The top mini list strategy allows you to pick a Smart List that will display its items in a small box at the top of your day view:

Clicking the items opens them up so you can interact with them:
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Create the Smart List first and then add the Smart List in the Top Mini List strategy settings:
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You can also choose an icon and a color for the icon that will appear on the left of the item (blue calendar in this case). Click on the icon to set this up:
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Showing events
This strategy can be used to highlight certain tasks from your today list, like events for example. 

To do this, create a Smart List that selects events (either by category or label, depending on how you distinguish labels in your setup) and then adding this to the advanced Smart List filter at the very end, to show events for each day you are on:
​scheduleDate selectedDate ==

Alerting you of upcoming deadlines
​You can also use the top mini list to alert you of items that need your attention. 

You could create a Smart List with items that are due in the next week and make they are always top of mind.