Can the lead time be set to zero days?

Yes, a zero-day lead simply makes the reminder date identical to the event date itself, which is a valid, if unusual, cadence.

Does a longer lead time ever push a reminder before the schedule itself starts?

Yes, if the lead time is long enough relative to the first event, the computed reminder date for that first event can fall before the schedule's own start date. The date is still computed and shown exactly as calculated.

Reminder Cadence Planner

Pick a recurring event schedule and a lead time (for example, "3 days before"). See both the event dates and the corresponding reminder dates.

Need a lead-time buffer ahead of a single deadline instead of a repeating event? See Deadline Buffer Planner.

Worked example

A weekly Monday event schedule starting January 1, 2027, with a 3-day lead time, has its first event fall on January 4, and the corresponding reminder date for that event lands on January 1, exactly 3 days earlier. The second event, January 11, gets its own reminder on January 8, following the same fixed 3-day offset. Every event in the schedule is paired with its own reminder this way, offset backward by the same lead time throughout, which is genuinely different from generating the event schedule alone and separately trying to subtract a lead time by hand for each one.

Common mistakes

Expecting a computed reminder date to mean a notification is actually sent somewhere. This only computes the date itself. Delivery of any kind is never implied or handled here.
Setting a lead time larger than the gap between consecutive events, which can make one event's reminder date fall on or after the previous event's own date.

Limitations

The generated schedule is bounded to 500 events or 5 years, whichever limit is reached first, which keeps the reminder list fast to generate and easy to review.

Frequently asked questions

Can the lead time be set to zero days?: Yes, a zero-day lead simply makes the reminder date identical to the event date itself, which is a valid, if unusual, cadence.
Does a longer lead time ever push a reminder before the schedule itself starts?: Yes, if the lead time is long enough relative to the first event, the computed reminder date for that first event can fall before the schedule's own start date. The date is still computed and shown exactly as calculated.