I have been searching this topic for days and finally came up with a solution - but the conversation closed so I wanted to post this for others who need help. Our use case: we create templates for tasks that have to be completed in a staggered order either leading up to the deadline or starting with today’s date. For example, I start on today’s date and the next task has to be completed 2 days after that, then other 5 days after, etc etc. We need the staggered dates to be “Due dates” so that they show up in the my work section (timelines won’t work). I have found a great work around for this!
Step 1: Create the two date columns you need: 1. as your start/end date 2. as the due date.
Step 2: Create a Numbers column.
Step 3: Set the date 1 column all to the same date and input the number of days after (eg. 3 for 3 days later) or before (-3 for 3 days before) in the Numbers column - the date 2 column should be blank
Step 4: Create an automation for "When date 1 changes, adjust date 2 by the number of days in Numbers. See our example below - once you do this, the date 2 column should populate
Step 5: Add a new group to the top called “Setting Dates” or something - add a task for setting the date (I called mine Set Project End Date/Start Date depending on case)
Step 6: Add a Dependency column and set it to STRICT, with date 1 column set for item dependencies
Step 7: Select all the items in the 2nd group and set the Dependency column to align START TO START with your setting the date task - all items should have this setting.
Step 8: If you want the date 2 column to show up in the “My Work” page for those with tasks assigned, assign deadline mode to the date 2 column.
Step 9: CELEBRATE ALL THE EXTRA TIME YOU WILL HAVE WITH THIS NEW HACK
