How to customize "My Tasks" in Asana to make it be your own Virtual Assistant?

All you need to learn to have Asana be your virtual assistant.

Barbara Elena Ramirez
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16 steps
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4 minutes

Asana

\[UPDATE FEBRUARY2024\] Asana has incorporated this framework into their own intelligence uses, so you will no longer need to setup this rules in My Task in Asana.

Customize My Tasks

Rename your sections to: • Backlog. • Today. • Next Week. • Overdue. • Completed.

Click "Customize" in the top right corner of "My Tasks" to set up automation rules.

You will use "Create custom rule".

Set custom rules for your tasks in "My Tasks" so that Asana helps you maintain your tasks in order with less time.

⚠️ Important: These rules work time based. Asana’s clock is determined by your computer’s time zone setting. If you go on vacation or travel abroad and your computer time zone changes, your timezone in Asana will also change. This means that all automation (rules) from "My Tasks" that you set up with this approach will run at midnight your timezone.

💡 Always rename your rules so you know what they are about.

⚡ Rule #1: Tasks Do Today. Trigger #1: "Due date is approaching" + "1 day before". Action: Move task "To a section" + Click "Today". Save > Click "Create rule".

Click "When any of these triggers happen"

Click "Actions"

Click here.

Click "Backlog"

Click "Do today"

Click "Create rule"

⚡ Rule #2: Tasks Do Next Week. Trigger: "Due date is approaching" + "1 week before". Action: Move task "To a section" + Click "Next Week". Save > Click "Create rule".

⚡ Rule #3: Tasks Overdue. Trigger: "Task Overdue" + "1 day after". Action: Move task "To a section" + Click "Overdue". Save > Click "Create rule".

⚡ Rule #4: Tasks Completed. Trigger: "Completion status". Action: Move task "To a section" + Click "Completed". Save > Click "Create rule".

Select by default view "Incomplete tasks".

FAQs

Question: How can I identify better my tasks for today? There are 2 ways you could do so: • Sort your "My Tasks" by the due date. • Use the Calendar view during your work day.

Question: I have watched how to customize my tasks. I have all of the columns created and they show up on the board view, however, everything is in the backlog column, and nothing else moved over. Note that tasks will be moved to the corresponding sections the following day you set all the rules in "My Tasks", whatever it was already in your "My Tasks" you will have to move them manually.

❗Do not synchronize "My Tasks" with your Google or Outlook calendar, the synchronization is not updated as you update your tasks, it takes about 12 hours or so to see the changes, instead check on your tasks from Asana directly.

How-to Video

Watch the How-to video here: <https://www.loom.com/share/3e74fbe6babd4be6bd00e6169f0b69ca?sid=10cbbf92-7fa0-414c-9302-ab35cd1db639>