Todoist is a flexible tool with a lot of more or less hidden features. Here is a list of Todoist tips, possibly with a bunch of things you didn’t know was possible in Todoist.
- Todoist is the app that much of the team here at CIG uses. It has a fairly minimalist.
- Trying to focus on more than one thing at a time reduces your productivity by as much as 40%. That’s the cognitive equivalent of pulling an all-nighter. The average desk job employee loses 2.1 hours a day to distractions and interruptions. That adds up to over a full day of work every week.
Todoist tips no 1: Group your tasks with a heading
The easiest way to do that with Todoist is via the 2-way integration with Google Calendar. When setting up the integration: Create a new calendar for just your Todoist tasks so you can toggle them on and off inside your calendar as you need. Choose to sync your entire Todoist account or create separate calendars for each of your Todoist projects. Like a long-lost cousin, they have similar traits - a to-do list, filters, tags, boards and a very similar design. However, TickTick adds a layer of habit tracking, custom themes and calendar view locked away in premium. If you want something close to Todoist, without being Todoist, this is your best bet.
Start the task name with an asterisk followed by a space. “* Meeting preparations” This will create a Todoist task without the usual circle in front of it.
Todoist tips no 2: Bookmark your list of completed tasks
Do you like to look at the list of completed tasks at the end of the day, or during your GTD weekly review? Add the link to your favorites/bookmarks in your browser. Here is the link: https://todoist.com/app?lang=en#activity%2Fnull%2Fnull%2Fitem%3Acompleted
Todoist tips no 3: Copy and paste images directly into a comment
Yes, it’s as simple as that just copy and paste a picture into a comment in Todoist.
Todoist tips no 4: Work with multiple tasks
You can select multiple tasks by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key in Windows. By using the menu at the top, you can change projects, date and priority. From the More menu, you can also duplicate, archive, delete or change labels (contexts).
Todoist tips no 5: Use emojis
Todoist supports the use of emojis in project titles, task titles, task comments, and label titles.
Supported emojis can be found here:
Todoist tips no 6: Get good at using filters
Filters in Todoist is a powerful tool that can help you to both get an overview of the big picture, as well as to laser focus on what is important right now. Read my blog post to learn more.
The ultimate guide to Todoist filters
Read More
Todoist tips no 7: Add multiple tasks by using copy and paste
What is the easiest way to add multiple tasks to Todoist? Use a text editor.
- Start by making a list in your favorite text editor. It can be Word, TextPad, Evernote, or any other application.
- Make a list with each task on a separate line. Use hard return (Enter).
- Copy the text.
- Click + Add Task in Todoist. You then get a question, “Do you want to add X tasks?”
- Answer “Yes”. (If you answer “No” the text will be pasted as a continuous text in a single task.)
Todoist tips no 8: Make a heading with a colon
Create a task in Todoist followed by a “:”. This will create a task without the usual circle in front of it, followed by a colon. This is also a great way to make a heading for a list of subtasks.
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Todoist tips no 9: Create location-based reminders
Want to be reminded of something when you arrive a work? No problem. In Todoist you can set up reminders that are triggered when you leave or when you enter a location. See https://support.todoist.com/hc/en-us/articles/205348301-Reminders for how to set this up on different platforms.
Todoist tips no 10: Use project comments
Project comments is a very useful way to provide high-level comments about a project. You’ll find the project comments icon to the right of the project name.
Todoist tips no 11: Make it easy to use a project as a template
Re-using a project is easy using the project templates function. One way to speed up this process is to add the web link to a project in the project comments of the same project. To do this, do the following:
- Open the project you want to use as a template.
- In the top-righthand corner, click on the project actions icon.
- Select “Export as a template”.
- Click on the button “Export as shareable URL”.
- Select “Copy link to clipboard” and close the dialogue box.
- Click on the project comments icon.
- Paste the link and Click “Add comment”.
Now, all you have to do to re-use this project is to click on the link in the project comments and choose which project to import into.
The above example is for the web version, for other platforms, see https://support.todoist.com/hc/en-us/articles/208821185-Import-Export
Todoist tips no 12: Format text as bold or italic
Task titles, project titles, and comments can be formatted as bold, italic, or both. The formatting is done by using asterisks (*)
- Italic: “* Text *” = Text
- Bold: “** Text **” = Text
- Italic and bold: “*** Text ***” = Text
Todoist tips no 13: Insert links
Todoist support the use of links in project titles, task titles, and task comments. To insert a link, use this format:
“http://www.dandywithlens.com/ (The worlds best blog)” = The worlds best blog
Todoist tips no 14: Use keyboard shortcuts
38 keyboard shortcuts that will improve productivity in Todoist and Evernote
Read More
Todoist tips no 15: Insert code in comments
If you need to insert code in the comments text, this is the way to do it:
- Inline code: ‘Insert code’
- Code block: ”’Insert code”’
Related
Todoist is one of the world’s most popular to-do list applications and flooded with powerful features for managing your tasks but also your sanity.
You've probably experience overdue tasks at least a couple of times.
The truth is that we all usually over-estimate what we can do in a day, assigning too many tasks in our daily to-do list and getting overwhelmed as an outcome. This can lead us to feel guilty, anxious and, consequently, uninspired.
This is where Todoist built-in Smart Schedule comes in handy.
What is Todoist Smart Schedule?
Todoist Smart Schedule feature uses predictive modelling to help you plan your tasks in advance. Pretty smart huh!?
The scheduling function learns from your personal productive habits and considering, at the same time, the behaviour of all Todoist users, in order to predict the best time to schedule your own tasks.
According to the official article on the Doist blog, Smart Schedule takes into account the following task and life attributes:
Your Habits
Task Urgency
Workdays vs. Weekends
Upcoming Tasks
Your Daily and Weekly Goals
And more…
Focus To Do Vs Todoist
How it SMART SCHEDULE works
rescheduling multiple tasks
In order to schedule (or reschedule) multiple tasks at once, you just have to select them CTRL (Windows) or CMD (macOS) + SHIFT and click Schedule in the menu at the top.
Then click Smart Schedule and see the suggested due dates and then click Update. You can also edit the suggested due date for each task if it doesn't suit your needs.
Rescheduling a single task
The process to reschedule a single task is even easier.
Just go over your task, click on the date field, then from the drop down menu click the suggested date shortcut and it will be automatically saved.
when and why to use it
As you can see Todoist Smart Schedule is very easy to use and you can also customize it according to your own need.
It can be useful to easily reschedule overdue tasks or simply when unexpected circumstances would bring you away from your work (think an unexpecting meeting, for example, or even a job trip) as well as to prepare yourself to leave for vacation, you could reschedule in bulk a bunch of tasks for when you’ll be back to work.
Let’s also not forget those days when you wake up and you feel like you just can’t do it! Whether postponing your work is not often a suggested option, there are some exceptions when it can be actually recommended in order to clear your mind and regain focus.
Setting a realistic schedule for your tasks can be a tricky thing. Using a tool like Smart Schedule can help you to optimize your time planning the day and week to come.
Additional Resources
Todoist’s official guide: Set due dates with Smart Schedule