How to organise your 'My Tasks' in Asana

We often find that Asana users don't use their 'My Tasks' page properly and can't see what they should be working on next. In this video, I share some tips on how to clean up and organise your My Tasks so you can keep on top of your work and see what to work on next.
0:00 - Introduction
0:57 - The 'My Tasks' page
2:16 - Organising your tasks with sections
3:15 - Use rules to manage your tasks
4:13 - How to manage your tasks
10:31 - Other ways to sort your tasks
12:13 - Mistakes to avoid
14:49 - Outro
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[@jimgrant1776]

Paula, excellent video. But consider the following: Over the last few years, I have watched several KZbin videos and read several articles on “productivity” systems. They are all well-conceived and valuable to users. Sometimes, they are called “project management” or “task management” systems. Regardless, their focus is on “tasks/activities”. They can cause users to become “masters of the minutia”. This is in contrast to a person’s “objectives”. Sometimes the word “goals” or the term “end results” is used to mean the same thing as the word “objectives”. Regardless of the word/term used, I am talking about a condition, a situation, or a state of affairs that a person wants later in his/her life. That may be wanted just a couple months from now or many years. “Tasks/Activities” are merely the “means to the ends”. It is your “objectives” (end results) that are far more important than “tasks/activities”. Consequently, I highly recommend that people who develop “productivity” systems incorporate the development of “objectives” into the design of their systems and encourage users to start by defining their “objectives”. And therefore, each person should spend a fair amount time defining his/her “objectives”, both short term ones, preferably medium terms, and maybe even long term ones. Add them to whatever “productivity” system you use. It is important to write them down, because, over time, you will modify / refine your “objectives” and it will be important that you explicitly acknowledge those changes and modify your “tasks/activities”, accordingly. To help with defining your “objectives”, I’ve created a list of “categories” of objectives to get your thinking started. I believe it to be a comprehensive list. Here it is. * Personal / Professional Relationship * Physical / Health Condition * Mental / Intellectual Condition * Emotional / Psychological Condition * Spiritual Condition * Wealth / Financial Condition * Security / Safety Condition * Fame / Reputation * Power / Influence * Skill / Capability * Possession / Property (Things you have / own) * Location / Place (Where you primarily reside) Again, note. These are “categories” of “objectives”, not “objectives” in and of themselves. Finally, the “tasks/activities” in whatever productivity system you use need to be in support of and linked to one or more of your “objectives”. If some “task/activity” isn’t, you need to ask yourself, “why am I doing this?” - - - In some productivity systems, it is easy to create the links by adding tags to your “tasks/activities”.

[@minor-co]

Thanks for sharing Jim, great insight!

[@russ8985]

This was helpful - thank you!

[@minor-co]

Thanks!

[@JoaquinMarv]

THANKS FOR YOUR VIDEO, HELP ME A LOT!

[@minor-co]

Glad I could help!

[@jesselore6374]

Great channel. Excellently explained

[@minor-co]

Thanks!

[@christianwelsh870]

Great perspective - I think I'll give it a shot.

[@minor-co]

Thanks, glad I could help!

[@dadainthip]

I created a third rule to move anything coming up within 26 weeks to "Later", and that basically leaves only tasks without a due date in the "Recently Assigned" section. And I'll probably rename that to "Needs Due Date"

[@minor-co]

Nice idea!

[@stephenzeoli8117]

This video has been very helpful to me for creating a strategy to stay on top of my tasks in Asana. Thank you.

[@minor-co]

You're welcome, glad it was useful!

[@nathanbartlett1336]

Great video!

[@minor-co]

Thanks!

[@kspasova1]

Very helpful, thanks

[@minor-co]

You're welcome 😀

[@rsdingoa]

So helpful

[@minor-co]

Thanks!

[@paulahols]

Thanks, Paul. Great video! On the rules, did Asana change how they apply to a date range? I seem to remember that previously they moved according to due date and not start date.

[@minor-co]

They should run based on the start date if there is one, is that not working for you?

[@smartypantscoder6912]

Now, Asana has the "Group By" option right inside My tasks. You can group by due date, and it'll instantaneously arrange all tasks in Today, tomorrow, Next 7 days, Next 30 days sections. No need to create rules.

[@minor-co]

Yes this is a good option. Although I'm not a huge fan of all the sections it uses. I prefer to keep my custom sections a little more minimal.

[@madisonmullins974]

Hi Paul, this is such a helpful video, thank you! I recently helped one of my team members better organize their My Tasks page before watching this video and we did some of what you suggested already. One thing I did differently was had him sort the tasks by type, and they pull them into his "Today" section when it's time to start on them. This person has a ton of tasks because of their important role on our team. To help with this, we also added a "Delegate" column for him to know what tasks he needs to delegate to someone else. However, sorting using Rules (in your video starting at 3:15) is genius! The question: Do think there's any advantage to sorting by type of task rather than due date? I find that I have more energy for certain tasks at different times of day, so it can be helpful to browse that way. Perhaps it varies by person, but if you've been using this method for 10 years, something must be working well for you. I love the automation of the rules, which would be a little different to assign dates when sorted by type.

[@minor-co]

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad the video was useful. Ultimately, each to their own; you have to do what works for you and for some people, sorting tasks by difficulty or energy required may suit them best. So it's good to experiment to find what works best for you.

[@madisonmullins974]

@@minor-co Thanks for your insight! I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[@SpryTini]

I have been using ASANA for approx 4 years now. When I first started using it, I sorted all My tasks to view by due date and that's how it has been ever since. It's awesome! I have not created any rules. There's no way I would have time to "triage" tasks into the appropriate sections. I've been encouraging my staff to do the same, but only recently learned that they don't have this option. So I'm guessing what they are seeing is more like what is in this video. Is there a way to keep this simple and sort by due? That's the only way I see it working for me and my team. THANKS!

[@minor-co]

You should still have this option if you click the 'Sort' option at the top right of the page.

[@alfim5925]

Hi @paulminors, I am interested in your Master Asana course. Currently I'm on tight budget and perhaps should get the course only program? 🤔My question is, do you update the videos according to the latest Asana version? I saw some of your youtube videos are in the old version of Asana and I found the UI sometimes a bit confusing. Secondly, are the Flowsana discount and Zapier Zaps also included as bonus in the course only package?

[@minor-co]

Hi there, yes I update the course semi-regularly but as Asana is updated so often, there are sometimes some small differences between the UI in my videos and the app. Yes, the bonuses are included.

[@user-db4yr5ho5k]

Thanks Paul! I understand making the rules so tasks move to the new sections at midnight however, does the initial step have to be to manually move them from recently assigned to the section?

[@minor-co]

Yes, moving them from Recently Assigned is a manual step

[@user-vu3xc9dj6w]

Great video - just one question - what rule do you have to move your Next Week tasks into This Week?

[@minor-co]

Good question - I don't have one. I was manually moving them on a Friday when I do my weekly review. But now I've removed This Week and Next Week and just use Upcoming instead.

[@mirandasafar4813]

Hi Paul. I wanted to implement the rules you mentioned for those who use Asana in our company, but it seems that when you chose to have tasks sorted by due date Asana already moves it into the Today and Next Week sections.

[@minor-co]

I'm not sure how that would work as Asana doesn't know that the sections mean i.e. it doesn't know that Today means due today (if that makes sense).

[@KellanJames]

This is amazing, thank you. Question - why isn't there a rule to move tasks from Next Week to This Week?

[@minor-co]

Thanks. Due to the way the 'Due date approaching' trigger works, this isn't possible. I now just have one section called 'Upcoming' so I don't need to move tasks between sections.

[@KellanJames]

@@minor-co Ah I see! So just Today and Upcoming? Do you have an updated video on the subject?

[@troelsvinding9155]

Hi Paul, Thanks for a great video! I'm new to Asana but have been using Trello for years. Your methodology with Today, This week, Next week etc. leaves me with one question: Where do you put the tasks that's partly done? You have done some of the work but are waiting for fx input from someone else. When the due date was met, you began working on the task and now you are waiting for something to get going. And you don't know when that nescessary input comes. In Trello I simply have lists like "To do", "Doing", "Waiting for input" and "Done". How is the best way to handle tasks that's waiting for input in Asana?

[@minor-co]

You could create a section called 'In Progress' or 'Waiting' and store the tasks there until you hear back or are ready to do more.

[@BartKool]

Thanks for the video. Strangely, recurring tasks do not appear in the today section when they become active, but in the assigned to me section. Is there a way to change that?

[@minor-co]

Yes, go to 'Settings » Hacks' and you'll see an option to change where recurring tasks are stored on that page.

[@daripec]

Hi Paul, thank you for this video, it's very useful! I have a question: what is the correct way to move automatically all new tasks in "my tasks" specific folder? Is there a specific rule? In my Asana, not all new tasks go in the same folder. Thank you for any suggests.

[@minor-co]

By 'folder' do you mean 'Project'? If so, you could create a rule that adds new tasks on your My Tasks to a project, yes.

[@noindoorvoice]

Paul, nice video. Thanks for sharing. Can I ask with what program/tools did you create the screen share video. I am looking to create like training videos for my team. Thanks again,

[@minor-co]

I use ScreenFlow on the Mac 👍

[@noindoorvoice]

@@minor-co Thanks so much, I appreciate it!

[@marketacomorkova9944]

Very Handy! is there any place for finished tasks?

[@minor-co]

They simply get marked as completed. You can use your filters to easily view completed tasks later if you wish.

[@user-dm6of6py4r]

Hi Paul, very nice content. How do we do if we classify the tasks in This month, next month and this year also? How to set up the due date rules in order to work automatically? Thank you!

[@minor-co]

You can create custom sections to be whatever you like and then you can create custom rules with the 'Due date is approaching' trigger to move tasks to these sections.

[@user-dm6of6py4r]

@@minor-co thank you so much for the answer. We still have one question related to tasks. How can I make visible (to my business partners) a personal task in order to do not affect the time line. For example: If I am going to the doctor at 12 am (during business time) and I create MY TASK and it is visible in my calendar. I want that my business is capable of seeing that info so it does not affect our time line if he is creating a project task or we have a meeting...etc etc. Thank you! :)

[@user-sp3vo9gh1d]

Hi Paul! Thanks for the video it is very useful! I just started working in Asana and I am simply amazed by its capabilities. But I just can’t find how to set reminders for a task. I don’t have an “Add Reminder” icon located at the top of the right-hand sidebar like you have on your screen, either on the desktop or in the mobile app. I can not find the reason why. Please, can you tell me how can I find this function? thank you in advance))

[@minor-co]

Hi there, you can't add a 'Reminder' to a task. The task itself is the reminder. Make sure you assign then task to yourself and add a due date. Then you can see all your upcoming tasks on the My Tasks page. Hope that helps.

[@Elisabeth-vt6bx]

I don't see the option to create a section in the mytasks list. I always use the calendar, but would like to try the list view.

[@minor-co]

When you go to list view, at the top click the down arrow and you should see the option to create a section. If you're not seeing this, check that you're sorting by 'none' first.

[@user-fe6iu7jg6l]

Hi Paul, I just started using Asana, and unfortunately, I don't have the option to create any or edit existing sections under tasks. Also, I can't use the rules, if I want to apply them to subtasks. Has Asana updated their software since you posted this video? I can't seem to be able to organize anything as you have suggested.

[@minor-co]

It sounds like you could be a guest in the account (if you've been invited with an email that's not @companydomain) which is why you can't customise the project. I'd suggest taking to your admin about becoming a full member (you'll need a company email though)

[@lisaseay8646]

If I set up rules like you said, where will the tasks go if you didn’t get it done that day? Do I have to change the due date for them to moves the rule dictates.

[@minor-co]

They will stay in your Today section. Changing the dates won't move the tasks as the rules only run at midnight in order to trigger the 'Due date approaching' trigger.

[@user-cm8sr1fb9o]

Is there a way to have a rule where Asana moves the tasks within Recently Assigned into the Today, This Week, and Next Week sections?

[@minor-co]

Unfortunately the Asana rules can't handle the logic to assign the tasks to the relevant section.

[@maryannewitmer3178]

I have a master list of tasks but when I copy them to another project, they do not copy over in the same order. Also, is there a way to keep the "sort" in place once selected? I found if I go out and come back in the sort filter is gone.

[@minor-co]

It sounds like the new project has a different sort option applied which could be why they're not showing in the same order. If you make any changes to the sort, click the option to save the view.

[@irinalearning2743]

How come you don't use the calendar view? That would give you a visual of tasks and when they are due.

[@minor-co]

Personal preference - I just prefer the list view with custom sections.

[@gustavovillanueva4886]

Hi Paul, quick question: I have another section named completed. Is there any rule to automatically move a completed task to the completed section?

[@gustavovillanueva4886]

I mean, I´m not referring to the tasks in "My tasks" page but in the projects I work. When some tasks are completed I need to move them to the completed section manually.

[@JABjitsu]

@gustavovillanueva4886 I have a rule set up that moves tasks to my "Completed" section once I mark them as complete on some of my projects and also in my tasks page (I'm on the premium tier, but hopefully that's also available on the basic tier if that's where you are). It works great! You can also have a rule that marks the task as complete if you drag the task to the completed section, which is relevant if you are using the board view and enjoy dragging cards around like in Trello. 🙂

[@minor-co]

Yes, this is possible. Check our Jason's response, he beat me to it.

[@kennethvincent233]

Have a question, can you link your todo or task with a contact so you can get a phone number, all my todo require me to call someone on that leg of the task. Example order a starter for a company tomorrow moring, the company is in my google conatacts

[@minor-co]

Yes. If you created a new project called 'Contacts' and then added each contact as a task. You can copy the links to these tasks/contacts and paste them into other tasks.

[@kevenpeoples]

Is there a rule that moves tasks from Next Week to This Week, or does that have to be done manually?

[@nickdue2303]

Yes! Wondering this as well. How do you keep things organized between Next Week and This Week?

[@jeroencusters3186]

+1

[@minor-co]

Good question! No, there isn't a rule for this. Normally I move this manually on a Friday afternoon when I'm planning my upcoming week. But since recording this video, I decided to just have an Upcoming section instead of This Week and Next Week.

[@BaileyMitchell-sn7dc]

Question about the tasks.... We are using the my task section as a way to do our daily check lists. This list is often very long and is a daily list. Is this the appropriate place to be doing that? I used the repeat option for every day. When i complete the task my list usually ends up being very long due to the completed ones still sitting on that task list. It builds to be very long. Any suggestions?

[@minor-co]

Yes, I recommend the My Tasks and sorting by custom sections (rather than by project or date). You can then hide stuff that's not due for a while in the Later section.

[@suitsandsneaks1194]

I really appreciate you making this video and all your tutorials but this seems bizarre that with a productivity tool like Asana we have to manually move tasks into these categories especially on something like dates where you'd think rule automations could easily be defined. It looks like you started setting up those rules to move them, but I'm confused why we'd need to manually move them like you mentioned you do on Fridays for example. Could you clarify? Thanks so much!

[@minor-co]

Sure. The reason they go into the 'Recently Assigned' section first is so you have an opportunity to review and acknowledge the task. If it was auto-moved to 'Later' you may not see it for a few weeks and this may be damaging (you might be away). So manually triaging the task is a nice way of reviewing your incoming tasks. Of course if you don't like this option, you can sort your tasks by project or due date if that's easier for you.

[@WhitneyCook-EmboldenWI]

@@minor-co Wouldn't this only work if you review your task list daily? If someone works on the weekend and assigns me a task with a due date, will it run at midnight and move to later before I see it on Monday?