Optimizing “My Tasks” in Asana
⏱ 3-5 min Read / 3-5 min Setup
📝 Updated 2024 – Simplified setup, added Multi-Sort functionality, upgraded to new Rule builder, added multiple Views functionality.
🥈 We won an award in Asana’s Optimizing My Tasks competition for an earlier version of our approach.
Optimizing My Tasks
Our My Tasks system ensures we have visibility into our own tasks and never miss a deadline. This setup is designed for anyone who wants a simple and fast way to get started in Asana. Let’s get started!
Coming soon: We’ll be adding an overview video and a more advanced version of this setup shortly.
Let’s set up our Sections, Rules, and Views so that using My Tasks helps us accomplish our work:
Sections segment your assigned tasks into more manageable lists; and emoji help drive clarity across Asana.
Rules automatically update and move tasks in the Sections as work accumulates, becomes relevant, or is completed.
Views help you focus on different bodies of work, refining which tasks are visible to you in a given moment.
Add Custom Fields
Before you begin:
⛔️ If you have worked or are working with us, you will already have custom Priority [org] and Status [org] fields in your library. Please use those as you follow along below.
⛔️ If you have not worked with us, or your organization is using the default Asana fields, we highly recommend starting with our Essential Custom Fields and Rules in Asana article.
Add Priority [org] and Status [org] to your My Tasks from your Custom Field Library. Always search your Asana Custom Field Library before creating a new custom field. This improves collaboration, automation, and reporting while reducing overall complexity.
Setup your Sections
We'll go over how to automate these sections with Rules and display the Sections differently with Views later. For now, start in the List View tab and create/update Sections by copying/pasting the Section headers hereafter.
◻️ Recently Assigned
This is an Asana default and the only Section that cannot be deleted. Anything assigned to you automatically lands here. Update and organize tasks as needed by dragging each to the appropriate Section and/or multi-selecting and moving them in small batches.
🔋 Focus
This Section is for tasks you’re working on right now. Move tasks here as you need them, and try to limit this to 1-3 tasks at a time. This is great for days where you may have more tasks than you can handle at a given moment.
📗 Today
Anything due today is automatically moved here. Review this Section each morning to update deadlines, prioritize your work, and communicate with your team. Bonus tip: You can create a saved View tab to see only these tasks (details later in the Views portion of this article)!
❌ Overdue
Exactly what it sounds like! Overdue tasks are moved here automatically (at midnight in your timezone). Complete overdue tasks as soon as possible, give them a more realistic due date, and/or communicate with teammates in comments to determine next steps or get help.
📙 Upcoming (7d)
Tasks accumulate here seven days out so we can see what’s coming with clarity. Move anything you don’t need to address this week to Later. What remains should be tasks that require extra effort or lack information to complete. Check this Section weekly to stay ahead of things. Bonus tip: We recommend setting up another saved View tab to isolate these tasks during your review (details below under Views).
⚪️ Later
A catchall Section for all incomplete tasks not requiring your immediate attention. Feel free to move any task with a due date, blocked tasks, or other long-term tasks here. They will surface automatically using our automations, so you don't have to worry about missing them. Once a month, review this Section for tasks with no due dates.
🏆 Complete
Anything that is completed automatically moves here. This keeps your My Tasks running smoothly.
🕖 Recurring
Any recurring task is moved here when the next one is auto-created (after the previous task is marked complete). Setting up the automation for recurring tasks is a small exception to the way Asana typically works. To activate this feature, navigate to: Settings › Hacks › Recurring Tasks in Last Section of My Tasks › Reload to Apply Changes
Set up your Rules
Now that you’ve set up your Sections, let’s have Asana organize our tasks for us using Rules. (We’ll get to save multiple Views of your tasks afterwards.)
To access the Rules, navigate to the top right corner of your My Tasks and click Customize. A sidebar will open. In Rules, add the following rules using the “Create custom rule” button. See the image slider above to see the rules described.
1. Task Complete
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner. All tasks and subtasks are treated as tasks in your My Tasks, so this ensures things will run as expected.
Trigger – Task completion status is changed
Condition 1 – Task is marked as Complete
Action – Move to section 🏆 Complete
Condition 2 – Task is marked as Incomplete
Action – Move to section ◻️ Recently Assigned
This ensures that completed tasks are moved out of view and that tasks marked incomplete are moved back into view to triage.
2. Task Unblocked
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Task is no longer blocked
Condition – n/a
Action – Move task to section ◻️ Recently Assigned
This rule ensures that any task that becomes unblocked is moved back into view so you can determine the best next steps.
3. Task Due Today
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Due Date is approaching, Due today
Condition – n/a
Action – Move task to section 📗 Today
This moves any task due “today” (triggered at midnight in your timezone) to Today.
4. Task Due – Upcoming
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger 1 – Due Date is approaching, 1 week before
Trigger 2 – Due Date is approaching, 6 days before
Trigger 3 – Due Date is approaching, 5 days before
Trigger 4 – Due Date is approaching, 4 days before
Trigger 5 – Due Date is approaching, 3 days before
Trigger 6 – Due Date is approaching, 2 days before
Trigger 7 – Due Date is approaching, 1 day before
Condition – Section is one of: ◻️ Recently Assigned, ⚪️ Later, 🕖 Recurring
Action – Move task to section 📙 Upcoming (7d)
This moves any task due within one week from today (triggered at midnight in your timezone) to Upcoming (7d).
5. Task Overdue 3 days
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Task is overdue, 3 days after
Condition – n/a
Action – Move task to section ❌ Overdue
Not all overdue tasks are a problem right away. Sometimes people just need a moment to actually check them off. This rule ensures that tasks that remain overdue are surfaced for us to take action on.
6. Task Start Date Today
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Start Date is approaching, Starts today
Condition – Section is one of: Upcoming (7d), Later, Recurring
Action – Move task to section 📗 Today
This rule surfaces tasks that have a date range (Start Date and Due Date) when they’re ready to begin, moving them to Today from other sections.
7. Task Start Date Changed
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Start Date is changed
Condition – Section is one of: 📙 Upcoming (7d), ⚪️ Later, 🕖 Recurring
Action – Move task to section ◻️ Recently Assigned
This rule elevates tasks for recategorization based on their updated Start Date (for example, if a task from the Later section was reprioritized to start sooner).
8. Task Due Date Cleared
Set to “Runs on tasks” in the top right corner.
Trigger – Due Date is changed
Condition 1 – Due Date is empty
AND
Condition 2 – Section is not 🏆 Complete
Action – Move task to section ◻️ Recently Assigned
This rule elevates unscheduled tasks for recategorization when a due date is cleared.
9. Sections - My Tasks
Trigger – Task is moved to a section
Condition 1 – Section is 🏆 Complete
Action 1 – Complete Task
Action 2 – Clear Priority [org]
Action 3 – Clear Status [org]
Condition 2 – Section is 🔋 Focus
Action – Set Status [org] to In Progress
Condition 3 – Section is 📗 Today
Action – Set Status [org] to Ready
Condition 4 – Section is ⚪️ Later
Action – Set Status [org] to Hold
This rule is triggered instantly when a task is moved to a given section. When we are focusing on work, it is in progress; when the day arrives to work on a task, it should be ready; when work is deferred to a later date it is currently on hold; and when work is complete it no longer has a priority or status. This rule helps keep your My Tasks organized and ensures you have accurate reporting.
Set up your View(s)
With your Sections and Rules now set up, you can create multiple Views as shortcuts for visualizing your tasks in different ways.
We recommend beginning with the default List View. In the top right corner, use Filters to select Incomplete Tasks. Keep Groups set to Sections: Custom Order. Use Sorts to add Due Date, Priority, and Alphabetical (all Ascending) — this is called multi-sorting.
This approach surfaces your most important tasks in each section, maximizes what you can see, and gives us great context for making decisions about your work.
You can change your View settings any time. Changes are saved automatically in My Tasks. For quick access to other Views, you can create additional saved tabs based on different filters, groups, and sorts (including by custom fields). We dive deeper into these options in our forthcoming more advanced My Tasks article. To start, we recommend:
📓 All
This View—the one you just set up—displays all your incomplete tasks. Rename your existing List View tab by clicking the View name to open its settings menu.
📗 Today
This View sharpens what’s visible to only tasks due today (or before). Without the distraction of other assignments on your plate, use this View when starting your day.
To create it: Open the Tab actions for the 📓 All List View tab and make a copy, then rename your new tab. Next, in the top right corner of your new tab, open the Filters menu and add these two: Due Date – Due before today, Due today and Start Date – Due today. Lastly, open the Groups menu, show the sub-menu (three dots on the right side of the box), and select Hide empty groups.
📙 Upcoming
This View displays tasks that are due within a week, useful for a quick scan at the end of your day so you can prepare for what’s coming up.
To create it: Make a copy of the the 📗 Today List View tab and rename the new tab. Use the Filters menu to change the Due Date filter to tasks that are Due tomorrow, Due this week.
Conclusion: Managing Your My Tasks
With these custom fields, view settings, sections, and rules, we now have a simple setup for managing your tasks. To stay on top of tasks, consider the following:
Check your My Tasks in the morning and leave it open as you work.
Review your Today section and move tasks to Focus as you need them.
Update tasks (due date, custom fields) and/or add comment (w/ [at]tags) where needed; and sort them into the appropriate sections.
Review your Upcoming tasks to plan ahead at the end of your day.
“I’ve been putting [your My Tasks recommendations] into practice over the last couple of weeks, and y’all, it really is a game-changer. It makes My Tasks so much more manageable. It’s just way better with those automations.”
Hire The Collaborative to plan, implement, and improve your systems and workflows ☀️
Our team loves systems and process challenges. We help refine workflows, train you on best practices, and implement new apps. Connect with us to learn more!
