How to Create a Task List Template in Zenkit

Here at Zenkit, we sure love a good list. Task list, to-do list, checklist, you name it, we can’t get enough. With our list view combined with the task-list add-on, it makes a great Wunderlist alternative for Wunderlist users looking for a new app come May!

So far, we’ve given you tips on how to create a task list, discussed the benefits of both paper and online solutions, and suggested methods and techniques that could be used alongside your list to give you that extra pep in your productivity. And now, we’ll show you how you can create a task list template.

But first, a quick refresher…

Task List Best Practices

• Think quality, not quantity—remember, a long list doesn’t equal a good list. Keeping tasks to a minimum means you set yourself a realistic and achievable goal.
• Prioritizing tasks maximizes your task list’s productivity value.
• Set clear instructions when describing your task. Avoid being vague, as uncertainty can decrease your chances of actually completing the task. A good tip is to start your task with a verb, e.g. “read chapters 5–10.”
• Include leeway time so that interruptions are accounted for.

Methods to Try for Increased Productivity

• Getting Things Done, or GTD for short is a framework for organizing and tracking tasks. It forces you to add both context and structure to tasks so that the items on your task list are really the things you need to do.
• Time blocking is a technique designed to help us tackle the tasks on our list by scheduling certain periods of time in which to tackle specific tasks. Interruptions and distractions aren’t permitted during these time blocks.
• Eat that frog 🐸 is a method that encourages you to tackle your biggest task first thing. The idea is that once that task is out of the way, it will set the ball rolling for the rest of your tasks for the day.

The Age-Old Debate:Pen & Paper vs Online

• Paper is the most adaptive method, and there’s nothing more satisfying than crossing off a completed task on an actual list.
• Online task lists offer flexibility as they’re available on various platforms, and let’s face it, most of us are more likely to have our phones with us than a piece of paper and a pen.
• Ultimately, the decision is yours. Everyone has a different style of working and in order to optimize your productivity, different tools, methods, and techniques have to be utilized because what works for your friend or colleague may not work for you.

Why We Create Task Lists

When it comes to productivity, be it personal or professional, task lists are inevitable. Whether it’s your weapon of choice for getting organized or if it’s used alongside another method or technique, you’re bound to find yourself creating one.

But why do we do it? Why are we so quick to create task lists even though most of us don’t actually finish them? A LinkedIn study found that out of the 63% of professionals surveyed who use task lists, only 11% of them actually completed all their set tasks!

Psychologist and author, Dr David Cohen, puts our devotion to task lists down to three things: “they reduce anxiety about the chaos of life; they offer structure, and they are proof of what we’ve achieved.”

Another explanation provided is that the simple act of writing down tasks lifts a massive weight off our shoulders, and that, in itself, is reason enough.

The Zeigarnik effect theorizes why we find it so hard to forget about uncompleted tasks. Described by Russian psychiatrist and psychologist, Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik in the 1920s, it illustrates our brains’ fixation with tasks that need to be done or tasks that we’ve set out to do but hasn’t completed.

Professors E.J. Masicampo and Roy F. Baumeister of Florida State University furthered this theory in a more recent study and found that unfulfilled goals do persist in the mind. They explored the behaviours of participants who were allowed to construct plans for their unfulfilled goals prior to undertaking an unrelated reading task, as well as participants who weren’t allowed to. The former wasn’t affected by various activation and interference effects, whereas the latter group were.

In other words, what the study found was that although we cannot seem to forget about unfulfilled goals and/or uncompleted tasks, simply planning them can relieve us from the overshadowing burden of them.

So, I suppose we shouldn’t feel too bad about our unfinished task lists…🤷

How to Create a Task List Template in Zenkit

As I mentioned earlier, using a task list is inevitable when it comes to getting your life together. We all have those routine tasks that we have to do over and over again—whether it’s devising a sales pitch at work or doing your weekly errands on Saturday morning—so, why not create a template?

Zenkit’s Clone Collection feature enables you to save a task list and then duplicate it as many times over. Using the example of creating a weekly kitchen cleaning task list, here are the incredibly simple steps:

Step 1: Start a new collection

The very first step of the process is to start a new collection. Simply click on the plus icon under My Collections. Make sure you select the ‘Tasks’ option, then give your task list a name and hit ‘Create’.

Step 2: List your tasks

As the name would imply, a task list requires tasks, so the next step is to add your routine tasks.

You can rearrange the order of your tasks by simply clicking on a task and then dragging it to the preferred spot.

Step 3: Categorize

The task list feature automatically categorizes the stages into ‘To-Do’ and ‘Done’, however, you can change this to whatever you fancy by adding a new label. To do this, select a task, click on the labels under ‘Stage’, pick ‘Add label’, and write down your new label.

Make sure you apply the new label to all the tasks that require it.

Step 4: Clone Collection

Make a task list template by duplicating your list. Click on the title of your task list, then the “…” symbol on the top, right-hand corner, and select Clone Collection. You then have the option to edit/remove the ‘copy’ bit, add to the task list title, or give the task list a whole different name. Once you’ve done that, hit ‘Clone Collection’.

Asmo Published on June 6, 2018, updated on March 1, 2024 · 6 min read