Calendar events not tied to tasks?

Hello!

Apologies if there is already a thread for this, but we are looking for a solution to add high level events and deadlines to our calendar without them being associated with tasks. We used to use Basecamp and really enjoyed this feature (product launch date, conferences, etc).

Essentially, we want to communicate when folks are out of the office (date ranges), when we have conferences that last multiple days etc. - does anyone have a solution?

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I would love to see this, too. A workaround is to make a project called “Calendar Add-Ons” or something like that, and put the miscellaneous items as tasks there.

If you want to create a calendar from only certain projects (vs. the team calendar, which may list lots of obscure items), you can do an Advanced Search that only includes your “Calendar Add-Ons” project and the other relevant projects. When the search executes it will default to a List View of the results, but you can flip to the Calendar View and you’ll have your own custom calendar. Then favorite the search (click the star to the left of the search name) and rename it (click the carat to the right of the search name), and you’ll have the equivalent of a team or project calendar that only includes certain items.

Asana is starting to consider how to implement start dates now, and I hope one application will be the ability to see ranges as lines or blocks on calendar views.

10 Likes

I’d like to see this pop-up in the product feedback category as a request. As a heavily events-based organization, calendar dates are important for us. I’d like to reduce the flipping between Asana calendars and our Outlook calendars if possible.

My workaround for now, is simply creating a section titled “Important Dates” and naming each task with the time frame of the event. If it’s a multi-day event, I create one for the beginning and one for the end.

It’s not an ideal solution but it’s a workaround for the time being.

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I too need to add calendar events that are not tasks. Its stressing me out to receive notifications for tasks that are due or overdue that are just calendared events. Each week I need to share events that are day long or weeklong “events,” the same as a day off or a holiday would be added to any other calendar. For example, there is a one day staff photoshoot in one of our offices, staff need to know its happening. But no one has to do anything. Or another is to know who is taking over our instagram account that week. Not a task, just critical information for the team that impacts the team’s work. Thanks-m

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Do you assign these events to yourself? If you are, try not assigning them to anyone so that you do not get notifications that they are due or overdue.

You can also add a suggestion that you feel strongly about to the product feedback category where it can be voted on.

1 Like

Hi Maggie!

I echo Crystal’s advice to not assign the Tasks you wish to add to the Calendar, to yourself. Additionally, I recommend that your remove yourself as a collaborator to that Task to ensure that you do not receive any updates to those Tasks if you do not wish to.

If, on the other hand, you have an event such as the “one day staff photoshoot”, rather than assigning the task to anyone, alert your colleagues to it by adding them as collaborators to the Task (Asana tasks - understanding the basics | Product guide • Asana Product Guide). Doing so will add it to their inbox & stir the necessary visibility to this event, in lieu of assigning it to one person.

The day before such an event, it may make additional sense to post a Conversation (Getting Started with the Asana Android App | Product guide • Asana Product Guide) for the Team to serve as a reminder for them as well.

Hope this helps!

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totally, seems obvious now. works perfect

Any update on this Asana?

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Hey, I have also been struggling with calendar events on Asana. I tried some of the suggestions on this thread, for example, not assigning the task to anyone. But when I remove the assignment, I can no longer see the event on the calendar. I’ve tried looking at my individual calendar as well as the organizational calendar. The funny thing is that while “events” assigned to me show up on my calendar, even events assigned to me won’t show up on the organizational calendar. Any suggestions on this?

1 Like

Actually, it doesn’t even seem to let me create a task if I don’t assign someone to it.