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Start on Home

Put quick thoughts, links, questions, and things to do on Home. You do not need to decide where everything belongs before writing it down. For example:
Move longer work into a dedicated page when it needs a title and more room.

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Make a checklist

  1. Put the cursor on an empty line.
  2. Type / and choose To-do list.
  3. Write one concrete action per item.
  4. Click an item’s checkbox when it is complete.
“Email Sam the draft” is easier to act on than “Project.” Split large items into steps you can finish in one sitting. Checking a todo records its completion time and automatically moves it to History after saving it. A parent stays visible while it has unfinished nested todos. Undo returns the completed todo to its original position; uncheck and check it again to move it back to History. A recurring todo comes from a Schedule, which adds the next one in the cloud. Done emoji, explicit completion, and fully struck text can offer Move to History. Accept to archive the item; dismiss to keep it in place without reopening it. A parent with unfinished descendants is never offered as a completed archive, but a completed nested item can be archived on its own.

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Ask Charlie to help

A checkbox records work; a chat lets you ask for help with it. Try:
Help me prepare for Friday’s check-in. First, make a checklist from this page. Then draft the questions I should ask. Do not send anything.
Tell Charlie what to produce and whether you want a draft, a page update, or an action in a connected app. See Work with Charlie.

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Review your work

Set aside a moment to check off finished items, give ongoing projects their own pages, and decide what still needs attention. Strikethrough is formatting, not automatic removal. Full strikethrough or a leading/trailing done emoji such as ✅, ✔, or ☑ offers Move to History without asking a model; otherwise a struck-through item stays on Home until you move it or apply a Tidying proposal. On desktop, press ⌘Z on macOS or Ctrl+Z to undo the last action on the page you were working in. This includes editing text, deleting a block, checking a todo, and accepting Move to History. Undoing an archive returns the item to its original page and removes it from History. Each page has its own undo history. On desktop, Settings → Schedules lists Tidying, one of Char’s built-in schedules. It stays on, so its switch is locked; open it to review its details and recent runs. Tidying asks Charlie to prepare a proposal each morning, as Scratchpads: one for Home without the items that would leave it, and one for each page they would go to. Nothing moves until you apply them, in either approval mode. Read each Scratchpad before applying it, especially if Home contains unfinished work, and choose Apply or Discard. Applying keeps the page’s previous version in its history, so you can restore it. If the page changed since Charlie made the proposal, Char tells you instead of applying an outdated version.

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Prepare for today and tomorrow

Briefing writes a brief of today and tomorrow at midnight and rewrites it in the cloud when today’s or tomorrow’s events or todos change, so it stays current with your Mac closed. As the day passes, what has already happened drops off, the afternoon leads with what’s next, and in the evening tomorrow comes first. On desktop it appears on Home as Upcoming, with calendar events and open todos due today or tomorrow. Open the Card to read the brief and ask a follow-up. Use Regenerate Briefing in its menu to refresh it now. A brief is separate from the meetings and todos it describes. Upcoming asks you to Connect Google Calendar when no calendar is connected. Finish the connection and return to Char before expecting a brief based on your calendar.

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Schedule work

For a reminder or a Schedule, see Schedule work. That guide covers writing the request, reviewing permissions, and managing the schedule.