Schedule without dates?

Does anyone know if it’s possible to schedule tasks without set dates? I.E. to say, “this task will take 4 weeks” - and be able to map tasks out graphically with their interdependencies - without being tied to specific dates (so we can set the actual dates later on)?

We’re trying to build out a schedule template that can apply to multiple projects with different start dates - but can only create the individual tasks right now - leaving a huge part of the project set-up to be done later on.

Welcome :wave:
No you can’t do that. @James_Carl @Phil_Seeman any idea?

@lauren As far as I know there are only two ways to do this, an easy Excel CSV Import. Import With Dynamic Due Dates or I think @Phil_Seeman product called Flowsana. Flowsana: workflow automation for your Asana projects. Phil can elaborate further on this.

Hi @lauren,

Yes, as James mentioned, Flowsana has the capability you’re looking for - it’s called a Dynamic Duration-based Workflow. You create a template in which you set the duration (length of time) each task takes, with no actual dates entered. Then you make a new project from that template, set the overall project start date and Flowsana assigns dates to all of the project’s tasks based on those durations and the dependency structure you’ve set up. Then if you need to modify duations as the project progresses, it will automatically shift dependent tasks as appropriate. (The only thing it won’t give you is a graphical picture, since Asana’s timeline view requires actual dates for it to display.)

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I knew you guys would rock it :rocket:

Thank you everyone! We’ll check out Flowsana and see if its going to be the right solution for us!

i have been thinking about the same thing for our template projects that have the same duration timelines. we only use the free version of asana. I think instagantt would work but i havent tried it for templates yet. With instagantt you can have a column for duration in days, then if you set the dependencies then when you move the first date, all the rest move too.

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If you have the free version you may want to save a template with date and consider using our utility Sendana Date. Www.Sendanatools.com.

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Hi Clayton
I’m new to asana but having this very same issue. Did instagantt work for you? I’ve tried flowsana but I need a visiual graphic because of the amount of similar concurrent projects.
Thanks
Kals

@Kally_Wilde yes im still using instagantt and its working well for me but im not really using templated projects much.