Configure task tool

Configuring your task management system is essential for streamlining your workload, staying organised, and focusing on what truly matters. This guide walks you through the four main steps: setting up OKRs, defining your roles, populating your tasks list, and creating views for seamless task management. By following these steps, you’ll build a system that not only organises your tasks but also aligns them with your long-term goals, ensuring productivity and clarity in your daily work.

Step 1: Sign up to Clickup and set up a workspace

The first step is to sign up for ClickUp (or log in if you already have an account) and create your workspace. To keep things streamlined, we’ll set up default statuses for all lists at this stage to ensure consistency. A workspace is your personal space to organise everything, and statuses help you track the progress of each task.

Action steps

• Sign up or log in to ClickUp: Sign up for ClickUp (it's free), or log in if you already have an account.‍
• Create a new workspace: Click the + icon next to Spaces in the left sidebar. This opens the “Create a Space” pop-up.‍
• Name your workspace screen: In the pop-up, enter a name for your workspace and select an icon that represents your system or goals.‍
• Define your workflow screen: In the next screen, you’ll see a dropdown menu titled “Customise Defaults for Starters.” Select Task Statuses from the dropdown.‍
• Edit task statuses screen: On the left-hand side of the “Edit Task System Statuses” screen, click on Create New Template.
• Create task statuses screen: Select the option to create a new template. This will allow you to define statuses that align with your workflow.‍
• Add custom task statuses: Input the following statuses for your tasks:
  • New
  • Long list
  • This week
  • Today
  • Someday
  • Archived
  • Complete

Task statuses

1. New (Inbox): This is the starting point for all tasks. Any new task, project, or idea automatically goes into this status. It acts as your inbox, ensuring nothing gets overlooked before it’s organised or prioritised.
2. The long list: This status contains tasks, projects, and ideas that you’ve committed to completing in the next 90 days. It’s your focused workload for the current sprint, providing a clear overview of actionable items.
3. This week: These are the tasks selected for the current week’s sprint planning. This status ensures you focus on a manageable set of tasks aligned with your immediate priorities.
4. Today: Tasks in this status are your top priorities for the day. It helps you maintain a laser-sharp focus on what needs to be accomplished immediately without being distracted by less urgent items.
5. Someday (Backlog): This status holds all backlog items—tasks, projects, or ideas that you might tackle in the future but haven’t committed to yet. It’s a holding space for non-urgent or lower-priority work.
6. Complete: This status marks tasks that have been fully completed. It’s a way to track progress and maintain a sense of accomplishment as you move tasks through your workflow.
7. Archived: Archived tasks are those you’ve decided not to do. These may have been on the backlog or previously considered, but they are now marked as “not pursuing.” It helps declutter your system while preserving a record of decisions made.

Step 2: Create 3 lists

With your workspace set up, the next step is to create three lists to house all your tasks. Each list has a distinct purpose and structure, ensuring everything is clearly organised and easily accessible. These lists form the foundation of your task management system by categorising your workload effectively.

OKRs

The OKRs list is where you will organise all your objectives, key results, projects, and actions tied to those objectives. This list establishes a vertical hierarchy, allowing you to link high-level goals to actionable tasks. By structuring your OKRs this way, you can easily track progress and ensure that every project and action is contributing to your long-term goals.

Roles

The roles list captures all the hats you wear in your organisation and the responsibilities that come with them. It’s the hub for managing recurring tasks and duties tied to each role, whether they occur daily, weekly, or monthly. A vertical hierarchy is also implemented here, providing a clear overview of your roles, responsibilities, and recurring workflows. This ensures no task tied to a role is overlooked.

Tasks

The tasks list is where all standalone projects, tasks, and quick wins are organised. It also includes your backlog, a space to capture non-urgent ideas or tasks that you may revisit later. This list helps separate one-off items from ongoing projects or recurring responsibilities, keeping your system clutter-free and focused.

Action steps

• Create the list OKRs in ClickUp.
• Create the list Roles in ClickUp.
• Create the list Tasks in ClickUp.

By setting up these lists, you’ll have a clear framework to categorise and manage every aspect of your workload. This structure is essential for maintaining focus and alignment with your goals.

Step 3: Configure the OKRs list

The OKRs list is the core of your system. It connects objectives to their key results and projects, establishing a clear hierarchy that aligns your daily tasks with long-term goals. Here's how to configure it:

3.1 Add a dropdown for objectives

To organise your OKRs, create a dropdown field called "Objectives" for grouping key results and projects.

Action steps

1. Click the + icon in the column section of the OKRs list.
2. Select Dropdown as the field type and name it "Objective."
3. Add your objectives as values in the dropdown, ordered by priority (e.g., #1 as the most important).
4. Optionally, assign a unique colour to each objective for visual clarity.

3.2 Add your key results

Populate the list with all your key results, ensuring each is linked to its objective.

Action steps

1. Add all Key Results as 'tasks' to the list 'OKRs'. Add all the key results. In the next step we'll categorise them.

3.3 Assign objectives to key results

Link each key result to its respective objective using the dropdown field.

Action steps

1. Use the multi-select option to select multiple key results at once.
2. Click on Custom Field, select "Objective," and assign the appropriate value.
3. Alternatively, edit each key result individually.

3.4 Change task types to milestones

Key results should be set as milestones to distinguish them from other tasks.

Action steps

1. Select all key results.
2. Click on More > Task Type > Milestone to update their type.

3.5 Group tasks by objective

Organise the list for better visibility by grouping key results under their objectives.

Action steps:

1. Click on the Group By option at the top of the list.
2. Select Objective to create grouped sections.

3.6 Create a sorting field for prioritisation

To maintain the correct order of tasks and projects within your objectives, create a sorting field.

Action steps

• Add a custom number field called Sort by clicking the + icon in the column section.
• Use numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3) to rank your key results by priority.

Step 4: Add projects to key results

With your key results grouped by objective, the next step is to add projects as subtasks. Projects represent actionable steps needed to achieve each key result.

Action steps

• Under each key result, add projects as subtasks. Hoover on a task to show the icons. The + icon inside task that shows up is the 'add subtask' option.
• Create a custom task type called "Project" to distinguish these from other tasks.
• Add an icon to the task type for visual clarity.
• Add a number to sort projects based on their timeline, ensuring they are listed chronologically, e.g. "Project 1 = 1"

Step 5: Add the first action for each project

Each project needs a clear starting point. Add the first actionable step as a subtask under each project. This ensures that every project has a well-defined starting point to move it forward.

Action steps

• Add the first action as a subtask under the project. Do this for all projects.
• Assign the task type as "Task" and add a Sorting field value of 1.

Prompts

• What is one small, clear action you can take to start this project?
• If the project feels unclear, what step will help you gain clarity (e.g., research or stakeholder input)?
• What’s the simplest way to make progress today?

Step 6: Populate the tasks list

With the OKRs list configured, the next step is to set up the Tasks list. This list will house all your backlog items, standalone projects, and one-off tasks. By organising everything here, you ensure a clear overview of all your actionable and potential work. Tasks will be categorised using statuses for clarity and ease of management.

6.1 Add backlog items

Start by adding all your backlog items into the Tasks list. These are ideas, future projects, or non-urgent tasks that you might tackle later. Once added, move them to the Someday status to keep them out of the way for now.

Action steps

1. Add all ideas from the Someday list of the Brain dump to the Tasks list
2. Multi-select all backlog items.
3. Change their status to Someday to keep them organised but hidden from the main view.

6.2 Add standalone projects and tasks

Next, populate the Tasks list with standalone projects and one-off tasks. These are actionable items that aren’t directly tied to your OKRs but are still important to track.

Action steps

1. Add all standalone projects and tasks into the Tasks list.
2. For projects, update the Task Type to "Project" by selecting the task and clicking More > Task Type > Project.
3. Add all the stand-alone tasks, including personal tasks if you want, to the list as 'tasks' (which is the default task type).

6.3 Use task statuses to organise

Once everything is added to the Tasks list, switch to Board View to organise your tasks visually by their statuses.

Task statuses

Here's what each status means:

1. New (Inbox): This is the starting point for all tasks. Any new task, project, or idea automatically goes into this status. It acts as your inbox, ensuring nothing gets overlooked before it’s organised or prioritised.
2. The long list: This status contains tasks, projects, and ideas that you’ve committed to completing in the next 90 days. It’s your focused workload for the current sprint, providing a clear overview of actionable items.
3. This week: These are the tasks selected for the current week’s sprint planning. This status ensures you focus on a manageable set of tasks aligned with your immediate priorities.
4. Today: Tasks in this status are your top priorities for the day. It helps you maintain a laser-sharp focus on what needs to be accomplished immediately without being distracted by less urgent items.
5. Someday (Backlog): This status holds all backlog items—tasks, projects, or ideas that you might tackle in the future but haven’t committed to yet. It’s a holding space for non-urgent or lower-priority work.
6. Complete: This status marks tasks that have been fully completed. It’s a way to track progress and maintain a sense of accomplishment as you move tasks through your workflow.
7. Archived: Archived tasks are those you’ve decided not to do. These may have been on the backlog or previously considered, but they are now marked as “not pursuing.” It helps declutter your system while preserving a record of decisions made.

This is the setup I use, feel free to change this to what works for you.

Action steps

1. Drag and drop each task into the correct column based on its current status.

You've now added all your tasks into the Tasks list, creating a centralised space for everything you need to track. The next step is to move on to the Roles list, which will capture your recurring responsibilities and help you organise your workload by the roles you play. Once both lists are populated, we’ll dive into how to actually start using this system for your daily and weekly planning.

Step 7: Configure the roles list

Next, structure your roles list to organise recurring responsibilities and tasks.

The roles list is the core of all recurring tasks and responsibilities, creating a clear hierarchy that aligns with the different hats you wear in the organisation. By structuring the roles list effectively, you can track all recurring responsibilities and maintain clarity across your workload.

7.1 Add a dropdown for roles

To organise your roles, create a dropdown field called "Role" to group the different responsibilities and recurring tasks.

Action steps

• Click on the + icon in the column section of the roles list.
• Select Dropdown as the field type and name it "Role."
• Add your roles as values in the dropdown, ordered by priority, with #1 being the most important.
• Optionally, assign a unique colour to each role for visual clarity.

7.2 Add all responsibilities

With the roles added, populate the roles list by creating all recurring responsibilities as tasks. Assign each responsibility to the appropriate role using the dropdown field. You can streamline this process by using the multi-select option to assign multiple responsibilities at once, or you can assign them individually.

Action steps

• Add each recurring responsibility as a task in the Roles list.
• Use the multi-select option to select multiple responsibilities at once.
• Click on Custom Fields, select "Role," and assign the appropriate value, then click Save.
• Alternatively, assign each responsibility individually by editing the role field for each task.

The outcome should be a fully populated roles list where every responsibility is clearly linked to the appropriate role, ensuring clarity and organisation.

7.3 Change task type to responsibility

With all the responsibilities added, the next step is to change the task type to "Responsibility." This provides a visual cue to distinguish responsibilities from other items like tasks or projects and makes it easier to filter by task type in your workflow.

Action steps

• Select all the responsibilities in the Roles list.
• Click on More > Task Type.
• Click on Edit and then select Create New Task Type.
• Define the new task type by adding:
  • A singular name: Responsibility
  • A plural name: Responsibilities
  • An icon for visual distinction.
• Apply the new task type to all responsibilities in the Roles list.

This step ensures all responsibilities are clearly marked and easily identifiable within the roles list.

7.4 Group responsibilities by role

For better visibility, group the responsibilities by their respective roles. This creates an organised view similar to how key results were grouped under objectives in the OKRs list.

Action steps

• Click on the Group By dropdown at the top of the list.
• Select Role from the dropdown options.
• Choose Ascending to sort roles alphabetically or by priority.

The outcome is a clean, structured view of all responsibilities, grouped under their assigned roles, providing clarity and ease of management.

7.6 Add sorting to responsibilities

To prioritise responsibilities within each role, reuse the sorting field created in the OKRs list. This ensures consistency across your lists and helps clearly define the priority of each responsibility.

Action steps

1. Click on the + icon in the column section of the Roles list.
2. Search for the field Sort in the dropdown menu.
3. Set the toggle to ON to display the sorting field in the list.
4. Add numbers to each responsibility to indicate their priority within the role (e.g., 1 for the highest priority, 2 for the next, and so on).

Once you’ve added the sorting field and prioritised the responsibilities, you’ll have a clear view of which tasks require the most focus within each role. This prioritisation makes managing recurring tasks more structured and actionable.

7.7 Add tasks to responsibilities

With the responsibilities prioritised, the next step is to add tasks for each responsibility. These tasks represent the actionable, recurring items tied to each responsibility. To make this easier to manage, add a dropdown field called "Frequency" to specify how often each task should recur.

Action steps

1. Create tasks for each responsibility: add actionable tasks as subtasks under each responsibility.
2. Click on the + icon in the column section of the Roles list.
3. Select Dropdown as the field type and name it "Frequency."
4. Add values such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually to the dropdown.‍
5. Assign frequency to tasks: For each task, select the appropriate frequency from the dropdown.

By adding tasks and assigning their frequency, you create a detailed, recurring workflow within the roles list. This ensures each responsibility is actionable and integrated into a manageable schedule.

7.8 Create and add the frequency to tasks

To organise recurring tasks, add a dropdown field called "Frequency" to specify how often each task should recur. This helps create a structured workflow for recurring items.

Action steps

1. Add a frequency dropdown:
   • Click on the + icon in the column section of the Roles list.
   • Select Dropdown as the field type and name it "Frequency."
   • Add frequency values such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually.
2. Assign frequency to tasks: For each task, select the appropriate frequency from the dropdown.

We’re almost done, but before we can start assigning recurring due dates to all the tasks, it’s essential to zoom out and get a clear overview of our responsibilities and key results. Comparing these two areas will help you understand the scope of your workload and ensure everything is balanced and manageable.

To achieve this, we’ll set up some views in your task management system to visualise all responsibilities and key results side by side. This will provide a comprehensive overview, making it easier to assess time commitments and prioritise effectively. Once this step is complete, we’ll move on to adding recurring due dates to each task.

Step 8: Set up the views for OKRs

Now that all the OKRs, roles, responsibilities, and tasks are in one place, it’s time to move into the planning phase. To plan effectively, you need a visual overview of your tasks and priorities. This is where ClickUp's powerful views come into play. By setting up specific views for OKRs, roles, tasks, and an all-encompassing workspace overview, you can manage your workload with clarity and precision. Let’s start with the views in the OKRs list.

8.1 Create a task board view for OKRs

Within the OKRs list, you already have a default task board. This view is grouped by status, but to make it actionable, you’ll filter out milestones (used as categories) and focus solely on tasks. This allows you to manage tasks without clutter.

Action steps

• Click on Filter and select Task Type is not Milestone to hide milestones.
• To view all tasks, click on Subtasks, then select Show as Separate Tasks instead of collapsing them under parent tasks.
• Move tasks from New to the appropriate column:
  • New: Use this as your inbox to decide where to place tasks.
  • The Long List: Tasks planned for this quarter.
  • This Week: Tasks to be completed in the current week.
  • Today: High-priority tasks for the current day.
  • Someday: Tasks for future sprints.
  • Archive: Tasks you’ve decided not to pursue.
• Sort tasks within each column by priority: Click on the top-right Sort option and select the custom Sort field created earlier.

8.2 Create a list view for tasks and projects

To get a comprehensive overview of milestones, projects, and tasks, create a List View. This view helps you manage your workload by grouping items by their type and allowing you to collapse or expand sections for clarity.

Action steps

• Click on + View (or use an existing List View if available).
• Click on the Group icon and select Task Type from the dropdown.
• Arrange the grouping in Ascending order for clarity.
• Enable Subtasks as Separate Tasks so all milestones, projects, and tasks are displayed individually.
• Use this view to drill down from broad milestones to smaller, actionable tasks by collapsing or expanding sections.

8.3 Create a Gantt chart for milestones

The Gantt chart provides a visual timeline for planning milestones. This is particularly useful for mapping out the start and end dates of key results and seeing how they flow over time.

Action steps

1. Add start and end dates for key results:
   • Click on the + icon in the column section of the OKRs list.
   • Search for Start Date and add it as a new column.
   • Fill out both the Start Date and Due Date fields for each key result.
2. Create a Gantt chart view:
   • Click on + View and select Gantt Chart.
   • Name the view "Milestone Timeline" or similar.
   • Sort tasks by Start Date for a clear waterfall-style chart.
3. Adjust milestones as needed:
   • Use the Gantt chart to drag and drop milestones forward or backward in time. This dynamic view allows you to visualise and adapt to scheduling changes easily.

These three views—Task Board, List View, and Gantt Chart—provide a powerful framework for managing your OKRs and tasks. They allow you to prioritise effectively, visualise timelines, and stay on top of your workload. In the next chapter, we’ll discuss how to use these views on a recurring basis to keep your system running smoothly and aligned with your goals.

Step 9: Set up views for your tasks and backlog

Now that your OKRs, roles, and responsibilities are organised, the next step is to refine your views for tasks and backlog management. These views will help you keep track of your active tasks, manage priorities, and maintain a clear backlog for future planning. We’ll set up three essential views: a default Task Board, a Board View for managing tasks, and a dedicated Backlog View.

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9.1 Configure the task board

The default Task Board is grouped by status and provides an overview of your workflow. Adjust the sorting to ensure the most relevant columns are easy to access, with New at the top and Someday (the backlog) at the back.

Action steps

• Go to your existing Task Board view.
• Click on Group By Status.
• Adjust the Sort Order to Descending, ensuring columns like New are at the top and Someday is last.

9.2 Use the board view to manage tasks

The board view is where you’ll actively manage and move tasks through your workflow. This Kanban-style view makes it easy to drag and drop tasks into the correct status column as you work on them.

Action steps

• Navigate to the existing Board View for tasks.
• Start moving tasks from New to the appropriate columns:
  • New: Tasks not yet organised.
  • The Long List: Tasks for the current quarter.
  • This Week: Tasks planned for the current sprint.
  • Today: Tasks to be completed immediately.
  • Complete: Finished tasks.
  • Archived: Tasks you’ve decided not to pursue.

9.3 Create a dedicated backlog view

A dedicated Backlog View allows you to focus on tasks with the status Someday (your backlog) without distraction. This view makes it easy to review and sort your backlog by the date tasks were created.

Action steps

• Click on + View and select List View.
• Name the view Backlog.
• In the Group By dropdown, select None to remove grouping by status.
• Click on Filter and add a condition: Status is Someday.
• Adjust the sorting to Date Created (Descending) so the most recently added tasks appear at the top.

These views give you full control over your tasks and backlog, ensuring you can manage active work while keeping future tasks organised and accessible. With these in place, your task management system is ready for daily and weekly planning.

Step 10: Set up the views for roles

To effectively manage your roles and responsibilities, you’ll set up views similar to those created for OKRs. These views will help you visualise recurring tasks, group them by roles, and organise them by priority. Let’s configure a Task Board, a Frequency Board, and a List View for your roles.

10.1 Configure the task board

The default Task Board for roles is already grouped by status. To make this view actionable, you’ll adjust it to display subtasks as separate tasks.

Action steps

• Navigate to the Task Board in your roles list.
• Click on the Subtasks dropdown and select Show as Separate Tasks.

This ensures all subtasks appear individually, making it easier to track and manage them.

10.2 Create a frequency board

To manage recurring tasks by their frequency, duplicate the task board and group it by frequency instead of status. This view makes scheduling recurring tasks more intuitive.

Action steps

• Click on the Board view, then select Duplicate View.
• Rename the duplicated view to Frequency.
• Click on Group By and select Frequency from the dropdown.
• Arrange tasks into columns based on their recurring schedule (e.g., Daily, Weekly, Monthly).

This setup allows you to visualise all recurring tasks by how often they need to be completed, helping you plan your schedule efficiently.

10.3 Create a list view

The List View offers a detailed, structured overview of responsibilities and tasks grouped by role and sorted by priority. This is useful for reviewing workload and ensuring tasks are in the correct order.

Action steps

• Click on + View and select List View.
• Click on Group By and select Role to organise tasks by the role they belong to.
• Enable Subtasks as Separate Tasks to show individual subtasks.
• Apply sorting: First, sort by Role. Then, sort by the Sort field created earlier to display tasks in the correct order of priority.

With these views, you’ll have a powerful framework for managing your roles and responsibilities. The task board provides a high-level view, the frequency board focuses on recurring schedules, and the list view delivers a detailed breakdown of tasks by role and priority. This comprehensive setup ensures that every aspect of your responsibilities is organised and actionable.

Step 11: Create system-wide views

Now that your OKRs, roles, and tasks are fully set up, it’s time to create system-wide views. These views consolidate tasks from all lists into one workspace, providing a centralised perspective for managing everything. With these views, you can see all your tasks, projects, and recurring responsibilities in one place.

11.1 Create a board view for all tasks

The board view allows you to manage all tasks from your OKRs, standalone tasks, and roles in a single visual workspace. By filtering out milestones and responsibilities, you’ll focus only on actionable tasks and projects.

Action steps

• Navigate to your Workspace and click on + View.
• Select Board View and name it "All Tasks."
• Click on Group By and select Status.
• Click on Subtasks and choose Show as Separate Tasks.
• Apply a filter:
  • Click on Filter and select Task Type is not Milestone and Task Type is not Responsibility.

This view gives you a unified overview of all tasks, making it easy to track progress and manage workload across the entire system.

11.2 Create a list view for all tasks

The list view provides a detailed look at all tasks and allows you to group and sort them for clarity. By focusing on task types, you can better understand the distribution of work across OKRs, standalone tasks, and roles.

Action steps

• Navigate to your Workspace and click on + View.
• Select List View and name it "System Overview."
• Click on Group By and choose Task Type.
• Disable any additional grouping (e.g., "Group by List").
• Enable Subtasks as Separate Tasks to ensure everything is visible.

This view allows you to see tasks categorised by type (e.g., projects, standalone tasks, recurring tasks) and provides a clear structure for planning and execution.

Conclusion

You’ve now set up a comprehensive task management system in ClickUp. By creating dedicated views for OKRs, roles, and tasks, and combining everything into system-wide overviews, you have a powerful framework to organise, prioritise, and track your work effectively. This setup ensures that no task or responsibility falls through the cracks while keeping your workload manageable and aligned with your goals.

In the next chapter, we’ll focus on creating task habits to maintain and optimise this system. By implementing effective routines and reviews, you’ll keep your system running smoothly and ensure long-term success. Let’s move forward to mastering these habits!

Managing tasks effectively is the foundation of productivity. Without a solid system in place, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, miss deadlines, or let important work slip through the cracks. A task management system is more than just a to-do list—it’s a structured framework for organising, prioritising, and tracking everything that matters in your work and life.

Unlike a calendar, which is primarily for scheduling, or a team project management tool, which focuses on collaboration, this system is built specifically for you. It aligns with your individual goals, projects, and tasks, helping you focus on doing the right things at the right time. A good task management system acts as your personal hub, keeping all your responsibilities centralised and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re juggling too many responsibilities, constantly firefighting, or struggling to focus on what matters most, this system will change how you work. By creating a centralised and structured task management setup, you’ll stay on top of your workload without the stress of feeling perpetually behind.

In this chapter, we’ll guide you through building a personalised task management system in ClickUp. From creating lists to categorising tasks and roles, you’ll develop a system that keeps your workload clear and manageable, helping you focus on high-priority work while eliminating unnecessary stress.

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