the plan.
Common confusions
Why did it appear later? Because the time opened, a review was confirmed, cards were released, or the plan was reconciled. Why do I not see a card I just created? It may be in Health, gradual new-card release, gradual release, or not yet actionable.
Does optional count as required? No. Why did Today change after the session? Because memory and planning use the confirmed outcome. Does no work mean consolidated? No; it is only the current operational state.
Next step
If Now has work, start there. If there is only Later, come back at the indicated time or organize input/capacity without forcing an unavailable review. If Optional has items, decide consciously whether bringing work forward is worth it.
Continue with Today and planning for the deep page, Adaptive review for the session, Workload forecast for demand/capacity, and Goals and calendar for context.