You could add a check list and at least stop the newly created task from disappearing from sight. Method described here: www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/tips/3700/.

Thanks, rajjan - that is a good point and one step ahead. But it does not really do the trick for me... If possible, I`d love not to bother with the tagging stuff... my life is not that complex to justify that kind of management effort. In fact, I love fiddling around with clever smartlist creation - it's like a more abstract version of lego construction work in the old days, and I am ready to spend hours fine-tuning that stuff. But in my day-to-day RTM usage, the final result of all that construction work should be more or less just this:

- add tasks to list x by typing task name and hitting enter
- make tasks disappear from list x just by postponing them (or taking away their due dates to postpone them indefinitely and catch them in some never-due "someday" list)
- let tasks reappear on list x when the day is due (and keep them there until completion or further postponement))

Does not seem too much to ask, but I can't get my head around it.

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but why don't you just add a due date to the task as you add it? Either by simply typing "Title of task 4/4 2010" or by using smartadd-syntax:

https://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/smartadd/

Thank you, jannik - I hadn't checked out the smartadd syntax thoroughly yet. Your suggestion makes adding a task with due date a good deal quicker. It would be perfect if I had only one list to add things to (sorry if I did not make myself clear on that in my last post) - but using separate smartlists for work and personal stuff, and separating tasks into these two lists by using tags, after smart-adding the task and due date, the "personal" or "work" tags would still remain to be assigned. Which, of course, could be done together with the due date while smart-adding the task as well, but... Well, excuse my bickering. When using an Ipod for remembering milk while on the road, just displaying the appropriate smartlist and typing in a task name is something you might do without thinking or stopping what you were doing. Then later you might worry about a due date or leave the task undated as is.
But in my current setup, there is always at least two steps to adding a task: task name, then tag work or personal - and an additional third step to adding due dates if neccessary.
Anyway, there are more serious problems in the world.
The perfect setup still remains to be found, but actually I am quite okay with putting your two ideas to work for now. (By the way: Thanks again to rajjan - in practice, your suggestion actually makes things a lot easier than I expected.)
The most important feature, that is, tasks with due dates appearing when I need them to and disappearing when I postpone them, works as intended, I only need to put more work into task managing than I am completely happy with - and this I might be able to live with for a while.

A few more tidbits:
* The iPhone/iPod app lets you set a default due date (in the app's Settings); you can set that to today to help in faster mobile task creation.
* I have a daily list that I use similar to what you initially described (also incorporating a "check list" like rajjan described), and I also have some separate auto-tag lists (that don't show all overdue/today tasks); perhaps this would help in your case?

Hope this helps!

Thanks andrewski - I had forgotten about the iPod-App's default due date feature, this comes in handy. Any reason not to include this option in web-based RTM? I think that would be nice.

If you assign a tag, e.g., per to all your personal tasks and another, e.g., wrk, to all of your work tasks, than you can add that with smart add syntax whenever you add a task, and the task will slot in just fine. You could even look for tasks lacking a per or a wrk tag, to catch any you might have missed. It's not ideal, but it does let you do what you want to do using RTM as it stands today.