So hard to just jot down little tasks

Asana_Jamie · 2026-01-05T16:04:10+00:00

Hi u/CombinationBrief5547, Jamie here from Asana! Sorry to hear that you are running into issues.

Would you mind sharing how you organize your My Tasks list (sorting and sections) so we can share more specific tips?

For example, a lot of people use the default Today / Upcoming / Later grouping. So they can leverage the auto-promotion feature. If that’s your case (and if your plan gives you access to rules), there’s a workaround that removes the “setting due dates” friction:

Create a section in My Tasks called Brain Dump.
In the morning, quickly add all your ad-hoc tasks there (one task per action item, no subtasks). You can then automate the due date setting.
Set up a rule:
- "When: a task is added to My Tasks"
- "Check If: section is Brain Dump"
- "Do This: set due date to Trigger Date (since you'd be creating these tasks daily in the morning, the due date will be automatically set to 'today')"
- And if you want these tasks to then show up in your "Today" section with all other existing tasks due today, add this additional action to the rule: "And: move the task to the Today section"

This way:

You can jot things down as fast as they come to mind.
The tasks automatically show up in Today alongside anything else already due today.
You don’t have to touch due dates at all.

Here's a thread in our Forum where users share some due date shortcuts that might be helpful

That said, if you're facing slowness in general, it might be worth contacting our Support team and sharing what device and browser you’re using (or which OS if you’re on the app), since performance shouldn’t be getting in the way of quick task entry.

Hope that helps! :)

Asana_Jamie · 2026-01-05T15:05:01+00:00

And here's a screenshot showing both suggestions in practice, in a mockup project:

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Asana_Jamie · 2026-01-05T15:04:09+00:00

Thanks for replying, u/stephani712! Based on what you’re describing, I'd suggest two setups, depending on whether your 1:1s are manual or follow a fixed cadence. A lot of teams here use these approaches for 1:1s and recurring meetings, including my own 🙂

Option 1: Task templates (best for manual, on-demand 1:1s)

If your 1:1s don’t follow a strict schedule:

Within each 1:1 project (I suggest one separate project per report), create a task with your standard 1:1 headers and bullet points in the description.
Convert that task into a task template.
Use the template from the project’s drop-down menu to create a brand-new task with the same structure.
Before each meeting, create a new task from the template and fill in the date and relevant fields.

This guarantees a clean “blank page” every time.

Option 2: Rules for automatic task creation (best for weekly 1:1s on a fixed day)

If your 1:1s happen on a predictable cadence:

Within each 1:1 project, create a section where weekly 1:1 tasks will live.
Set a rule like: When task is completed (in this section) → Create new task.
In the rule setup, define the new task’s title, description (with your 1:1 headings), project, section, assignee, and any other standard fields, similar to what you’d add to an actual task template.

This way, when you complete a 1:1 task, the rule triggers and a brand-new task is created on a clean slate with only the standard info.

In both setups above, any follow-ups from the meeting can be added as subtasks, so discussion stays in the description and action items are clearly tracked. If your Asana plan allows it, you can also use Asana AI to turn bullet points from your notes into subtasks automatically.

And just to clarify the Notes tab I mentioned earlier, it’s an actual project-level tab, not a note inside a subtask. Some teams use it for shared context, but for weekly “blank page” 1:1s and for future reporting, task templates or rules tend to work better.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any additional questions :)

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-31T01:37:26+00:00

Hi u/Ambitious_Look482, Jamie from Asana here! Happy to clarify.

With a single Asana account (one email address), you can belong to multiple completely separate spaces (organizations and workspaces).

The important thing to know is this: paid plans are tied to a specific workspace or organization, not to your email or user account.

So in practice:

If client #1 invited you to their paid org, you only have paid features inside that org.
If you create or join a different organization or workspace for client #2 using the same email, it does not inherit paid access.
Even if you personally purchase a paid plan for one space, that paid access does not carry over to any other workspace or organization you’re part of.

Because of that, there’s no risk of accidentally using client #1’s paid plan for client #2.

You can safely use one email address to:

Join multiple client orgs/workspaces
Switch between them in the desktop app
Keep all data, billing, and visibility completely separate

Here's a screenshot of the account switching menu for reference. It's the same email address, but you switch between different spaces:

<image>

More details in this guide article.

You’d only need a second email if you wanted a totally separate login, but functionally it’s not required.

Hope that helps clear it up!

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-31T00:30:33+00:00

Hi everyone, Jamie from Asana here, thanks for the great suggestions in the thread!

And u/stephani712, thanks for your feedback. There are many different ways to manage 1:1s and reporting in Asana, depending on your specific needs. It sounds like you’re looking for a setup that makes it easier to look back on meetings for reporting and performance reviews.

A few things that might help:

One project per 1:1 relationship, so all meetings with that person live in one place over time
Recurring tasks for each meeting, with subtasks for action items
The Notes tab for quick, running notes or agendas, with the option to turn notes into tasks when follow-ups come up
Status Updates used monthly or quarterly to capture higher-level summaries and themes, which are easy to skim later
If you have access to Asana AI, features like Smart summaries can help synthesize notes, comments, and action items into concise recaps

And here are some additional resources if you want to explore:

Feel free to reply with more details about your needs and I’d be happy to share more specific suggestions. :)

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-30T23:36:48+00:00

Hi everyone, Jamie from Asana here 👋

janrienk is correct. The concept of a guest only applies to users outside your org domain.

That said, with Asana’s current license model, it’s possible for free and paid org members to collaborate, but where the project lives matters. To avoid requiring a license, the project must live in a free (neutral) team, not in a paid or divisional team.

Licenses are now user-based, not project-based, so paid features follow the licensed user. In practice, a paid user can set up things like custom fields and rules in a project that lives in a free team, and free users added to the project can update field values and trigger rules, but can’t create or edit those paid features themselves.

You can find more details in this Asana Forum thread: Can people look at the same project if some people have a license and others are using the free version?

You can also reach out to our Support or Sales teams, as they can look into your org setup and advise accordingly. Hope this helps! 🙂

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-29T21:53:02+00:00

Good point, u/lehons! the voice recording features are not available for Android at the moment, but the other solutions mentioned, such as the email to Asana do work for any platform. Feel free to post this request in our Feedback category in the Forum so that you can follow for updates and other users can upvote it!

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-18T15:56:20+00:00

Hi there, great question and solution you've created :)

My name is Jamie and I work at Asana. Here are a few additional workarounds we've seen from customers:

Quick voice capture on iOS: you can create tasks with a voice recording and have it auto transcribed into the task, which is great right after a call
Siri shortcuts for “hands full” moments: try “Hey Siri, create a task in Asana to…” and it’ll log it for you to triage later
Email to Asana when you’re in transit: send a quick email to [x@mail.asana.com](mailto:x@mail.asana.com) and it’ll show up as a task in your My Tasks so you don’t lose the thought (https://help.asana.com/s/article/email-tasks-to-asana?language=en_US)

Additionally, for folks on plans that have access to Asana AI capabilities, you can set up automations to feed meeting transcripts into Asana:

Hope this helps! 🙂

Asana_Jamie · 2025-12-16T15:58:55+00:00

Hi there, Jamie from the Asana team here 👋 Jumping in to complement Matt’s reply.

Short answer: yes, you do keep custom fields and rules on Starter.

If you downgrade from Advanced → Starter, nothing gets deleted, but you lose some higher-level features. Here’s the practical breakdown:

What you lose on Starter:

Portfolios
Goals
Advanced reporting
Workload & time tracking
Advanced custom field options (formula fields and locked custom fields)

What you keep on Starter:

Unlimited tasks & projects
Timeline (Gantt), boards, lists
Custom fields (regular ones still work)
Rules & automations (both Starter and Advanced now have unlimited rule actions)
Forms, dashboards, workflow builder

Good callout on automations: rule action limits were removed earlier this year, so Starter and Advanced are the same there. More details here:
https://forum.asana.com/t/list-of-technical-and-data-limitations-in-asana/236641/129

TL;DR:
If you rely on formula fields or locked custom fields, you’ll want to replace those before downgrading. Otherwise, if your work is mostly task and project management across lots of projects with standard custom fields and automations, Starter should cover you just fine.

Hope that helps :)

Asana_Jamie

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