diff --git a/src/dodo.c b/src/dodo.c
index b7c48a1..aab8d78 100644
--- a/src/dodo.c
+++ b/src/dodo.c
@@ -29,8 +29,16 @@ int view_all(sqlite3 *db){
 	return rc;
 }
 
-
-// sql generators TODO: might be able to boil this down to 1 func
+void init_filtered_tasks(filtered_tasks* task){
+	task->table = NULL;
+	task->selected_columns = NULL;
+	task->title = NULL;
+	task->new_title = NULL;
+	task->active_id = -1;
+	task->status = NULL;
+	task->project_tag = NULL;
+	task->due_date = NULL;
+}
 
 // TODO: this really needs to only be one function with update_stmt()
 int gen_sql_update_stmt_v2(sqlite3 *db, sqlite3_stmt** out_stmt, filtered_tasks* task){
@@ -352,6 +360,8 @@ int view_tasks(sqlite3 *db){
 	// Set the table and cols to be printed
 	filtered_tasks* tasks = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
 	// TODO check that malloc is ok
+
+	init_filtered_tasks(tasks);
 	tasks->table = "tasks";
 	tasks->selected_columns = "active_id, title, due_date";
 	
@@ -390,10 +400,9 @@ int add_new_task(sqlite3 *db, int argc, char** argv){
 	sqlite3_stmt* out_stmt;
 
 	filtered_tasks* task = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
-	task->table = "tasks";
 
-	task->title = NULL;
-	task->due_date = NULL;
+	init_filtered_tasks(task);
+	task->table = "tasks";
 
 	parse_args(argc, argv, task);
 
@@ -424,7 +433,7 @@ int update_task_status(sqlite3 *db, int argc, char** argv){
 	sqlite3_stmt* out_stmt;
 	filtered_tasks* task = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
 
-	task->status = NULL;
+	init_filtered_tasks(task);
 	task->table = "tasks";
 
 	parse_args(argc, argv, task);
@@ -453,7 +462,7 @@ int complete_task(sqlite3 *db, int argc, char** argv){
 	sqlite3_stmt* out_stmt;
 	filtered_tasks* task = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
 
-	task->status = NULL;
+	init_filtered_tasks(task);
 	task->table = "tasks";
 
 	parse_args(argc, argv, task);
@@ -478,9 +487,9 @@ int update_task(sqlite3 *db, int argc, char** argv){
 	int rc = 0;
 	sqlite3_stmt* out_stmt;
 	filtered_tasks* task = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
-	
-	task->new_title = NULL;
-	task->due_date = NULL;
+
+	init_filtered_tasks(task);
+
 	task->table = "tasks";
 
 	parse_args(argc, argv, task);
@@ -508,7 +517,8 @@ int del_task(sqlite3 *db, int argc, char** argv){
 	sqlite3_stmt* out_stmt;
 	filtered_tasks* task = malloc(sizeof(filtered_tasks));
 
-	task->active_id = 0;
+	init_filtered_tasks(task);
+
 	task->table = "tasks";
 
 	parse_args(argc, argv, task);
diff --git a/src/dodo.h b/src/dodo.h
index 4c0ae94..bb4d026 100644
--- a/src/dodo.h
+++ b/src/dodo.h
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #define BACKLOG_COL_START (FIXED_COLUMN_WIDTH + 1)
 #define BLOCKED_COL_START ( (2 * FIXED_COLUMN_WIDTH) + 1)
 
+// TODO maybe I should make another module that is strictly
+
 typedef struct{
 	int year;
 	int month;
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ typedef struct {
 int callback(void *NotUsed, int argc, char **argv, char **azColName);
 int view_all(sqlite3 *db);
 
+// filtered_tasks constructor
+void init_filtered_tasks(filtered_tasks* task);
+
 // sql generators TODO: might be able to boil this down to 1 func
 int gen_sql_update_stmt(sqlite3 *db, sqlite3_stmt** out_stmt, filtered_tasks* task);
 int gen_sql_update_stmt_v2(sqlite3 *db, sqlite3_stmt** out_stmt, filtered_tasks* task);