One planning surface, not a task list and a calendar you reconcile by hand
Most people run two systems: a task list, and a calendar. Neither knows about the other, so every day you do the reconciling yourself — checking what's due against what you're already committed to. ka-do's planning model exists to remove that step, by putting tasks and meetings on the same surface instead of pretending they're unrelated.
A task doesn't have to become an event to be planned
A task in ka-do can sit in three states: unscheduled (no day, no time — just on the list), assigned to a day (you've decided when, not exactly what time), or placed in a specific time slot on the day's timeline. All three are visible together, and you move a task between them as your plan changes.
Moving a task between an unplanned list and a time slot changes where it sits in your plan — not what the task is. It's the same task, the same history, the same identity, whether it's unscheduled or time-blocked at 2pm. Nothing is duplicated or recreated by placing or unplacing it.
Meetings stay meetings
ka-do doesn't convert your calendar into tasks or your tasks into fake calendar events. Meetings come from your connected calendar (ka-do reads it via an iCal feed link — read-only, not a two-way sync) and sit on the same timeline as your tasks so you can see exactly what you're planning around, without the two ever being confused for each other.
Overdue, unscheduled and priority tasks stay visible
Overdue tasks, everything still unscheduled, and whatever you've marked a priority for the day don't disappear once you start looking at the calendar — they sit alongside it, in view at the same time as your meetings, so planning a day never means losing sight of what's already slipping.
Realistic, not optimistic
Planning uses your actual calendar commitments and how long a task genuinely takes — not an empty day with no meetings on it. The gaps you drag tasks into are the real gaps left once your meetings are accounted for, so a plan that looks full is full, not a list that assumes a day you don't have.