Updated
How resurfacing works
A thought waits, comes due, and returns to your timeline. See how the interval works and what opening, snoozing and archiving do.
Every thought is in one of four states. Only two things move it from one to another: time passing, and what you do with it.
The four states
- Waiting. A new thought waits for its interval, counted from when you save it. By default that is 7 days. A waiting thought is not on your timeline.
- Due. When the wait is over, the thought shows on your timeline. The one that has been due longest is listed first.
- Pinned. A pinned thought stays at the top of your timeline all the time, due or not.
- Archived. An archived thought never comes back on its own. It stays in the Archive tab until you restore it.
What opening a thought does
Opening a thought counts as seeing it. It goes back to waiting. Its next due date is its interval, counted from that moment. The card leaves your timeline when you go back to it, not while you read. So it will not vanish in the middle of a read.
This is true wherever you open the thought from, even a tag page. Opening an archived thought does not requeue it. Neither does opening a thought from a link inside another thought. See Link thoughts into a mind map.
Thoughts in Learn mode are the exception. Opening one does not requeue it. You tell it how it went with "Again" or "Got it". See Learn mode.
The interval
The default interval is 7 days. You can change the default in Settings. You can also give any one thought its own interval. See Snooze a thought or change its interval.
If you miss a day
Nothing is lost. A due thought stays on your timeline until you open it, snooze it or archive it. Its card tells you how long it has waited, like "due 2d ago".
Things that do not reset the timer
- Editing the text of a thought.
- Snoozing. It pushes the due date forward, but it does not count as a view.
Related articles
- Understanding the timelineThe Timeline tab shows pinned thoughts and thoughts that are due. See what each card shows and how to find every thought, even waiting ones.
- Snooze a thought or change its intervalPush a thought back by a day or a week, or choose how often it returns: one default for everything, or a custom interval for a single thought.
- Learn mode: Again and Got itTurn on Learn mode for a thought you want to remember. Tell it how it went, and it comes back sooner or later, with longer waits as you get it right.
- Pin and archive thoughtsPin thoughts you want in front of you all the time, and archive the ones you are done with. You can restore an archived thought whenever you like.