Track every assignment in Obsidian.

What you’ll build

A planner only helps if you look at it. This setup puts the week on one Home page you can check in a minute:

• One note per assignment, with the class, due date, status and how much it counts.
• One Base, Obsidian’s built-in database view, with two lists: due this week, and overdue.
• Exam countdowns, and class pages that list their own assignments automatically.

You need Obsidian 1.9 or later with the Bases core plugin turned on (Settings → Core plugins). Everything below was tested in Obsidian 1.14 with no community plugins.

Step 1: One note per assignment

Make a folder called Assignments. Each assignment gets its own note, with its properties at the top:

---
type: assignment
class: "[[Biology 101]]"
kind: Lab report
due: 2026-10-16
status: In progress
weight: 10
---

• class links to the class note. Type [[ and pick it from the list; step 4 depends on this link.
• Write dates as YYYY-MM-DD. Set the property type to Date (click the icon beside the name) and you get a date picker.
• Keep the statuses short: Not started, In progress, Submitted, Graded.
• weight is the percent of the final grade, from the syllabus. It shows which work deserves your best hours.

Save the block as Templates/Assignment.md and turn on the Templates core plugin, so each new assignment takes seconds.

Step 2: Due this week, and overdue

A Base is a few lines of YAML. To try one, type ```base on its own line in any note, paste the code, and finish with ```. To reuse it on other pages, save the same code as a file called Assignments.base in your vault.

filters:
  and:
    - type == "assignment"
    - '!file.inFolder("Templates")'
formulas:
  when: if(status == "Submitted" || status == "Graded", "✅ Turned in", if(!due, "No date", if(date(due) < today(), "🔴 Overdue", if(date(due) == today(), "⏰ Today", if((date(due) - today()).days.round(0) <= 2, "🔥 Soon", "Later")))))
  days_left: if(due, (date(due) - today()).days.round(0), "")
properties:
  file.name:
    displayName: Assignment
  note.class:
    displayName: Class
  formula.when:
    displayName: When
  formula.days_left:
    displayName: Days left
views:
  - type: table
    name: Due this week
    filters:
      and:
        - status != "Submitted"
        - status != "Graded"
        - if(due, (date(due) - today()).days <= 7, false)
    order:
      - file.name
      - class
      - due
      - formula.when
      - weight
    sort:
      - property: due
        direction: ASC
  - type: table
    name: Overdue
    filters:
      and:
        - status != "Submitted"
        - status != "Graded"
        - if(due, date(due) < today(), false)
    order:
      - file.name
      - class
      - due
      - formula.days_left
    sort:
      - property: due
        direction: ASC

• Due this week lists unfinished work due in the next seven days. Overdue work counts too (its days left are below zero), so nothing slips off the bottom.
• The when formula labels each row: Overdue, Today, Soon (two days or less) or Later. Each if() handles one case and passes the rest to the next.
• .round(0) keeps day counts whole. Across a daylight-saving change, a seven-day gap can come out as 6.96 days.
• '!file.inFolder("Templates")' keeps your template out of the lists. Keep the single quotes: in YAML, a value that starts with ! means something else.

Step 3: Exam countdowns

Give each exam a note with type: exam, its class, an exam_on date and the topics. This Base counts down to each one:

filters:
  and:
    - type == "exam"
    - '!file.inFolder("Templates")'
formulas:
  countdown: if(!exam_on, "", if(date(exam_on) < today(), "Done", if(date(exam_on) == today(), "⏰ Today", "in " + (date(exam_on) - today()).days.round(0).toString() + " days")))
properties:
  file.name:
    displayName: Exam
  note.exam_on:
    displayName: Exam on
  formula.countdown:
    displayName: Countdown
views:
  - type: table
    name: Upcoming
    filters:
      and:
        - if(exam_on, date(exam_on) >= today(), false)
    order:
      - file.name
      - class
      - exam_on
      - formula.countdown
      - topics
    sort:
      - property: exam_on
        direction: ASC

The countdown formula joins text with +, and .toString() turns the number of days into text, so a row reads “in 9 days”. Seeing that number every day makes it much harder for an exam to sneak up on you.

Step 4: Class pages that list their own work

Add one more view to Assignments.base, under views::

  - type: table
    name: This class
    filters:
      and:
        - file.hasLink(this.file)
    order:
      - file.name
      - due
      - formula.when
      - weight
    sort:
      - property: due
        direction: ASC

Then give each class a note that embeds it:

---
type: class
code: BIO 101
schedule: Mon and Wed, 10:00
instructor: Dr. Okafor
---
## Assignments
![[Assignments.base#This class]]

Inside an embed, this.file is the note doing the embedding, and file.hasLink(this.file) keeps only the assignments whose properties link to it. So Biology 101’s page lists only Biology 101’s work. Put the embed in your class template once and every class page fills itself in. The same trick works for exams and lecture notes.

Step 5: One Home page for the week

Make a note called Home and embed the views by name:

## Due this week
![[Assignments.base#Due this week]]

## Overdue
![[Assignments.base#Overdue]]

## Exams coming up
![[Exams.base#Upcoming]]

The part after # must match the view’s name exactly. Pin Home in a tab (right-click the tab, then Pin) and check it once a day.

A rhythm that keeps the list true

A list is only as good as its last update. Three small habits keep it honest:

1. When you get an assignment, make its note right away, with the due date from the syllabus or course page.
2. When you hand it in, set its status to Submitted. It drops off both lists.
3. Once a week, look ten days ahead and block time for the heavy items.

For exams, write a few questions at the end of each lecture note and answer them from memory before the test. Testing yourself is one of the most researched study methods there is.

Mistakes that cost us time

• Your template shows up as homework. The !file.inFolder("Templates") filter fixes it.
• Dates that won’t sort. “Oct 16” is text. Use 2026-10-16, or the Date property type.
• A class page that stays empty. The class link must match the class note’s name; pick it from the [[ suggestions.
• A view that won’t embed. The name after # must match exactly: Due this week, not Due This Week.
• Finished work hanging around. Set the status the moment you hand it in.