Capture has to be faster than the thought, or you stop capturing.
Quick add
Press Q anywhere in the app, or use Add task at the top of the sidebar (the + in the middle of the tab bar on a phone). Type one line and press Enter:
Call Sam tomorrow 3pm p1 #Work @phone
That makes a task called "Call Sam", due tomorrow at 3 PM, priority 1, in the Work project, labelled "phone". As you type, each part it understands is highlighted, and appears underneath as a chip saying what it was read as: "Tomorrow, Thu 24 Sep", "15:00", "Priority 1". If it reads something you meant as part of the name — "Plan the monday meeting" — press the × on that chip and the words go back into the name.
What it understands:
- Dates — today, tomorrow, friday, next week, this weekend, in 3 days, Oct 5, 5 October, the 15th
- Times — 3pm, 15:30, noon, at 9, and ranges like 2-4pm
- Length — for 30 min, for 2h
- Repeats — every day, every other week, every 3 months, every friday
- Priority — p1 to p4. Without one, a task is priority 4
- Project — #Work, or #Home renovation; names with spaces work. A # that matches no project stays in the name, and quick add says so
- Labels — @errand
The same line works in the Add task row at the bottom of every list, which stays open so you can add several in a row. A task added there belongs to that list's project or day unless the line says otherwise.
Other records
Quick add makes more than tasks. Pick the type above the line — task, event, habit, note, goal, project or skill — or start the line with it: /event, /habit, /note. The type is never guessed from the wording.
The add buttons on each screen open the same box, already set to that screen's type: Add habit on Habits, Add project on a goal, and so on. A project added from a goal's page goes under that goal unless your line names a different one with #.
- Event — "Dentist friday 2-3pm". Without a time it lasts all day
- Habit — "Run on mon, wed and fri", "Stretch every weekday". Every day unless you name the days. #goal links it to a goal
- Note — #folder files it, @label tags it
- Goal — "Run a half marathon by Apr 30 p2"
- Project — "Kitchen refit by Dec 1 #Home", where # is the goal it sits under
- Skill — just the name
Anything quick add does not cover — a description, a location, a category — is one click away: More options opens the full form with what you typed already filled in.
Search
Press Cmd+K — Ctrl+K away from a Mac — anywhere in the app. The same shortcut closes it again, and the Search button in the sidebar does the same thing if you would rather click.
The palette searches everything you have: tasks, goals, projects, habits, skills and notes. Type at least two characters and results group by type. Arrow keys move between them, Enter opens the highlighted one, Escape closes it.
It is the fastest route to any record, and usually faster than navigating to the list it lives on.
Getting around
The sidebar is the map. Fixed views at the top — Unsorted, Today, Upcoming, All tasks — then your goals with their projects nested underneath, then habits, skills and notes, then the calendar, timer, connections and analytics.
The goal tree carries live counts, so you can see where the work has piled up without opening anything.
You can collapse the sidebar to a narrow rail when you want the screen back. Your choice is remembered.
Next
- The Today screen — what you will be adding to
- Getting started — if you have just signed up