Move Tasks from Backlog

This guide shows you how to capture work in a backlog and then move it into delivery. At the end a task that started as an uncommitted item sits in a subsection.

Prerequisites

• You have a workspace open. See About Workspaces.
• You know that a task has one model and three placements. See About Tasks and Backlogs.
• If you want to commit work to a deliverable, that deliverable already exists. See Set Up a Project.

Capture work

If the work is not tied to a project yet, add it to the master backlog. The master backlog is the workspace list of general tasks.

If the work belongs to a project but not yet to a deliverable, add it to that project's backlog.

Every backlog has Main and Queue. Put work you are still shaping in Main. Put work you intend to pull soon in Queue. Add a custom folder if you need another group.

Give the task a title. You can add notes. You can set a priority. You can assign a person. Priority is optional.

Place from the master backlog

Open the master backlog. Choose a task. Place it onto a project, onto a deliverable, or onto a subsection.

• Place onto a project when the work now has a home, but is not committed.
• Place onto a subsection when you already know the chunk of the graph.

The task does not copy. It moves.

Commit from a project backlog

Open the project. Open its backlog. Then open a deliverable.

The deliverable shows the project backlog beside the subsection tasks. Move a backlog task into the subsection that should own it.

That move commits the task. It is now in-flight work. Priority clears on this move. Other moves keep priority.

You can also create a task directly in a subsection. Use the backlog path when you want to capture first and commit later.

Keep the closer valid

You can move a task into the closer. You can add extra delivery tasks there.

You cannot take the last task out of the closer. If a move or a delete would empty the closer, the service refuses.

Check the result

Open the subsection. The task should be there. Set it to doing when you start it. Set it to done when it is complete.

If the task now has an owner, that person can get a notification. If a task of yours moved, you can get a notification.

Search can find the task in the active workspace. Activity records the move.

Next steps

• Shape the graph around these tasks in Plan Work with Subsections.
• Put dates on the work in Plan Your Week.
• Pull personal execution in Run Your Day with Strikes.