When you’re working through any type of project,
whether it’s producing an event or designing a website,
it often helps to break your work into tasks.
Or as we like to call them here at Basecamp, "To-dos."
In this video, I’m gonna do a deep dive into the Basecamp
"To-Do" tool to show you how it works,
and some features you might not know about
that will make working with "to-dos" even easier.
Let’s get started.
The first step in working with "to-dos"
is to create a "to-do" list.
So instead of individual tasks,
you’ll wanna think about the overarching list
that those tasks are a part of.
You’ll click into the "to-do" tool
and give your list a name.
If you wanna provide any additional details, links,
or attachments related to your list, you can do that here.
You’ll click "Add this List"
and then you can start adding "to-dos."
With each "to-do" item,
you can simply add it to the list
or you can give it additional details,
including assigning it to someone who’s on the project,
indicating who should get a notification
when the task is completed, and setting a deadline.
You can also add additional details in this notes section.
And when you do, you’ll see a small gray icon,
letting you know that there are notes included on that task.
Mousing over that area will pop up a preview of those notes.
Now two things to know when you’re assigning "to-dos."
First, when "to-dos" are given a deadline,
and assigned to someone,
those tasks will appear on their schedule.
They’ll also get a notification
reminding them the day before the task is due.
And if the task hasn’t been completed
by 9:00 AM on the due date,
they’ll get another notification then too.
The other thing to know is that you can assign a task
to multiple people.
It will show up on each of their schedules,
just like if you were assigning it to just one person.
But the "to-do" can only be checked off one time.
That works great if there’s one shared task
that multiple people are working on.
When it’s done for one person, it’s done for everybody.
But if you’re trying to create task
that each person needs to complete separately,
you’ll wanna make individual tasks for those.
We have some examples and suggestions in our help guides.
And you can find those at the question mark
at the bottom right corner of your screen,
and just type in "to-do."
Now, when you’re getting started with any project,
my suggestion is to do a brain dump of all the to-dos
that need to get done.
Get it out of your head and into Basecamp.
And not to worry if you haven’t figured out all the details
as you’re working through your to-do list.
You can always add them in, or change them later.
If you hover to the right of a "to-do" item,
and click "Assign and Schedule",
that will open up the details
and you can make changes right there.
You can easily add multiple "to-do" lists on a project,
each with its own tasks underneath the heading.
And nothing is permanent at this point.
You can easily drag and drop tasks from one list to another.
You can also rearrange the order of your list
with a simple drag and drop.
As you start to organize your "to-dos",
you might want to break down a list even further
and create a sort of sub-list.
We call this "grouping to-dos".
And you can do that that by holding down the Command
or Control key,
selecting the items you wanna group together
with the three lines on the left,
and selecting "Group Them".
From there, you can name your group and give it a color.
You can also create "to-do" groups when you start a new list
and there are a couple ways to do that.
When you’re viewing an individual "to-do" list,
you can use the three dot menu at the top right,
and select "Add a group".
From the list view,
you can do the same thing by clicking on the three lines
to the left of the list name.
From either area, you’ll be able to name your group,
give it a color,
and then add "to-do" items under that group.
It’s also easy to drag and drop "to-dos"
from one group to another group.
Now, "to-do" groups can be used for all sorts of things,
like assigning priority levels to tasks,
grouping tasks together by department,
or even indicating the status of tasks.
There’s not one right way to do this.
So experiment with what works best for how you like to work.
Now at the top of each "to-do" list,
you’ll see the number of items in the list
as well as the number of tasks that have been completed.
At the top of the page,
you’ll also see the number of items that have been completed
across all your lists.
Both areas show a small pie chart,
to give you a sense of how things are progressing.
Now, you have a couple of different view options
with your "to-do" page.
I prefer to see my "to-dos" in this list view.
But you can change to the card view if you prefer.
In the card view, you can add colors to each list
and also rearrange the cards in any order that you like.
From the card view, one click will open up the "to-do" list.
One of the things I love about Basecamp
is that it keeps all communication in one place
and this is especially true when it comes to "to-dos".
When you click on a task, it opens up that individual item
and any discussion about that "to-do"
can happen right there.
Just like in other areas of Basecamp,
you can add mention someone to make sure they get notified.
You can also add any links or attachments.
All the back and forth on that one "to-do"
stays with the "to-do."
And Basecamp even records when something
has been checked off, or a task has been reopened,
so you always have the full detail.
You can also see the number of comments on the "to-do"
with the indicator just to the right of the item.
Now I do have a few tips to make working
with "to-dos" even easier.
And the first is bulk assignments.
When you have several "to-dos"
that you wanna assign to the same person,
there’s a really easy way to do it
so you’re not having to assign each task one at a time.
Just hold down the Control or Command key,
select the "to-dos" that you wanna assign
with the three lines on the left,
and go to "Assign to-dos."
From there, you can select the person’s name
and assign them all those tasks at one time.
It’s sometimes helpful to be alerted when a "to-do"
has been added to a list.
If you wanna receive that notification,
with a "to-do" list open, go to the three dot menu,
and select "Notify me when to-dos are added to this list."
With this setting on,
you’ll get alerted when a task is added to the list,
even if it’s assigned to someone else
or assigned to no one at all.
Now, if you have "to-do" items that are recurring,
let’s say something’s due the first of each month,
or every Wednesday.
You can have that "to-do" automatically added
to your list, each and every time.
When you select a due date, go to the repeat dropdown
and choose their frequency for the task’s deadline.
There’s some pre-populated options
but you can customize their frequency even further
with the weekly or monthly custom options.
You can also choose when the recurring "to-dos" will stop.
The circular arrows indicate that the task is repeating
and when a repeating task is checked off the list,
the "to-do" is refreshed
and the next due date is automatically shown.
And my last tip is actually a "to-do" list game changer.
If you’re working with the same types of tasks
over and over again,
you don’t have to reinvent the wheel
and make a new list from scratch each and every time.
Instead, you can create a "to-do" template,
and quickly start your new list from that template.
To make the template, you’ll click "New list",
and then go to "Use a to-do list template."
You’ll create a new template and give it a name.
You’ll add "to-dos" just like you would
directly in your project.
And when you’re ready to make a new list in a project
from the template, you’ll go to "New list,"
"Use a to-do list template",
and select the template you wanna use.
Basecamp will spin up a new list based on your template.
One thing to note here is that your new "to-do" list
will be named after the template.
But you can easily rename it
with the three dot menu at the top right.
"To-do" list templates work great for things
that consistently follow the same steps.
Like publishing a blog post, or a podcast episode.
Or even tasks that need to be completed
each time you onboard a new employee, or a new client.
You can always edit the "to-do" template if anything changes
by simply going to "Use a to-do list template",
and then "Manage to-do list templates."
Any changes you make will take effect
the next time you spin up a list from that template.
Okay, you’re ready to go.
Brain dump those "to-dos", set some deadlines,
assign some tasks.
You got this!