How I Use Asana AI to Keep My Workspace Clean

[Rashad_Issa]

Your digital footprint matters

Are you a person who takes notes with a pen and paper? Or do you know someone who does? Have you ever thought about what happens when the notepad has no more pages?
Do you still have your notepads from a few years back? If your notepads are not diaries, I hope your answer is: no, I recycle them.

If you cannot relate to pen and paper at all, then think about your work environment. Do you have a clear desk or is it messy? I always work from a clear desk. Clear desk, clear mind is what I believe in.

I have the same mindset for my work in Asana. Having too many projects / portfolios / Goals / Tasks floating around is like working from a very messy desk.

Do you remember what happened to that project that was abandoned last year? Or that portfolio that no longer got attention after its owner left the company? You are not alone. This is the nature of business. But that does not mean that you can’t implement best practices to get that ‘clear Asana desk policy’ in place.

Let us start with the definition of a clear Asana desk policy:
For me, that means that my Asana desk space:

• Tasks are not overdue for more than a set period of time (usually 4 weeks) before they get updated
• Inbox is clear of any incoming notifications
• Has only projects that are active
• Portfolios that are complete or deferred are closed out, not abandoned
• My sidebar has a few favourited projects/portfolios of my daily go-to spaces

Sounds easy, right? Well, not really. Getting the setup is easy to do, maintaining it is a different story. We all get added to tasks, projects, portfolios. Sometimes those get abandoned, deferred, completed—but all of them are still available on our ‘Asana desk’. Too much clutter can be distracting and I also believe in minimizing my digital footprint (but I won’t get into that over here). So, can you declutter?

Let us get into some simple things you can do:

• Un-assign old tasks that are no longer needed
• Update due dates
• Clear out your inbox
• Archive a project / portfolio
• Build a habit

Many of them can be done with the help of Asana AI, some can’t. Let us dive in.

Old tasks that are open, with a due date of several months or years ago. Projects change throughout their lifecycle and sometimes, tasks assigned to people are no longer required. What do you do with such tasks? I personally make sure such tasks have their assignees removed, due date removed, and are marked complete. Usually, that happens as I provide a project status update to all stakeholders. This would capture the reason why those tasks are no longer needed.

Archive (or delete) old projects. Projects that are historic and have not been in use should be archived. Only delete a project if it aligns with your company’s record retention policy. BUT, we have all created at some point a project to capture a few ideas to explore later. If that was the case and you never used the project again, delete it.

Involve your team with the decluttering. Make sure that your team can do the same for their projects, or for the projects that are open with your Asana team. This helps get them into the mindset.

You can work with your new assistant to get your clear Asana desk implemented. And it is not difficult. I will share some prompts that worked for me and some that did not.

What are my upcoming priorities this week?
[Enter task name] change the due date to next (day/ month/etc)
Show me all the tasks that are overdue for @colleague / team member name. If you have authority to do so, change their due date for the current period — Or — more preferred option — ask them to do the same and unassign themselves or mark them complete.
Create a recurring task for me to declutter my Asana space. Make it recurring every XX months.

Here is what I learnt from doing this exercise:
You will only see tasks / projects you have access to.
Asana AI will always show you results in the form of a report — what I mean is that it will attempt at categorizing what you requested. It won’t show you a clear cut list view like you would do in a manual advanced search.

Prompts that did not work
Show me a list of project names that are currently active (not complete and not archived) in the [insert team name].
Show me projects that are marked complete in portfolio X
Have you used any prompts to help you declutter? Share them below and spread the love.
Which portfolio do projects that have the word (xxx) in their name sit in?
Archive project X.
AI won’t be able to archive the project for you, but it will take you to the project and guide you how to archive it.

All in all, the ultimate goal is not to have abandoned tasks/projects/portfolios. While Asana AI cannot do that for you behind the scenes, it can help you stay up to speed with the work that matters. This way, you can close out any work that has concluded or is no longer required. And remember: this is not a solo process. Engage and involve your team with the same exercise.

Have you had any prompts that were useful? Share the love in a comment below.

[Vanessa_N]

Thanks for sharing, @Rashad_Issa!

These are such great tips! Keeping things tidy in Asana can feel like a chore at first, but the clarity it brings is totally worth it.

Plus, the longer we postpone this kind of cleanup, the messier it gets. It’s a snowball effect… (speaking from experience here )

And yes to AI! It’s like having a personal assistant to handle a lot of the boring bits. I totally recommend leaning on it as much as possible!

I usually keep my overdue tasks at the very top of my list so they bug me enough to take action. When I see them, I either:
a) Tackle it immediately,
b) Move the due date,
c) Complete it (or, in rare cases, delete it) if it’s no longer needed.

[Rashad_Issa]

Thanks @Vanessa_N glad you found it useful. I totally agree, keeping yoru workspace untidy snowballs and become a huge burden with time. Tackle it promptly is always the best approach.

[Arthur_BEGOU]

Great analogy, @Rashad_Issa !
Love the idea of a “clear Asana desk” & definitely borrowing some of those prompts!

[Rashad_Issa]

Thanks @Arthur_BEGOU