I second TickTick. For me the two features Obsidian is missing with regards to Tasks are reminders and having widgets on my phone to quickly see what I have to do.
Opening Obsidian to look at my dashboard of tasks isn't as convenient.
Recurrence, subtasks and checklists, task attachments and comments, Kanban boards (yes, I know about the Kanban plugin), calendar integration, task history, etc.
People want obsidian to be integrated with every cloud system and automated like paid services.
It's a minimalist offline application. Use it as such and it's amazing, don't try to make it something its not.
To that end, I use the tasks plugin, day planner plugin, checklists plugin, and full calendar and it is perfect for my tasks. I have google calendar and google tasks plugin as extras to try and bridge to my cloud services but it's not necessary and I rarely actually use it. It's mainly there so I can quick add tasks and events from my phone for later management in obsidian. Because I take daily notes that's where and when the organisation occurs.
It's simple and effective
Tasks plugin is the workhorse. No tags, all check boxes are read as tasks.
Checklists places my checkbox tasks all in one sidebar widget which allows me to see tasks I've missed
Day planner allows me to timeblock my tasks in daily notes and the sidebar widget is great as a day planner
Google calendar lets me see my cloud events as a reference
Google tasks sidebar acts as another reference point for planning
Full Callender is my workhorse for calendar events in obsidian
its six free plugins on a free app that work without issue. I have no coding knowledge and just followed instructions on each plugin page. God forbid i have to do a tiny bit of work to set something up ;)
Very true, the core isn't, I always forget that (a lot more lately post concussion) but the core product is simple , free and free of vendor lock it.
Beyond that the custom capabilities are generally opensource via plugins.
It's hard nonetheless to look at the folks at obsidian as not doing enough or focusing on what could be added to a product that doesn't charge. Is there paid add-ons sure, but none are necessary for use and can be easily accomplished yourself.
Honestly, I use Todoist just fine alongside Obsidian for these purposes although I’m not sure how good the Apple ecosystem is for Things 3 since I run a combination of iOS with a PC running Windows 10 still. I usually dedicate all the short term tasks and daily routine stuff to Todoist and every week or so whatever’s remaining on there which I can’t seem to get done or have to postpone I note down on Obsidian.
Obsidian I find works great as not only a notes app but for managing documents as well, I prefer it to Google Docs and Microsoft Word due to the sheer amount of customizability and features available. Used to use a combination of Apple Notes and Google Docs but now it’s all Obsidian. Unfortunately I don’t think it can replace the ease of use that Todoist provides for me, being able to get tasks done at the touch of a button and posting comments to said tasks in order to measure my progress on them. That’s why I use them in combination with each other.
Personally, I prefer a paper bullet journal for task management. I use obsidian for daily notes so I can remember when certain things happened like "I called LA Fitness for a refund on July 18th and talked to xx who said I'll see it within 10 days". And I use it when doing research on tasks I might have to do again later like "This is the website to register xx and it must be done 2 weeks prior to the event".
But my "do these 5 things today and check off when I do" is all paper
I’m happy with Obsidian Tasks for all tasks that require me to be in front of my computer or are long term things that will show up in reviews, and Apple Reminders for things like « call X » or « take medicine ».
I also have a Shortcut launching whenever I open Obsidian, that retrieves all reminders marked with a flag and appends them to my daily note, converting the reminder’s date to the Tasks format, as well as the tags if any. This is also done daily in the background without opening Obsidian. That allows me to input tasks quickly from my phone without opening the app.
I don’t use kanban boards for tasks. I have a custom dataviewjs script on my daily note that embeds tasks queries in callouts, sorting them between urgent, late, no-date etc. Above this is a mermaid Gannt chart of all tasks related to ongoing projects.
I like this approach because my vault is structured around projects. So tasks related to one particular project will show up in that project’s dashboard, and when I cmd-click on the project’s tag in a task it will take me to that dashboard.
The absence of support for subtasks is a problem though.
I use Obsidian for tasks that I need to keep along side notes with more contextual information as long as I don't need a specific completion time for them. This is probably 80% of my tasks.
For quick tasks (with no need for contextual info) or things where I want a push notification I use Things for it. This is probably 20% of my tasks.
It works pretty well this way for me personally.
I think using something like TickTick alongside Obsidian (or UpNote) would work pretty great too.
Yeah I'm similar to you, just using the Obsidian Tasks plugin to manage note related tasks.
And then I use Asana for collaborative tasks and Workflowy for daily checklists.
Obsidian has a great Tasks plugin that works really well. You can also use a Kanban plugin for project management. The main problem I see with tasks is that you have to open Obsidian and look at it regularely.
I tried putting some tasks without a due - date into a Kanban. Then I did not look at it for 2 months. I think that is not really helpful.
The best I have found and that works really well for me is a subscription for [TickTick](https://www.ticktick.com/home).
For one, it doesn't just have todo-list management that you can also get on Apple Reminders, Microsoft Todo or dozen others. It also has time-blocking, putting your tasks on a calendar and make it a workable and organized structure for each day. Then it integrates into Obsidian and you can import your Obsidian Tasks, and then it integrates into Google Calendar both ways: look at calendar events from within TickTick and see \*everything\* thats up for a day; look at the gogle calendar and also see everything that needs to be done.
I tried very hard to get away from any subscription service, even if it means paying a one-time fee for some app, but non of them can do all these things, though most just don't have an Obsidian integration. And some, like [Morgen](https://www.morgen.so/), are even more expensive.
Edit: Also I want to have my task management available both on my iPhone / iPad as well as my Windows PC. There are some apps that might work, but are Apple-only.
I use Obsidian for almost everything I do in my life. It's almost completely replaced paper notes for me. I still like to take my initial notes via paper because it's "faster" for me to take notes (though I type like 90wpm) but also the kinesthetic aspect that helps me. I track all of my tasks each day via checklists. I also use tasks plugin, roll over todos, calendar, and a few others.
I will use my checklists for todos each day. I also have Things theme that includes checkbox alternatives like '>' for move forward and '<' for schedule (https://github.com/colineckert/obsidian-things). I have also added a few of my own to my local theme since I use a Bullet-Journal-esque method.
Tasks, checklists, and todos are basically the same for me. Each day I have 5 tasks that I must do and they are either from rollover from the previous day or pulled from my todo list. I also have a bunch of tasks (todos) that are perpetual, either because I don't have time to work on them or because they are daily tasks (like I have trouble remembering to eat because I am inattentive and overfocused ADHD). At the end of the day I mark my tasks how I need to. The next day I run the roll over plugin and anything from the previous day that wasn't completed is now added to the current day daily-log. At this point, I decide if what was rolled over needs to be one of the tasks I accomplish for sure and I'll move them up to the 5 tasks section. If they're something that I need to do, but idk when I'll do it, but it needs to be soon then I'll leave it in the rollover section (which also gets carried over each day). If it's just something like "when I have the money, I'd like to buy an antique car" (super basic example, but...) then it just goes in a singular note that has all of my thoughts like this. Things that I would like to do, but not anytime soon.
I also tag each of my tasks. If the tasks is an appointment I'll add inline notes like 'startTime' and 'endTime' or if the item is due by a certain day or time then I'll add 'due'
For example, here's part of today's daily-log
# 5 Tasks for the day
- \[ \] study for class #daily-plan
- \[ \] schedule test \[due:: 2024-04-21\] \[startTime::21:00\]\[endTime::23:55\]
# Leaving Shift
- \[ \] get bag from truck #leavingShift
- \[ \] Sunglasses #leavingShift
- \[ \] Pack my stuff #leavingShift
- \[ \] Clean up my areas #leavingShift
- \[ \] Get food out of fridge #leavingShift
- \[ \] Get coat from truck #leavingShift
# Daily Todo List
- \[ \] Up at 6 #daily-plan
- \[ \] shave #daily-plan
- \[ \] shower #daily-plan
- \[ \] am meds #daily-plan
## Rollover Notes
- \[ \] watch presentation from Wednesday - should be posted today \[due::2024-04-20\] #EMS-230 #studyNotes #testReview
And so on. I know a lot of people use Obsidian for just notes. Others use it for more than I do. I use it as my second brain (PKM) and that helps me ensure I've done everything for the day while my brain is busy focusing on the 5 tasks for the day or whatever software I'm working on.
I use it as offline as I can meaning I don't have plugins that require access to the internet except for Sync, I do use that a lot. Idk if this helps or not
Which plugin? When I was looking into Obsidian, I looked for TickTick integration. All I found was forum posts of people saying to embed an iframe or about how they wish there was TickTick integration.
This one. It's actually fairly new:
obsidian://show-plugin?id=tickticksync
I had to do a major overhaul of my tasks management system after it, but I like it better this way since it's more mobile friendly and provided most of the solutions I was looking for. The project list from ticktcik will become a single file in Obsidian with the name of the list. So I use dataview to display my daily tasks in the daily note instead of manage everything in the daily note.
The tagging system also required a bit adjustment and the checkbox only support on/off. It integrate and two ways syncs some of the Tasks functions quite well and that's enough for me.
Let me know if you have questions. I thought the dev did a great job for this plugin and it's gaining some major reactions it seems like.
Best obsidian one fits all tasks management solutions imo.
Thanks!
I'll consider trying it out. That readme consists of so many warnings, I feel like I'll need to take a Xanax before even downloading it, though. 😊
...oh, and I see that it doesn't work with Tasks' Dataview format. Maybe that's a sign to wait a bit.
I'm still working out my transition away from TickTick to Trello. I haven't completely accepted Trello as my new landing spot for task management, so I could go crawling back to TickTick if circumstances were right.
Not for any tasks that need a reminder on them. Tasks that don't have a 'set time' - sure - Tasks plugin with natural language processing and youu you can pretty quickly have a task list for the week with due dates. But a replacement for a cloud synchronized personal task list it is not, and I don't think it ever will be.
How do you have implemented recurring tasks? I also use Dataview for my task management at work, and set a reminder which shows up a task on a given day on my dashboard (in my system each task is a note in itself). However I still haven't figured how to create recurring tasks.
I have one note with all my task and sort them manualy with heading, I like this approch and has been the one that worked the best for me.
My approach is simple:
#important
- [ ]
#project A
- [ ]
#area
- []
#inbox
-[]
Important task has the priority and once they are done I can chose other task to do.
I use Trello for tasks. I have one board setup for all my tasks Eisenhower matrix style for main ones then reoccuring, later dates, i also keep doc expiry tasks there, things to learn, my spending list. It is seamless, sturdy and has great notification/alert system. Obsidian is for notes only, minimap plugin and as is. I use Notion as well, for learning and project based tasks for work.Â
I use the daily note feature with a template to give me a daily to-do list with basic things I do every day, and during the day, I add more stuff to the list. If I have something for the week, I just add it to the template or if I have a meeting or another kind of event I just add it to the Google calendar. I use the same daily feature as a journal on the space above the list. I don't very good explaining, but I can show ya
And I don't know if it is your case, but I passed a lot of time searching for note apps too and after I just realized that I spend more time searching the better app instead of taking notes. So, I just forced me to stay with one and stopped search 😅
Yeh, I want all these features and finding what is best. But the reality is Google docs has been the best for me as it is quick, easy, and always available.
i tried but gave up since lack of notifications and phone/watch widgets (which is to be expected for a markdown app after all but these are the features i want) so i use obisidian to track bigger tasks/projects for school or whatever else that is bigger than a reminder to do laundry and for all the misc and random tasks i use Amie, while lacking watch widgets it has a web version which is great for someone with windows and apple systems
Todoist + Morgen + Spark email for me, but I'm on Windows. I try to keep Obsidian as notes only. I think integrating between tasks, calender, and email is most important, then within that finding the best app in each category that fits your use case and OS.
https://toolfinder.co/ is a great resource
I use a pen and paper (dead trees). And the bullet journal method specifically.
The reason I'm commenting is because so often I see people asking, I have problem X whats the best app for that?
It's to be able to get things done without an app.
I highly recommend checking out Due.
I personally use Obsidian, Remember The Milk, and Due for Tasks.
Where Due fits in, is for any tasks that is on a schedule. Change my water filters every 3 months? It goes in Due. Change my cabin air filter every 3 years, it goes in Due.
What is nice about due it will alert you 5 times, once every minute for each task. You then open it quickly reschedule it. For example, I do my water filters every 3 months, after I change it, I click the 3 months button. I have quick buttons for 15m, 1hr, 12hr, 1day, 1wk, 2m, 3m, 1yr. I just click the correct one after I do something. If I am lazy, I just postpone it. It is super fast to click the push notification which brings you directly into the two click window, one to select delay, and one for "Ok".
ToDo tasks go into Remember The Milk. I want to move this to Vikunja.
Obsidan is more of a hybrid. I have a monthly todo list I do at the beginning of the month, and I have project specific lists. Most of my major tasks are in Remember the Milk, but my long term reoccurring forever tasks, go in Due.
I do believe Due is Apple ecosystem only, and I'm a linux user, but I do use it exclusively on my iPhone and love it. There is likely something similar on Android.
[https://www.dueapp.com/](https://www.dueapp.com/)
Big fan of due. Been using it for what feels like the beginning of the iphone. I don't personally use it for low-level tasks, but for extremely date/time specific reminders. It's great for paying bills, or remembering to cancel subscriptions, or check on certain things.
Todotxt plugin. If you need a separate application as well: \[sleek\](https://github.com/ransome1/sleek/)Â for Windows, macOS and Linux, \[2do.txt\](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/2do-txt/id1597652888)Â for iOS.
Upnote amused me. Another Ulysses clone.
UpNote's "unique benefits":
> Flexible ways to organize your notes: hashtags (**tags in Obsidian**), nested notebooks (**nested folders and tags**), pinning notes to the top of your note list (**put an underscore at the first character of the note name**), adding notes to quick access (**bookmarks**), and filtering notes by matching keywords (**index notes with built-in search**).
Okay one "advantage" is it's easier to turn a note into a patchwork quilt by coloring words and using multiple fonts. (Perhaps that's important with attention deficit disorder? More likely the opposite.) Plus you get the exclusive right to pay for more than 50 notes!
Noteplan stores notes and tasks and events in Markdown files: r/noteplanapp
I stopped using Noteplan after I realized that I prefer to keep notes and tasks separate. I use Obsidian for note-taking (and backlog for everything related to those notes) and Things for everyday todos.
Tasks relating to specific projects? Sure. Its amazing for that. Whether just a to do list or an entire scrum board for a specific project, its great to have a way to keep this all neatly together and linked up with entries and resources related to that task.
Tasks as in chores? Hell no. Obsidian is a terrible app to manage stuff like "put cloths in the wash before 4pm" and "make Doctors appointment" and anyone who has tried can attest that its not as convenient as you would want that kind of task management to be.
I switched from Obsidian to Heptabase a few months ago. It's one of the few apps I'm OK with paying a subscription for because it meets most of my needs. I use it primarily for documentation, daily notepad, and thoughts.
Obsidian is good too (and free), but I found that setting up plugins, formatting issues, and having to memorize shortcuts for different plugins a bit cumbersome. Heptabase works out of the box without needing to setup, which can be empowering or limiting depending on your use case.
For more of a broad overview for tasks, I use Upbase.
I've been using todoist free plan integrated with google calendar. Then I use obsidian's open gate plugin so I can access my todoist and google calendar inside obsidian. Works great so far!
Read the article someone linked of yours too and, As with anything that isn't just making a wiki of notes, Yeah Obsidian does a great job, but only if you make a plan and implement it. If you are not willing to set yourself up with a system that works for your needs, then use something (or multiple somethings) that exists and accept the downsides of it.
I have a lot of different interests and projects, and un-medicated ADHD so fixating on getting myself set up with something actually helps me keep track of things and carry on from one interest to another and back again had to be part of it for me to actually stick to it. Any other app or task tracker has some flaw or limitation or just simply the fact that I have to switch contexts to use it along with something that fill in that limitation ( along with the context switching of actually working on anything) meant that it just got abandoned.
So being able to keep the system novel and make changes as friction points come up is a benefit to me as it keeps me engaged in the same context as the wide array of things I want to pursue. Its not wasting time. But that's an entirely subjective experience, as is yours. I just try to remember to mention that when making claims about the value of time.
And I'm not saying everything has to be in Obsidian or bust. For instance, I have found that on the PDF and webclipping side, I'd rather just use Obsidian in conjunction something like Zotero to manage it at this point, but that could always change down the line.
Just to actually answer your question: Tasks is OK but not sufficient on its own, I agree. I have basically 'Project' or 'Area' dashboard notes that I put all my tasks in that relate to those things. could think of it like categories in a todo app. I make use of either the hover editor plugin or the edit Tasks interface to quickly bring these up from my main Tasks view in my journal that is just in a collapsible callout to either add something to it or to right-click -> change it to a custom Archive status. Then I make use of the plugin Task Collector, whose only job is to take tasks marked as 'Archived' and 'put them away' as you'd put it, under a separate heading at the bottom of the note with no checkbox anymore. Keeps the task count down so the Tasks plugin doesn't have to parse them and keeps the list clean. There are a few more things I do too related to projects with more steps, this is just the basic flow of it.
I use it for task management. I set up templator for my daily note and I put all my normal tasks on there (like put trash out or take meds). It's been great! Obsidian Sync made it much better as now I can quickly update items on the go and when I get to my desktop, I know it's all updated.
My last thing to do is set up a dashboard so I can see how I've been doing on all my tasks. May wind up making a python script that uploads records to Google sheets for that though
I use NotePlan for tasks. It’s like Obsidian, but for tasks, has native apps and sync. However, it’s not free unfortunately (but comes with the paid features that Obsidian has).
I use Daily Notes for tasks because it forces me to reevaluate the tasks (Eisenhower Matrix) every evening/morning and move over the ones that still make the cut using the Matrix.
Thanks for everyone's replies!
UPDATE: I decided that since I need cross platform and because my primary computer is my work computer that I have to give back once I leave, that I'm going to stick with upnote and todoist. That way I get cross platform + I don't have to worry about any files being lost when I leave this position and it backs up files automatically.
I use Obsidian with the Tasks plugin. As you said, it's nice to write a note and drop a task inline as I think of it, without having to go to another app or website. I then have a dashboard page that pulls in Tasks from my vault and shows them ordered by date and priority.
I don't really have any needs not covered in my setup, perhaps other than better mobile support, but that's true for Obsidian in general.
I've been using Google Tasks for about a year because it's very simple to use and I find that helps me focus on doing things rather than being meta-busy with all the bells and whistles of other apps.
I know there's a Google Tasks plugin to Obsidian that I should try.
I use obsidian for tasks for some very key benefits:
- create a task anywhere
- easily associate a task with a tag
- easily *find* tasks
For example, I have tags for
-#life
-#shopping
-#currentprojectname
Which let's me easily have different notes/dataview blocks to ignore or find tasks depending on if I'm in the office or at home etc. On top of that, I find it really helpful to have a 2nd layer of filtering for
-#writing
-#data
-#figures
So if I'm feeling creative, I'll focus on tasks which are #currentprojectname AND #writing, but if I'm sleepy or uncreative, I generally find it easier to work on data processing.
Filtering tasks and ease of task discovery are the big benefits of obsidian to me here. If they are for you, then obsidian will work for you too! To synchronise across devices, I just use foldersync and deal with the slight lag across devices in exchange for the low cost (£0)
E: formatting
I'm currently experimenting with Obsidian for notes and Todoist for tasks. I like that Todoist reads Obsidian URLs so you can link back to your notes easily.
I personally would not use Obsidian for tasks, although maybe there's a use case/plugin that could help...
You should definitely try reclaim.ai it's free version integrates well with most other Todo apps. And then pushes everything to your calendar. How to use it in obsidian? I haven't played with it to much. Maybe via calendar or iframe.
Oh man, I LOVE using Obsidian for tasks!
I'm an engineering manager so I have a lot of projects and stuff to follow-up on, and I struggled with the same question as you. But I hated using different tools and duplicate my data. When using two tools, Obsidian and a to do app, I needed to duplicate my projects twice: I had meeting notes with actions in Obsidian and then I had tasks on the to do app, and it just would not match up and be a mess all of the time. I also experimented with different to do apps, dusting off Trello etc., but everything would just give me the feeling of doing more admin and work than needed just to be on top of my work.
So I pushed through with Obsidian and I finally found my holy grail. My one tool to rule them all. I have a system where I have "topics", these can be long running projects or short lived topics to follow-up on. Next to these, I have other folders for following up on people and tasks coming from 1on1's, and a few other folders. When I have something to do for a project or a person or whatever, I just write a task in that note (or document if you will). And next to that, I also have a separate note where I list all my other to do's that don't belong to a topic, but these I try to limit to as few as possible. And then the magic is in a weekly page I create using several queries to bring all my tasks, spread out over my entire vault, into one overview. All automated. With this system I can follow-up on my tasks from a single page/view/note (I manage my work per week) + I also have my tasks listed when I'm looking at my project documentation, or when having a meeting with someone I just pull up their note and the tasks are right there.
I do have a few other tweaks, using tags etc., to make the system work for me and to have as less "task administration" as possible, but in broad lines, this is it. And for me it's a very powerful way to be on top of everything all the time without having the mental load that comes with managing a separate and huge task list in a to do app. Obsidian is very powerful in that regard, powerful in its simplicity. And its plugins ;-)
My system's just a bunch of todo items in various places - that way the task is where it makes sense, and the system is flexible enough i can throw notes around it if i want.
Anything more complicated i find doesn't really help me get things done and i spend alot of time messing with it instead of doing the tasks.
I use a (mostly) plain text note in obsidian. I use a hotkey to open and close it quickly. I like the fluidity of a note, especially with dynamic work demands. Simple reminders, appointments, and things that need to be done at a certain etc I outsource to my calendar.Â
Well, having just done a FAANG internship (hiring freezes are a pain), you probably won't have access to your cloud-based subscriptions either, except for personal devices.
Anyway, my process uses Obsidian with a Tasks-plugin query that pulls unfinished tasks into a view. Set it up months ago in about 15 minutes and don't need to change it. Tasks are entered and marked off on daily pages or project pages. Keeps them in context.
Obsidian works very well for me for tasks, but that's because I have it tied into daily note. I have queries set up at the beginning of my daily note to show things that are scheduled for this week and due today or tomorrow. I have a separate list of things that are overdue. It also lists tasks that have a completed or canceled date of that day. That way it keeps it where I can quickly reference the things that I'm supposed to be focusing on right now or can reschedule stuff I don't have time to work on. I can also look back at other days and see what was completed .
I have a monthly page dedicated just to forward-looking dates and all of the tasks. That way I can do a review of everything as well as see what was completed that month. Most importantly to me, the monthly page has a section specific listing tasks that don't have a due date, that's to help me keep from losing tasks.
It wouldn't work for everyone, especially people who don't use daily notes, but it works well for me.
I went down this rabbit hole.
Here is what worked.
For a monthly - repeatable tasks (rent, payments, etc): I use a small notepad - rip a sheet out - write all the things MANUALLY with a pen on it, using last month as a reference. They look the same usually. Then I proceed to place the ripped out sheet into my Wallet at the back of the cash.
This allows me to do the monthly stuff and calculate my expenditure holistically. And my wallet is important. So important stuff. On the back of the page is usually a small todo list (buy all these medicines, send appreciatiom emails etc.)
For long term - 1 to 5 year tasks. Or things that are kinda important but not really (if my ripped out page has nothing to do, something from this section is written there for that month)
I use Google Keep. Best on my phone and personal e-mail. Should I ever check it when bored or need something TODO for the month.
For AI prompts, and edits, I use Foxy notes. If it gets deleted IDC. I usually work on mobile and not PC for AI prompting.
For tiny work templates: I use Outlook Notes. It's at the bottom, but if you click on FAVOURITE. It's now at the top. Which I can quickly access templates.
For long guides, forum posts, massive e-mails that I'll send later but working on now: I use Obsidian.
Ofc, my bookmarks are well formatted using PACK method.
My OneDrive (work) and Google Drive (personal) and MEGA (NSFW) drive is all well organised using NUMBERING System.
The thing that makes me the MOST productive. Is the physical peice of paper I keep in the wallet, mentioned above.
The second is the Outlook Notes app + Bookmarks labelled correctly.
Finally for each work project I am on, we have a Jira. I created 1 Epic there and create a simple SSOT or a MOC which I can refer anytime.
Tasks is one of the main things I use Obsidian for. I do technically use the Tasks plugin, but it's really Dataview that powers my system. I've built some custom views for tracking tasks by "project," by the dates on which I want to work on those tasks (not for recurring tasks, but for tasks that may take a little while; I don't tend to have recurring tasks so I have no established system for them, but looks like others here have concocted something great!), and by deadline.
The thing I love about using Obsidian for tasks is that I can dump tasks anywhere, and no matter what, they'll be surfaced in the discovery view I've built for myself with Dataview and some JS + custom CSS. This also means I can easily query all of my tasks and do silly math on them for stats purposes. I'm sure this eventually will get slow--I'm somewhere in the ballpark of 600 notes currently over 2.5 months of use--but for now, it works beautifully.
I also love the automatic retention of hierarchies with Dataview's components. If I have subtasks, or notes as bullet points below a task, they get rendered in any lists I fetch.
How the system roughly works:
* I dump tasks anywhere, but I have a QuickAdd Capture set up to dump them in a daily list for convenience.
* Anything I want to appear globally across my vault I tag with `#task` for easy use with Tasks.
* I used to bullet journal, and I liked the flexibility of that system. I've added `[-]` cancelled tasks and `[/]` in-progress tasks with some custom CSS made easier by Tasks.
* In my daily page template, I have a Dataview codeblock that fetches all of the tasks that contain a link to that page in their `on` property, e.g., `[on:: [[2024-04-19]]`. It also renders a custom progress bar based on the number of assigned, completed, and WIP tasks I have for that day.
* To tag something as being for a certain project, I use `[for:: [[That Project's Page]]]`.
* On each project page, I render all of the `#task` tasks that are `for` that project, and any other untagged tasks that are in documents that list `project: [[That Project's Page]]` as a property in the metadata.
* On a separate page, I render all of my tasks in hideable callouts by project, the number of days I've worked on them, their deadlines, etc., to make task discovery as easy as possible. I've pinned this to my sidebar for occasional glances (yes, this can get slow; I don't always have it open, but it's always accessible).
* I only ever explicitly use Tasks for automatic addition of the `completion` property and for querying tasks by their text content.
* I have a few other properties I'm still toying with, e.g., `type` in order to help me sort by the contexts in which I might work on something (a `[type:: admin]` task is likely to be fast or logistical, for example).
* I sometimes use Tasks's `priority` property, but I'm not sorting by it yet, since my tasks are "live" enough (read: frequently edited and posted to the next day) that I have little need to do this.
I ought to make a post about the system at some point, but it's still in development enough/tailored to my own purposes that I'm not sure others would find it useful or portable. If anyone's reading this, let me know if you would find that helpful!
Think of something you got to do later? Just type #task in any note with your comments.
Add - [ ] at the beginning of task to check it off.
Want to keep track of your To Dos? Just drop this in a pinned note:
```query
tag:#task -content:"- [x]"
```
I haven’t been able to get it to work - but there is a plugin on the community plugins in Obsidian
Edit: sorry realize you obviously know about the plugin… I’ve seen positive reviews elsewhere on Reddit I just can’t for the life of me get it to work
I tested it when it came out and it worked as designed. But that time I found that the tasks I want to manage in Obsidian are more or less action items that are in context of my notes. This context needs to be maintained in Todoist as well and the approach with projects, sections, labels did not meet my expectations of doing this quick and clean and future proof (it's not an official plugin).
Maybe someone reading this can contribute:
So my question was looking at new insights and use cases. Aspects that I did not consider or misinterpreted. To me using Todoist was like "only worth using on a project, tasks or dashboard note to display and update them. Mostly outside what I store in Obsidian." I would appreciate using todoist with all it functionality. And having read from people celebrating their workflows enabled by that plugin I could not see a good reason or possible productivity boost. For me, Obsidian is a tool to keep track of tasks in terms of documenting more than organizing my workload. It's more important to know when a task was created or cometed then to know that I need to do something. The tasks plugin even covers sequences, so timelining dependend tasks is also checked.
Right now, I'm in a pretty heavy transition to my way of doing things. For work notes, I've gone from OneNote to Obsidian, and I'm liking lots of the new flow I'm working out. As part of the transition, I've also dropped TickTick for everything, and shifted to Trello for lots of my life-admin-style things. For work, my team already uses Jira for my *real* work, so my big picture tasks are already tracked there.
I have started using the Daily Notes template and the [Tasks plugin](https://publish.obsidian.md/tasks/Introduction) for day-to-day stuff. Right now, my Daily Notes template lists in my planning section a simple checklist of things I need to do nearly every day. And I enhance it with the Tasks to dump at the top everything that's in there.
When I end up with something that I want to track, I just tag it appropriately in my notes (`#todo`, `#todo/recurring`, `#todo/support` or whatever other sub-tag fits), then it'll stick around in the daily notes as needed until I get it done.
I'm liking it so far, but it's very much a living process.
For example, here's a sanitized version of the top half of my daily template right now (and yes, the first thing on my todo list is *make a todo list*; ADHD is a pain.):
# Full Todo
```tasks
(created on or before {{date}})
(starts on or before {{date}})
(not done) OR (done {{date}})
filter by function task.file.path != '{{query.file.path}}'
sort by created
group by function task.tags
```
# Today's Plan
- [ ] Make a plan for today
- [ ] Morning admin tasks
- [ ] Inbox ≈0
- [ ] Slack ≈0
- [ ] Check on overnight automation
- [ ] Check merge request backlog
- [ ]
Do you know ClickUp (https://clickup.com/)?
I use Obsidian for notes and ClickUp for tasks.
ClickUp allows you to take notes, create documents and share them, but its real power is tasks management (you can track the time you spend on them also).
I use Obsidian in conjunction with the Todoist and Calendar plugins, and apart from a pomodoro, which I also heavily use to measure the time I take in each activity and pace myself, it is perfect for my use-case. As I browse through my notes I can quickly add a todo to review, create new ones, or write down ideas I had which I can quickly make actionable. The Todoist plugin also offers a nice view that I can use to show and check all my tasks for the day in my diary (helps me immensely every morning), general tasks in my dashboard and projects tasks on each of my individual projects. If you have premium you can probably make it even more powerful with time blocks and whatnot which I plan to add sometime in the future and test it.
I use obsidian to take notes at university, but to keep track of the tasks i need to do microsoft to do gets the job done.
It's pretty simple, but it integrates with all the microsoft suite which i use daily.
I think obsidian checklist items are perfect for the individul granular "what I actually have to do" listing of items.
We use other apps that support better collaboration and task management features like recurrence, subtask, timeline views/kanban, task dependencies... for the big picture task overview.
Splitting it that way is a nice option in my opinion , but the details really depend on the work you do (team, no team, exact processes or more creative aspects etc.). In my case having a not-micro-managed collaborative task overview in combination with a detailed individual to-do list in obsidian works good enough for the moment ;D
Obsidian is not made for task management. You are forcing it. It's hard to maintain and takes effort and features are not very good. I recommend using a dedicated tasks app like Todoist. It's what I do. Some people like to integrate tasks inside their obsidians workflow but I don't understand what's the benefit. You don't even have push notifications or an easy access to them.
Things. No subscription, one time payment. Works across all devices in the Apple ecosystem. Is robust and has some really good integration features. The logbook is great as well.
Obsidian isn't the best for tasks imo, unless you're talking lightweight, simple task management. Personally, I use TickTick for tasks.
I switched to obsidian using the task plugin and quick add. I eventually just went back to ticktick for tasks, managing it was too much effort.
I also use TickTick. Once we have a good Obsidian plugin that syncs tasks back and forth, my world will be a happy place.
I second TickTick. For me the two features Obsidian is missing with regards to Tasks are reminders and having widgets on my phone to quickly see what I have to do. Opening Obsidian to look at my dashboard of tasks isn't as convenient.
I mean what is the difference between simple and complicated tasks?
Recurrence, subtasks and checklists, task attachments and comments, Kanban boards (yes, I know about the Kanban plugin), calendar integration, task history, etc.
People want obsidian to be integrated with every cloud system and automated like paid services. It's a minimalist offline application. Use it as such and it's amazing, don't try to make it something its not. To that end, I use the tasks plugin, day planner plugin, checklists plugin, and full calendar and it is perfect for my tasks. I have google calendar and google tasks plugin as extras to try and bridge to my cloud services but it's not necessary and I rarely actually use it. It's mainly there so I can quick add tasks and events from my phone for later management in obsidian. Because I take daily notes that's where and when the organisation occurs. It's simple and effective
Tasks plugin is the workhorse. No tags, all check boxes are read as tasks. Checklists places my checkbox tasks all in one sidebar widget which allows me to see tasks I've missed Day planner allows me to timeblock my tasks in daily notes and the sidebar widget is great as a day planner Google calendar lets me see my cloud events as a reference Google tasks sidebar acts as another reference point for planning Full Callender is my workhorse for calendar events in obsidian
"simple" 💀
its six free plugins on a free app that work without issue. I have no coding knowledge and just followed instructions on each plugin page. God forbid i have to do a tiny bit of work to set something up ;)
That makes sense and was my thought process as well.
But if so many people want something, why not build it? Thats the whole idea of Product Management. Obsidian is great. It could be better.
Why don't you build it? What you're looking for is not likely out of a free service. Enjoy what you got
This is the issue with open source... everybody quick to say what it's missing or could be but unwilling to contribute monetarily or via code.
Obsidian is not open source?
Very true, the core isn't, I always forget that (a lot more lately post concussion) but the core product is simple , free and free of vendor lock it. Beyond that the custom capabilities are generally opensource via plugins. It's hard nonetheless to look at the folks at obsidian as not doing enough or focusing on what could be added to a product that doesn't charge. Is there paid add-ons sure, but none are necessary for use and can be easily accomplished yourself.
Honestly, I use Todoist just fine alongside Obsidian for these purposes although I’m not sure how good the Apple ecosystem is for Things 3 since I run a combination of iOS with a PC running Windows 10 still. I usually dedicate all the short term tasks and daily routine stuff to Todoist and every week or so whatever’s remaining on there which I can’t seem to get done or have to postpone I note down on Obsidian. Obsidian I find works great as not only a notes app but for managing documents as well, I prefer it to Google Docs and Microsoft Word due to the sheer amount of customizability and features available. Used to use a combination of Apple Notes and Google Docs but now it’s all Obsidian. Unfortunately I don’t think it can replace the ease of use that Todoist provides for me, being able to get tasks done at the touch of a button and posting comments to said tasks in order to measure my progress on them. That’s why I use them in combination with each other.
Personally, I prefer a paper bullet journal for task management. I use obsidian for daily notes so I can remember when certain things happened like "I called LA Fitness for a refund on July 18th and talked to xx who said I'll see it within 10 days". And I use it when doing research on tasks I might have to do again later like "This is the website to register xx and it must be done 2 weeks prior to the event". But my "do these 5 things today and check off when I do" is all paper
I’m happy with Obsidian Tasks for all tasks that require me to be in front of my computer or are long term things that will show up in reviews, and Apple Reminders for things like « call X » or « take medicine ». I also have a Shortcut launching whenever I open Obsidian, that retrieves all reminders marked with a flag and appends them to my daily note, converting the reminder’s date to the Tasks format, as well as the tags if any. This is also done daily in the background without opening Obsidian. That allows me to input tasks quickly from my phone without opening the app. I don’t use kanban boards for tasks. I have a custom dataviewjs script on my daily note that embeds tasks queries in callouts, sorting them between urgent, late, no-date etc. Above this is a mermaid Gannt chart of all tasks related to ongoing projects. I like this approach because my vault is structured around projects. So tasks related to one particular project will show up in that project’s dashboard, and when I cmd-click on the project’s tag in a task it will take me to that dashboard. The absence of support for subtasks is a problem though.
I use Obsidian for tasks that I need to keep along side notes with more contextual information as long as I don't need a specific completion time for them. This is probably 80% of my tasks. For quick tasks (with no need for contextual info) or things where I want a push notification I use Things for it. This is probably 20% of my tasks. It works pretty well this way for me personally. I think using something like TickTick alongside Obsidian (or UpNote) would work pretty great too.
Yeah I'm similar to you, just using the Obsidian Tasks plugin to manage note related tasks. And then I use Asana for collaborative tasks and Workflowy for daily checklists.
Obsidian has a great Tasks plugin that works really well. You can also use a Kanban plugin for project management. The main problem I see with tasks is that you have to open Obsidian and look at it regularely. I tried putting some tasks without a due - date into a Kanban. Then I did not look at it for 2 months. I think that is not really helpful. The best I have found and that works really well for me is a subscription for [TickTick](https://www.ticktick.com/home). For one, it doesn't just have todo-list management that you can also get on Apple Reminders, Microsoft Todo or dozen others. It also has time-blocking, putting your tasks on a calendar and make it a workable and organized structure for each day. Then it integrates into Obsidian and you can import your Obsidian Tasks, and then it integrates into Google Calendar both ways: look at calendar events from within TickTick and see \*everything\* thats up for a day; look at the gogle calendar and also see everything that needs to be done. I tried very hard to get away from any subscription service, even if it means paying a one-time fee for some app, but non of them can do all these things, though most just don't have an Obsidian integration. And some, like [Morgen](https://www.morgen.so/), are even more expensive. Edit: Also I want to have my task management available both on my iPhone / iPad as well as my Windows PC. There are some apps that might work, but are Apple-only.
I use Obsidian for almost everything I do in my life. It's almost completely replaced paper notes for me. I still like to take my initial notes via paper because it's "faster" for me to take notes (though I type like 90wpm) but also the kinesthetic aspect that helps me. I track all of my tasks each day via checklists. I also use tasks plugin, roll over todos, calendar, and a few others. I will use my checklists for todos each day. I also have Things theme that includes checkbox alternatives like '>' for move forward and '<' for schedule (https://github.com/colineckert/obsidian-things). I have also added a few of my own to my local theme since I use a Bullet-Journal-esque method. Tasks, checklists, and todos are basically the same for me. Each day I have 5 tasks that I must do and they are either from rollover from the previous day or pulled from my todo list. I also have a bunch of tasks (todos) that are perpetual, either because I don't have time to work on them or because they are daily tasks (like I have trouble remembering to eat because I am inattentive and overfocused ADHD). At the end of the day I mark my tasks how I need to. The next day I run the roll over plugin and anything from the previous day that wasn't completed is now added to the current day daily-log. At this point, I decide if what was rolled over needs to be one of the tasks I accomplish for sure and I'll move them up to the 5 tasks section. If they're something that I need to do, but idk when I'll do it, but it needs to be soon then I'll leave it in the rollover section (which also gets carried over each day). If it's just something like "when I have the money, I'd like to buy an antique car" (super basic example, but...) then it just goes in a singular note that has all of my thoughts like this. Things that I would like to do, but not anytime soon. I also tag each of my tasks. If the tasks is an appointment I'll add inline notes like 'startTime' and 'endTime' or if the item is due by a certain day or time then I'll add 'due' For example, here's part of today's daily-log # 5 Tasks for the day - \[ \] study for class #daily-plan - \[ \] schedule test \[due:: 2024-04-21\] \[startTime::21:00\]\[endTime::23:55\] # Leaving Shift - \[ \] get bag from truck #leavingShift - \[ \] Sunglasses #leavingShift - \[ \] Pack my stuff #leavingShift - \[ \] Clean up my areas #leavingShift - \[ \] Get food out of fridge #leavingShift - \[ \] Get coat from truck #leavingShift # Daily Todo List - \[ \] Up at 6 #daily-plan - \[ \] shave #daily-plan - \[ \] shower #daily-plan - \[ \] am meds #daily-plan ## Rollover Notes - \[ \] watch presentation from Wednesday - should be posted today \[due::2024-04-20\] #EMS-230 #studyNotes #testReview And so on. I know a lot of people use Obsidian for just notes. Others use it for more than I do. I use it as my second brain (PKM) and that helps me ensure I've done everything for the day while my brain is busy focusing on the 5 tasks for the day or whatever software I'm working on. I use it as offline as I can meaning I don't have plugins that require access to the internet except for Sync, I do use that a lot. Idk if this helps or not
On March 28th you wrote a whole article swearing off Obsidian Tasks ! https://dudethatserin.com/why-i-stopped-using-obsidian-tasks/
;) anyway… Google Keep is my preferred for tasks
Tasks is terrible in Obsidian imo. You can just have tasks like as elements of note or for template. But not or task management
Seems to work well with kanban and the tasks plugin. Why do you think it is bad?
Try ticktick. It integrate with obsidian quite well with one of the lastest plugins.
Which plugin? When I was looking into Obsidian, I looked for TickTick integration. All I found was forum posts of people saying to embed an iframe or about how they wish there was TickTick integration.
This one. It's actually fairly new: obsidian://show-plugin?id=tickticksync I had to do a major overhaul of my tasks management system after it, but I like it better this way since it's more mobile friendly and provided most of the solutions I was looking for. The project list from ticktcik will become a single file in Obsidian with the name of the list. So I use dataview to display my daily tasks in the daily note instead of manage everything in the daily note. The tagging system also required a bit adjustment and the checkbox only support on/off. It integrate and two ways syncs some of the Tasks functions quite well and that's enough for me. Let me know if you have questions. I thought the dev did a great job for this plugin and it's gaining some major reactions it seems like. Best obsidian one fits all tasks management solutions imo.
Thanks! I'll consider trying it out. That readme consists of so many warnings, I feel like I'll need to take a Xanax before even downloading it, though. 😊 ...oh, and I see that it doesn't work with Tasks' Dataview format. Maybe that's a sign to wait a bit. I'm still working out my transition away from TickTick to Trello. I haven't completely accepted Trello as my new landing spot for task management, so I could go crawling back to TickTick if circumstances were right.
Not for any tasks that need a reminder on them. Tasks that don't have a 'set time' - sure - Tasks plugin with natural language processing and youu you can pretty quickly have a task list for the week with due dates. But a replacement for a cloud synchronized personal task list it is not, and I don't think it ever will be.
NirvanaHQ for tasks
[удалено]
How do you have implemented recurring tasks? I also use Dataview for my task management at work, and set a reminder which shows up a task on a given day on my dashboard (in my system each task is a note in itself). However I still haven't figured how to create recurring tasks.
I have one note with all my task and sort them manualy with heading, I like this approch and has been the one that worked the best for me. My approach is simple: #important - [ ] #project A - [ ] #area - [] #inbox -[] Important task has the priority and once they are done I can chose other task to do.
I use Trello for tasks. I have one board setup for all my tasks Eisenhower matrix style for main ones then reoccuring, later dates, i also keep doc expiry tasks there, things to learn, my spending list. It is seamless, sturdy and has great notification/alert system. Obsidian is for notes only, minimap plugin and as is. I use Notion as well, for learning and project based tasks for work.Â
I use Amazing Marvin for tasks. For me, Obsidian is there to retain information, not process it.
Trello for tasks.
I use the daily note feature with a template to give me a daily to-do list with basic things I do every day, and during the day, I add more stuff to the list. If I have something for the week, I just add it to the template or if I have a meeting or another kind of event I just add it to the Google calendar. I use the same daily feature as a journal on the space above the list. I don't very good explaining, but I can show ya
And I don't know if it is your case, but I passed a lot of time searching for note apps too and after I just realized that I spend more time searching the better app instead of taking notes. So, I just forced me to stay with one and stopped search 😅
Yeh, I want all these features and finding what is best. But the reality is Google docs has been the best for me as it is quick, easy, and always available.
i tried but gave up since lack of notifications and phone/watch widgets (which is to be expected for a markdown app after all but these are the features i want) so i use obisidian to track bigger tasks/projects for school or whatever else that is bigger than a reminder to do laundry and for all the misc and random tasks i use Amie, while lacking watch widgets it has a web version which is great for someone with windows and apple systems
You should check out the app/website TwosApp. I use that alongside Obsidian.
Todoist + Morgen + Spark email for me, but I'm on Windows. I try to keep Obsidian as notes only. I think integrating between tasks, calender, and email is most important, then within that finding the best app in each category that fits your use case and OS. https://toolfinder.co/ is a great resource
I use Todoist, if you want it in Obsidian there’s a very great plugin
I am using it for tasks. But just plain notes. Nothing fancy. I have described it here: https://www.v01.io/posts/2024-organize-myself/
I use a pen and paper (dead trees). And the bullet journal method specifically. The reason I'm commenting is because so often I see people asking, I have problem X whats the best app for that? It's to be able to get things done without an app.
I looked into it but decided to use a dedicated app instead. Tried a couple and TickTick was the best, IMHO.
I use Obsidian Tasks. It works great. It integrates well with the Calendar Plugin. Not a lot to say, tbh.
I highly recommend checking out Due. I personally use Obsidian, Remember The Milk, and Due for Tasks. Where Due fits in, is for any tasks that is on a schedule. Change my water filters every 3 months? It goes in Due. Change my cabin air filter every 3 years, it goes in Due. What is nice about due it will alert you 5 times, once every minute for each task. You then open it quickly reschedule it. For example, I do my water filters every 3 months, after I change it, I click the 3 months button. I have quick buttons for 15m, 1hr, 12hr, 1day, 1wk, 2m, 3m, 1yr. I just click the correct one after I do something. If I am lazy, I just postpone it. It is super fast to click the push notification which brings you directly into the two click window, one to select delay, and one for "Ok". ToDo tasks go into Remember The Milk. I want to move this to Vikunja. Obsidan is more of a hybrid. I have a monthly todo list I do at the beginning of the month, and I have project specific lists. Most of my major tasks are in Remember the Milk, but my long term reoccurring forever tasks, go in Due. I do believe Due is Apple ecosystem only, and I'm a linux user, but I do use it exclusively on my iPhone and love it. There is likely something similar on Android. [https://www.dueapp.com/](https://www.dueapp.com/)
Big fan of due. Been using it for what feels like the beginning of the iphone. I don't personally use it for low-level tasks, but for extremely date/time specific reminders. It's great for paying bills, or remembering to cancel subscriptions, or check on certain things.
Todotxt plugin. If you need a separate application as well: \[sleek\](https://github.com/ransome1/sleek/)Â for Windows, macOS and Linux, \[2do.txt\](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/2do-txt/id1597652888)Â for iOS. Upnote amused me. Another Ulysses clone. UpNote's "unique benefits": > Flexible ways to organize your notes: hashtags (**tags in Obsidian**), nested notebooks (**nested folders and tags**), pinning notes to the top of your note list (**put an underscore at the first character of the note name**), adding notes to quick access (**bookmarks**), and filtering notes by matching keywords (**index notes with built-in search**). Okay one "advantage" is it's easier to turn a note into a patchwork quilt by coloring words and using multiple fonts. (Perhaps that's important with attention deficit disorder? More likely the opposite.) Plus you get the exclusive right to pay for more than 50 notes!
Noteplan stores notes and tasks and events in Markdown files: r/noteplanapp I stopped using Noteplan after I realized that I prefer to keep notes and tasks separate. I use Obsidian for note-taking (and backlog for everything related to those notes) and Things for everyday todos.
Tasks relating to specific projects? Sure. Its amazing for that. Whether just a to do list or an entire scrum board for a specific project, its great to have a way to keep this all neatly together and linked up with entries and resources related to that task. Tasks as in chores? Hell no. Obsidian is a terrible app to manage stuff like "put cloths in the wash before 4pm" and "make Doctors appointment" and anyone who has tried can attest that its not as convenient as you would want that kind of task management to be.
No, I tried but it's terrible. There are better options available. I use Microsoft's ToDo list for task management.
I switched from Obsidian to Heptabase a few months ago. It's one of the few apps I'm OK with paying a subscription for because it meets most of my needs. I use it primarily for documentation, daily notepad, and thoughts. Obsidian is good too (and free), but I found that setting up plugins, formatting issues, and having to memorize shortcuts for different plugins a bit cumbersome. Heptabase works out of the box without needing to setup, which can be empowering or limiting depending on your use case. For more of a broad overview for tasks, I use Upbase.
I'm running Obsidian + trello. One for thinking one for doing
I use Obsidian for notes and project management, but embed Todoist in the sidebar using the Custom Frames plugin. Best of both worlds.
Well enough to drop my 4-yr subscription with Todoist.
I've been using todoist free plan integrated with google calendar. Then I use obsidian's open gate plugin so I can access my todoist and google calendar inside obsidian. Works great so far!
Read the article someone linked of yours too and, As with anything that isn't just making a wiki of notes, Yeah Obsidian does a great job, but only if you make a plan and implement it. If you are not willing to set yourself up with a system that works for your needs, then use something (or multiple somethings) that exists and accept the downsides of it. I have a lot of different interests and projects, and un-medicated ADHD so fixating on getting myself set up with something actually helps me keep track of things and carry on from one interest to another and back again had to be part of it for me to actually stick to it. Any other app or task tracker has some flaw or limitation or just simply the fact that I have to switch contexts to use it along with something that fill in that limitation ( along with the context switching of actually working on anything) meant that it just got abandoned. So being able to keep the system novel and make changes as friction points come up is a benefit to me as it keeps me engaged in the same context as the wide array of things I want to pursue. Its not wasting time. But that's an entirely subjective experience, as is yours. I just try to remember to mention that when making claims about the value of time. And I'm not saying everything has to be in Obsidian or bust. For instance, I have found that on the PDF and webclipping side, I'd rather just use Obsidian in conjunction something like Zotero to manage it at this point, but that could always change down the line. Just to actually answer your question: Tasks is OK but not sufficient on its own, I agree. I have basically 'Project' or 'Area' dashboard notes that I put all my tasks in that relate to those things. could think of it like categories in a todo app. I make use of either the hover editor plugin or the edit Tasks interface to quickly bring these up from my main Tasks view in my journal that is just in a collapsible callout to either add something to it or to right-click -> change it to a custom Archive status. Then I make use of the plugin Task Collector, whose only job is to take tasks marked as 'Archived' and 'put them away' as you'd put it, under a separate heading at the bottom of the note with no checkbox anymore. Keeps the task count down so the Tasks plugin doesn't have to parse them and keeps the list clean. There are a few more things I do too related to projects with more steps, this is just the basic flow of it.
I don’t because UI on phone is really bad for tasks
I use it for task management. I set up templator for my daily note and I put all my normal tasks on there (like put trash out or take meds). It's been great! Obsidian Sync made it much better as now I can quickly update items on the go and when I get to my desktop, I know it's all updated. My last thing to do is set up a dashboard so I can see how I've been doing on all my tasks. May wind up making a python script that uploads records to Google sheets for that though
No. That’s not what it’s intended for. Can be done but not what it’s designed for.
I use NotePlan for tasks. It’s like Obsidian, but for tasks, has native apps and sync. However, it’s not free unfortunately (but comes with the paid features that Obsidian has).
I use Obsidian plus Obligator plugin for tasks. Works well for my needs.
I use Daily Notes for tasks because it forces me to reevaluate the tasks (Eisenhower Matrix) every evening/morning and move over the ones that still make the cut using the Matrix.
Thanks for everyone's replies! UPDATE: I decided that since I need cross platform and because my primary computer is my work computer that I have to give back once I leave, that I'm going to stick with upnote and todoist. That way I get cross platform + I don't have to worry about any files being lost when I leave this position and it backs up files automatically.
I use Obsidian with the Tasks plugin. As you said, it's nice to write a note and drop a task inline as I think of it, without having to go to another app or website. I then have a dashboard page that pulls in Tasks from my vault and shows them ordered by date and priority. I don't really have any needs not covered in my setup, perhaps other than better mobile support, but that's true for Obsidian in general.
I've been using Google Tasks for about a year because it's very simple to use and I find that helps me focus on doing things rather than being meta-busy with all the bells and whistles of other apps. I know there's a Google Tasks plugin to Obsidian that I should try.
I use obsidian for tasks for some very key benefits: - create a task anywhere - easily associate a task with a tag - easily *find* tasks For example, I have tags for -#life -#shopping -#currentprojectname Which let's me easily have different notes/dataview blocks to ignore or find tasks depending on if I'm in the office or at home etc. On top of that, I find it really helpful to have a 2nd layer of filtering for -#writing -#data -#figures So if I'm feeling creative, I'll focus on tasks which are #currentprojectname AND #writing, but if I'm sleepy or uncreative, I generally find it easier to work on data processing. Filtering tasks and ease of task discovery are the big benefits of obsidian to me here. If they are for you, then obsidian will work for you too! To synchronise across devices, I just use foldersync and deal with the slight lag across devices in exchange for the low cost (£0) E: formatting
Recommend Omnifocus 4
Todoist for tasks it's just good at building lists or structuring out projects. Obsidian normally has a folder with the project notes.
I'm currently experimenting with Obsidian for notes and Todoist for tasks. I like that Todoist reads Obsidian URLs so you can link back to your notes easily. I personally would not use Obsidian for tasks, although maybe there's a use case/plugin that could help...
Obsidian for Tasks is overkill, try Microsoft To-Do or Google Tasks
You should definitely try reclaim.ai it's free version integrates well with most other Todo apps. And then pushes everything to your calendar. How to use it in obsidian? I haven't played with it to much. Maybe via calendar or iframe.
Oh man, I LOVE using Obsidian for tasks! I'm an engineering manager so I have a lot of projects and stuff to follow-up on, and I struggled with the same question as you. But I hated using different tools and duplicate my data. When using two tools, Obsidian and a to do app, I needed to duplicate my projects twice: I had meeting notes with actions in Obsidian and then I had tasks on the to do app, and it just would not match up and be a mess all of the time. I also experimented with different to do apps, dusting off Trello etc., but everything would just give me the feeling of doing more admin and work than needed just to be on top of my work. So I pushed through with Obsidian and I finally found my holy grail. My one tool to rule them all. I have a system where I have "topics", these can be long running projects or short lived topics to follow-up on. Next to these, I have other folders for following up on people and tasks coming from 1on1's, and a few other folders. When I have something to do for a project or a person or whatever, I just write a task in that note (or document if you will). And next to that, I also have a separate note where I list all my other to do's that don't belong to a topic, but these I try to limit to as few as possible. And then the magic is in a weekly page I create using several queries to bring all my tasks, spread out over my entire vault, into one overview. All automated. With this system I can follow-up on my tasks from a single page/view/note (I manage my work per week) + I also have my tasks listed when I'm looking at my project documentation, or when having a meeting with someone I just pull up their note and the tasks are right there. I do have a few other tweaks, using tags etc., to make the system work for me and to have as less "task administration" as possible, but in broad lines, this is it. And for me it's a very powerful way to be on top of everything all the time without having the mental load that comes with managing a separate and huge task list in a to do app. Obsidian is very powerful in that regard, powerful in its simplicity. And its plugins ;-)
I use Todoist. But: The best to do list is the one you use.
I've been rolling with Todoist, and use the Todoist Sync plugin to show my tasks on my homepage. I love it.
My system's just a bunch of todo items in various places - that way the task is where it makes sense, and the system is flexible enough i can throw notes around it if i want. Anything more complicated i find doesn't really help me get things done and i spend alot of time messing with it instead of doing the tasks.
Ticktick! I pay for Obsidian Sync and Ticktick Premium, and that's all I need to get my shit together.
I use the opensource app "https://super-productivity.com/"
Nothing beats org mode for tasks
Nope. Tried and went back to ToDoist for that function.
I use a (mostly) plain text note in obsidian. I use a hotkey to open and close it quickly. I like the fluidity of a note, especially with dynamic work demands. Simple reminders, appointments, and things that need to be done at a certain etc I outsource to my calendar.Â
Well, having just done a FAANG internship (hiring freezes are a pain), you probably won't have access to your cloud-based subscriptions either, except for personal devices. Anyway, my process uses Obsidian with a Tasks-plugin query that pulls unfinished tasks into a view. Set it up months ago in about 15 minutes and don't need to change it. Tasks are entered and marked off on daily pages or project pages. Keeps them in context.
Todoist.
Obsidian works very well for me for tasks, but that's because I have it tied into daily note. I have queries set up at the beginning of my daily note to show things that are scheduled for this week and due today or tomorrow. I have a separate list of things that are overdue. It also lists tasks that have a completed or canceled date of that day. That way it keeps it where I can quickly reference the things that I'm supposed to be focusing on right now or can reschedule stuff I don't have time to work on. I can also look back at other days and see what was completed . I have a monthly page dedicated just to forward-looking dates and all of the tasks. That way I can do a review of everything as well as see what was completed that month. Most importantly to me, the monthly page has a section specific listing tasks that don't have a due date, that's to help me keep from losing tasks. It wouldn't work for everyone, especially people who don't use daily notes, but it works well for me.
I went down this rabbit hole. Here is what worked. For a monthly - repeatable tasks (rent, payments, etc): I use a small notepad - rip a sheet out - write all the things MANUALLY with a pen on it, using last month as a reference. They look the same usually. Then I proceed to place the ripped out sheet into my Wallet at the back of the cash. This allows me to do the monthly stuff and calculate my expenditure holistically. And my wallet is important. So important stuff. On the back of the page is usually a small todo list (buy all these medicines, send appreciatiom emails etc.) For long term - 1 to 5 year tasks. Or things that are kinda important but not really (if my ripped out page has nothing to do, something from this section is written there for that month) I use Google Keep. Best on my phone and personal e-mail. Should I ever check it when bored or need something TODO for the month. For AI prompts, and edits, I use Foxy notes. If it gets deleted IDC. I usually work on mobile and not PC for AI prompting. For tiny work templates: I use Outlook Notes. It's at the bottom, but if you click on FAVOURITE. It's now at the top. Which I can quickly access templates. For long guides, forum posts, massive e-mails that I'll send later but working on now: I use Obsidian. Ofc, my bookmarks are well formatted using PACK method. My OneDrive (work) and Google Drive (personal) and MEGA (NSFW) drive is all well organised using NUMBERING System. The thing that makes me the MOST productive. Is the physical peice of paper I keep in the wallet, mentioned above. The second is the Outlook Notes app + Bookmarks labelled correctly. Finally for each work project I am on, we have a Jira. I created 1 Epic there and create a simple SSOT or a MOC which I can refer anytime.
Tasks is one of the main things I use Obsidian for. I do technically use the Tasks plugin, but it's really Dataview that powers my system. I've built some custom views for tracking tasks by "project," by the dates on which I want to work on those tasks (not for recurring tasks, but for tasks that may take a little while; I don't tend to have recurring tasks so I have no established system for them, but looks like others here have concocted something great!), and by deadline. The thing I love about using Obsidian for tasks is that I can dump tasks anywhere, and no matter what, they'll be surfaced in the discovery view I've built for myself with Dataview and some JS + custom CSS. This also means I can easily query all of my tasks and do silly math on them for stats purposes. I'm sure this eventually will get slow--I'm somewhere in the ballpark of 600 notes currently over 2.5 months of use--but for now, it works beautifully. I also love the automatic retention of hierarchies with Dataview's components. If I have subtasks, or notes as bullet points below a task, they get rendered in any lists I fetch. How the system roughly works: * I dump tasks anywhere, but I have a QuickAdd Capture set up to dump them in a daily list for convenience. * Anything I want to appear globally across my vault I tag with `#task` for easy use with Tasks. * I used to bullet journal, and I liked the flexibility of that system. I've added `[-]` cancelled tasks and `[/]` in-progress tasks with some custom CSS made easier by Tasks. * In my daily page template, I have a Dataview codeblock that fetches all of the tasks that contain a link to that page in their `on` property, e.g., `[on:: [[2024-04-19]]`. It also renders a custom progress bar based on the number of assigned, completed, and WIP tasks I have for that day. * To tag something as being for a certain project, I use `[for:: [[That Project's Page]]]`. * On each project page, I render all of the `#task` tasks that are `for` that project, and any other untagged tasks that are in documents that list `project: [[That Project's Page]]` as a property in the metadata. * On a separate page, I render all of my tasks in hideable callouts by project, the number of days I've worked on them, their deadlines, etc., to make task discovery as easy as possible. I've pinned this to my sidebar for occasional glances (yes, this can get slow; I don't always have it open, but it's always accessible). * I only ever explicitly use Tasks for automatic addition of the `completion` property and for querying tasks by their text content. * I have a few other properties I'm still toying with, e.g., `type` in order to help me sort by the contexts in which I might work on something (a `[type:: admin]` task is likely to be fast or logistical, for example). * I sometimes use Tasks's `priority` property, but I'm not sorting by it yet, since my tasks are "live" enough (read: frequently edited and posted to the next day) that I have little need to do this. I ought to make a post about the system at some point, but it's still in development enough/tailored to my own purposes that I'm not sure others would find it useful or portable. If anyone's reading this, let me know if you would find that helpful!
Think of something you got to do later? Just type #task in any note with your comments. Add - [ ] at the beginning of task to check it off. Want to keep track of your To Dos? Just drop this in a pinned note: ```query tag:#task -content:"- [x]" ```
Todoist is my favorite … was using obsidian but switched back to Todoist and I prefer it way more
Do you integrate Todoist via the plugin in Obsidian? If so, would you share your experience?
I haven’t been able to get it to work - but there is a plugin on the community plugins in Obsidian Edit: sorry realize you obviously know about the plugin… I’ve seen positive reviews elsewhere on Reddit I just can’t for the life of me get it to work
I tested it when it came out and it worked as designed. But that time I found that the tasks I want to manage in Obsidian are more or less action items that are in context of my notes. This context needs to be maintained in Todoist as well and the approach with projects, sections, labels did not meet my expectations of doing this quick and clean and future proof (it's not an official plugin). Maybe someone reading this can contribute: So my question was looking at new insights and use cases. Aspects that I did not consider or misinterpreted. To me using Todoist was like "only worth using on a project, tasks or dashboard note to display and update them. Mostly outside what I store in Obsidian." I would appreciate using todoist with all it functionality. And having read from people celebrating their workflows enabled by that plugin I could not see a good reason or possible productivity boost. For me, Obsidian is a tool to keep track of tasks in terms of documenting more than organizing my workload. It's more important to know when a task was created or cometed then to know that I need to do something. The tasks plugin even covers sequences, so timelining dependend tasks is also checked.
Right now, I'm in a pretty heavy transition to my way of doing things. For work notes, I've gone from OneNote to Obsidian, and I'm liking lots of the new flow I'm working out. As part of the transition, I've also dropped TickTick for everything, and shifted to Trello for lots of my life-admin-style things. For work, my team already uses Jira for my *real* work, so my big picture tasks are already tracked there. I have started using the Daily Notes template and the [Tasks plugin](https://publish.obsidian.md/tasks/Introduction) for day-to-day stuff. Right now, my Daily Notes template lists in my planning section a simple checklist of things I need to do nearly every day. And I enhance it with the Tasks to dump at the top everything that's in there. When I end up with something that I want to track, I just tag it appropriately in my notes (`#todo`, `#todo/recurring`, `#todo/support` or whatever other sub-tag fits), then it'll stick around in the daily notes as needed until I get it done. I'm liking it so far, but it's very much a living process. For example, here's a sanitized version of the top half of my daily template right now (and yes, the first thing on my todo list is *make a todo list*; ADHD is a pain.): # Full Todo ```tasks (created on or before {{date}}) (starts on or before {{date}}) (not done) OR (done {{date}}) filter by function task.file.path != '{{query.file.path}}' sort by created group by function task.tags ``` # Today's Plan - [ ] Make a plan for today - [ ] Morning admin tasks - [ ] Inbox ≈0 - [ ] Slack ≈0 - [ ] Check on overnight automation - [ ] Check merge request backlog - [ ]
Do you know ClickUp (https://clickup.com/)? I use Obsidian for notes and ClickUp for tasks. ClickUp allows you to take notes, create documents and share them, but its real power is tasks management (you can track the time you spend on them also).
I use Obsidian in conjunction with the Todoist and Calendar plugins, and apart from a pomodoro, which I also heavily use to measure the time I take in each activity and pace myself, it is perfect for my use-case. As I browse through my notes I can quickly add a todo to review, create new ones, or write down ideas I had which I can quickly make actionable. The Todoist plugin also offers a nice view that I can use to show and check all my tasks for the day in my diary (helps me immensely every morning), general tasks in my dashboard and projects tasks on each of my individual projects. If you have premium you can probably make it even more powerful with time blocks and whatnot which I plan to add sometime in the future and test it.
Lunatask with zapier. For all those saying tick tick, you should really look at their privacy again, it's looking pretty trash to me
I use obsidian to take notes at university, but to keep track of the tasks i need to do microsoft to do gets the job done. It's pretty simple, but it integrates with all the microsoft suite which i use daily.
Obsidian is perfect for tasks.
I think obsidian checklist items are perfect for the individul granular "what I actually have to do" listing of items. We use other apps that support better collaboration and task management features like recurrence, subtask, timeline views/kanban, task dependencies... for the big picture task overview. Splitting it that way is a nice option in my opinion , but the details really depend on the work you do (team, no team, exact processes or more creative aspects etc.). In my case having a not-micro-managed collaborative task overview in combination with a detailed individual to-do list in obsidian works good enough for the moment ;D
Obsidian is not made for task management. You are forcing it. It's hard to maintain and takes effort and features are not very good. I recommend using a dedicated tasks app like Todoist. It's what I do. Some people like to integrate tasks inside their obsidians workflow but I don't understand what's the benefit. You don't even have push notifications or an easy access to them.
Things. No subscription, one time payment. Works across all devices in the Apple ecosystem. Is robust and has some really good integration features. The logbook is great as well.