Using time-of-day sections

What the sections do

The Today screen is not one long list. Habits and routines are grouped into four sections: Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Anytime. The section for the current time of day opens automatically; the others collapse. Empty sections are hidden.

The effect is that at 7am you see your morning habits and nothing else, and at 9pm you see the evening ones. The list feels short even when it is not.

Choosing a section for a habit

Each habit has a time of day you set when you create it and can change any time. A few guidelines:

• Morning is for habits that happen before the day gets going: Wake at the same time, a walk, skincare, planning the day.
• Afternoon is the quiet section. Work habits live here: Inbox zero, a deep work block, the post-lunch stretch.
• Evening is where wind-down habits go: Plan tomorrow, journaling, screens off, lights out.
• Anytime is for habits that genuinely float, like water, steps, or texting a friend.

Be specific when you can. A habit in a specific section shows up at the moment it is relevant and gets out of the way afterward. A habit in Anytime is always visible, which is right for water and wrong for journaling.

Anytime is not a default

It is tempting to leave everything in Anytime. The result is a Today screen that is one long list all day, which is the thing the sections exist to prevent. If a habit happens at roughly the same time most days, give it that section. If it honestly does not, Anytime is correct.

Meditate is a good test case. Some people do it on waking; for them it is Morning. Some do it whenever there is a gap; for them it is Anytime. Both are right. Just pick the true one.

Sections and routines

Routines also have a time of day (or a start time), and they appear in their section with a Start button and a step count. A morning routine sits at the top of Morning; an evening routine at the top of Evening. If you build a routine out of habits, give the routine and its habits the same section so they sit together. How to build a morning routine and evening wind-down routines cover the two ends of the day.

Reminders are separate

A section is not a reminder. Putting a habit in Morning does not ping you in the morning; it only groups the card. Reminders are set per habit (one on Free, up to three on Pro) at exact times.

The useful pattern is one reminder on one habit per section, usually the first habit in the stack. When it fires, you open Today, the section is already open, and the rest of the habits are right there. You do not need a reminder on every card.

The day starts at 03:00

Sections are about the time of day; the day itself runs from 03:00 to 03:00 in your timezone. So an evening habit checked at 00:30 counts for the evening you meant, and Today does not flip to a new date while you are still up. Pro can move the boundary; Free keeps 03:00.

Greeting and progress

The header above the sections shows the date, a greeting that matches the time of day, your Sweep streak flame, and a progress ring of done over due. When every section is clear, Today shows a short all-done message and then leaves you alone.

Try it in Sweepifi

Open each habit and check its time of day. Move anything out of Anytime that has a real slot, give each section one reminder at most, and look at Today tomorrow morning. It should feel shorter. If you are still deciding which habits to keep, how to pick your first five habits helps, and Plan tomorrow is a good first Evening habit.