A good task manager can help clear your brain of all the things you need to do, but it can be tedious and time consuming to create new tasks. But there’s a feature in Todoist and 2Do that enables you to quickly add multiple tasks using a single keyboard shortcut.
My Solutions for Adding Tasks
My solutions to reducing the time it takes to create tasks to Todoist include the following:
- I use recurring tasks for weekly, monthly and annual todo’s.
- I use an IFTTT hack to re-create triggers based on specified tasks I set a date to and completed. See this article for how to do that.
- I use the export to Todoist feature in my Safari web browser, the iOS share sheet, and other supporting applications like Feedly.
- I copy and paste a composed list of items directly into Todoist, which in turn automatically creates tasks of the pasted list. Read below to find out how it’s done.
Add Multiple Tasks in Todoist
When I found out about the feature to paste a list of items into Todoist and 2Do, I felt overjoyed by how simple and powerfully useful the feature is.
If you’ve never pasted tasks into one of these tasks managers, you’re going to smile when you first do it. Watch this video to see it in action.
Try It
If you want to try it for yourself, you can and copy and paste the list below in Todoist or 2Do. It may work in other task managers that I don’t know about.
How to Add a Multiple Tasks in Todoist
- Create a list of tasks in a text file or document.
Hit the Return key after each task. No spaces between tasks.
- Option: Add the due date and priority level to the list.
Example: Tuesday, next week; p1
- Review your list.
- Copy the list to your system clipboard
- Start a new task in Todoist, and paste your list.
A Few More Automations in Todoist
Unfortunately the Todoist or 2Do feature doesn’t create a parent and child list automatically. You still have to use the Command+Left Arrow key to indent items.
My solution for indenting sub-tasks in Todoist on the Mac is to use a BetterTouchTool trigger. I simply place my cursor inside a task field, and do a Three Finger Clickswipe Left The finger gesture triggers two hotkeys: Command+Left Arrow and then the Return key. Boom, it’s done. Go back and watch the above video to see it in action.
Sharing a Lists for Pasting
There’s not much else to explain about using paste feature, but it got me to thinking how useful it would be for content producers like myself.
For example, there are times when I read a practical how-to article that include multiple steps or recommendations that can’t be completed in a single setting. So sometimes I type out tasks based on the article, and then I create a project in Todoist for completing those tasks at some future date.
Using the copy and paste feature makes it easier to create the list of tasks. But wouldn’t it be cool if content developers like myself created such lists and added them at the end of their articles, saving readers time in creating such lists? I start including task manager lists to appropriate articles on my site.
Though Todoist allows for exporting projects as templates, the ability to copy and paste are more user friendly in my view.
Loading ...Your Turn
If you’ve used the copy and paste feature before or if you’re trying it for the first time, let me know what you think of it. Does it work in another task manager you use?
