For a while, I had a love-hate kind of relationship with Asana! My first thought was, I have my notebooks and planners, why can’t I just use those?

Then my next thought was, “ok it seems cool but kinda overwhelming”. My dad was the first one to introduce this task organizer to me a couple of years ago. When I started working for my mom and him I found myself overwhelmed with the colors and keeping my tasks organized between them both as well as my own tasks. My dad and I were the ones that primarily used it and we both didn’t recognize the full capacity of how to use this platform, until now. 

Starting at the beginning of the year I decided to create a separate Asana for just my Squarespace website design business to keep things separated and organized. I signed up for a free account and let me tell you, the free account has just about everything you need if you are using the task management system in your small businesses. My dad uses the paid version so we have access to some more features, but if you are just getting started with Asana and only have one to two people in your business the free version is great! 

During this time with you, I want to break down how I have organized my Asana to have maximum efficiency in using it in my small business and some tips or tricks I’ve learned in the past two years of using this platform. 

Check Your Task List At The Beginning And End Of Day

One of my first tips or tricks is to check your task list first thing in the morning and at the end of your workday. Recently my dad asked me, 

“ How do you keep track of your Asana list throughout the day ?” 

The first thing I try to do in the morning when I open my computer is I open my Asana desktop app and my Gmail on chrome. I created that habit a while back when I was at a corporate job and I did that by sticky notes! I stuck a note to my computer at the end of the day that said, 

“open your slack and email”

Yep, I’m old school like that and used a sticky note, but guess what, it worked! And the habit still carries over to my workday today. I also kept the habit of keeping it open all day so at the end of the day I check my list and make sure that I can get everything done. Maybe I have a couple of appointments the next day, I may not want to have so many tasks on my day so I move them around or complete them before I leave. Another reason I like to check my task list at the end of the day is that sometimes I add it to my Full Focus Planer if the task isn’t recurring and I want to get it done the next day. I use a digital and physical planner because I like to write a lot of my tasks. I also use my physical planner for things like my house tasks or personal tasks. I use this in lieu of a sticky note, anytime I have an idea or thought that I want to remember, I write it in my planner. 

Are you a color-coded organizer? 

Because I definitely am! I love to color-code everything and keep things in separate files to find things easier, some people look at my organization as too much but I think it is just enough! That is probably one of my favorite features of Asana. Being able to color code my different projects makes me happy.

When I open up my Asana for the day I go straight to ‘my tasks’ and I like to have this in a weekly view, but you can have it in a list, board, or calendar view. The weekly view keeps my color-coded mind aware of the different projects that need to be completed for the day. 

Another color-coded thing you might notice on my tasks is little square boxes with a different color inside, those are tags. My tags are ways for me to separate some of the color-coded tasks. For example, I have all my blogging tasks living in the blog posts project.  The blog posts project color is purple like my social marketing project. To differentiate the tasks on my weekly to-do list I keep a tag on some blog post projects, especially if they need to be written. This way the two projects stay separated! 

I know you are probably like, 

“Ok wow lots of colors here” 

But it’s how I’ve learned to differentiate the tasks for the day. I can see at a glance if I have a lot of client work that needs to get done or if my social marketing is going to take over my tasks for the day. 

How Do You Like To View Your Tasks

I touched upon this earlier, but I like to view my tasks on a weekly view. I used to view them as a month but that seemed overwhelming to me. You can also view tasks as a board view which is another great option, especially because you can change each board’s name at the top. Another way to view things is by a list view. This is where you can see the task name, due date, and project it falls under. The list view is a great way to actively go through your list from the top and start checking things off. I noticed I like to see things on a weekly view because it helps me plan out my week. Overall I suggest playing around with this feature and really seeing what it is that you like. What works for your productivity level? 

When you create a new project you can also assign how you want that project to look when you first open it. I have four project types and most of them open to a different view. For example, my social marketing opens up to a weekly preview but my blog post project opens to a board view. I’ve learned that for different projects, sometimes I need to look at things differently to receive that maximum benefit that Asana can offer. 

Keeping Clients Organized Via Boards

The biggest reason that I wanted to start separating my business Asana from the one I shared with my dad is that I wanted to start keeping track of the tasks for my clients. For this project, I chose to show a board view when you first open it. I change the name up at the top of the board to my client's name and start adding in the project tasks from there. Then when I look at my weekly task board I can see that I have client work that needs to be done and when I click that task, I can see what client it is for.

The tip I have for this project is to also keep a board that says ‘TEMPLATE’ if you are constantly doing the same task, no need to remember what the task order should be or what the tasks should say. Keep a template on a project or board, then it is simple to recreate it in the future. In the free version, you don’t have the capability to save your projects as a template, so you have to go the backyards way a bit. 

My Final Review Of Asana

I think Asana is a great tool for anyone with a small business. It helps keep you on track and shows you what tasks you need to be prioritizing for the day. Another feature that I haven’t talked about is the repeating feature. For example, I try to post reels three times a week, so once I post reels and check off the task, that task moves to the next day I want to post. It helps keep my schedule up to date and consistent without me needing to do a lot of work. I also love their app for my phone. There are plenty of times when something pops into my head and I don’t have my notebook nearby. I open up my app, click a little plus sign at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen then type in my task, assign it to the project I was thinking of, and then I’m done, super simple! 

Well folks that’s how I keep my business organized using the free version of Asana! It really has kept me accountable and on track for what I need to do for the day or week. The last piece of advice that I’ll leave you with is that you need to play around with the different features that they offer. Sometimes the features that I like may not work for you and your business which is totally fine! If you ever have questions on Asana feel free to reach out for help. 

Let me know in the comments if you have questions on anything else website-related, small business life, or social media help!