Task auto-promotion is really the feature I use the most. I assign a task to myself, choose a due date in the future, move the task to Later, and the task comes back to me automatically on the due date.
However, I am trying more and more to choose the « right » future due date. That due date has to be the date on which I’ll be able to act.
Here is an example: you assign yourself on the task representing a client you just emailed, and choose the due date in 2 weeks. When the task comes back to you, you think to yourself « 2 weeks is not enough, let’s wait another week before reminding them » and push again the task by a week.
That is a lot of wasted energy! Try to choose right away the right due date on which you’ll really have to act. In that case, 3 weeks right away. If the client answers before, good. Otherwise, no energy wasted.
When I first started using Asana I got burnt out a lot looking at my lengthy task list.
When Asana introduced Start Dates that helped me a TON. Now I just sent the start and end date, and move the task to “later” since I know it will pop-up at the time I set to start working on the task.
I, too, struggle with an optimum way to use due dates vs follow-up dates. Asana doesn’t seem to have a convenient, friction-free way to get this level of granularity, so I end up with tasks where the “due” date is really just a “follow-up” date, and after follow-up, I change the due date back again. It works, but I feel this is an area where Asana could be smarter to help my flow.
To be clear, the problem (truly, it’s a minor problem) is that my Upcoming list is a mix of tasks that could be worked on now and tasks that need a follow-up on a specific day in the future.
I checked again a while back and it did work on start date, even though at first it did not. But anyway; there is a good chance it is going away with the new My Tasks view anyway
Auto promotion of Start dates is paid only, I think, not Due dates (free). So it means both fields can’t be used for their intended purpose by a free user.
Also, while we’re on the topic of auto-population of tasks: I don’t love that all recurring events re-appear first in “recently assigned” instead of going directly to Later as they used to. I don’t believe there’s a way for free users to have that happen automatically.
It just feels like Asana is pushing long-term free-users away without an option to pay for the service and get what we need again. And the interface keeps changing in ways that make it less fluid to use. I’ve stuck with Asana since 2013 and it’s been a core asset to my career the whole time. I’m worried that if it shifts too far away from my needs, I’ll have to search out a lesser competitor.
Start dates are only available in paid plans so you can’t have rules about them in the free plan. Feel free to vote for that feature here (for paid version at least):
Asana has already committed to improving this soon in numerous posts in the Forum over the last days/weeks.
The My Tasks update is an example of the opposite–Asana maintaining the functionality previously available, albeit I was not a fan of doing so with fast follows instead of just waiting and avoiding frustration like yours. I can’t think of many examples at all of them pushing features to paid.
However, the feature seta of the various paid tiers have broadened substantially. For individuals, Premium is more compelling now than earlier iterations of Premium vs. Basic, and for organizations, the same is true for the current Business over earlier versions Business vs. Premium.
I voted for the suggested feature. However, I’m currently unlikely to become a paid user. (both because of the two user minimum AND the reasons I will share below)
The changes to the core UI have been pretty disruptive. It’s harder to click and drag, screen real estate is less well-used. Everything is a lot more buggy than it was in the past. They’re not pushing me away by moving things to paid, as you suggest. They’re pushing me away by the interface degradation. These extra annoyances of how their scheduling rules work are just the icing on the cake.
Asana 1.0 and 2.0 (first version I used and second version I used) were essentially a combination of Trello data fields and the Ryder method of journaling (essentially allowing you to do a digital GTD every day). Now what I will call 3.0 seems to have totally re-created the UI and it makes all of the things I want to do harder.
I didn’t come here to argue with you, but I will defend my position in greater and greater detail if you like. I have hours and hours and hours on this system. It’s the lifeblood of my professional career. My experience now is worse than it was in the past and I’m considering leaving. That’s not because I’m ignorant some forum posts or “don’t get it.”
I think we actually share many similar views (and I hadn’t realized we were arguing!) I too have used Asana for everything professional–and also personal–and consider it central for me. And I’ve actually been doing so even longer than your long run. I miss a lot of things (typing a colon to toggle task/section was pretty sweet).
My post didn’t challenge any one of your positions which, of course, you’re entitled to. I only addressed the factual ones about start dates, related upcoming Asana promise for a feature you want, and suggesting Asana wasn’t pushing paid features, nothing more. If your reaction was to my “it’s more compelling to pay as an individual for Premium vs Basic,” I meant that only generally. I also meant to say it’s more compelling now than before, so I’ve edited that.
I deleted all the standard “Today” - “Upcoming” - “Later” sections from the List view and instead just sort my list by Due date which gives me the same result. Anything that does not have a due date appears down the bottom of the list in a section called “No Due Date”.
Generally I prefer to use the new week view of the calendar where I can sort items due on any day and monitor those which are “Unscheduled” (no due date).
However, I am trying more and more to choose the « right » future due date. That due date has to be the date on which I’ll be able to act.
Here is an example: you assign yourself on the task representing a client you just emailed, and choose the due date in 2 weeks. When the task comes back to you, you think to yourself « 2 weeks is not enough, let’s wait another week before reminding them » and push again the task by a week.
That is a lot of wasted energy! Try to choose right away the right due date on which you’ll really have to act. In that case, 3 weeks right away. If the client answers before, good. Otherwise, no energy wasted.
