How to set up and work in cycles

A cycle is a named stretch of time with a start and an end: a fortnight, a sprint, a month. You make one from Create new (+), put tasks in it from the Cycle row on any task, and narrow the task lists you already use to it. It cuts across departments and projects, which is what makes it different from everything else in What are projects and campaigns?.

Before you start

Creating, editing and deleting cycles needs the Create and edit campaigns and cycles permission, which admins have by default. Putting a task in a cycle needs Edit tasks, which every member has by default, and anyone can filter a list to one.

How do you create one?

From Create new (+) under the workspace monogram, choose Cycle. On a phone, it is the Create pill in the Open menu drawer.

The New cycle dialog asks for a Cycle name, a Start date and an End date. Only the name is required, and the start has to fall on or before the end. Press Create cycle to save it.

Two other places make one:

• A department with no tasks yet shows a Create button under "No tasks yet.", and its menu has Cycle. That opens the same dialog.
• The Cycle row on any task panel ends in New cycle. That asks for the name only and puts the task straight into the new cycle. Add its dates afterwards with Edit cycle, described below.

Cycles are listed by start date, so give each one its dates. A name like "Aug wk 1 to 2" also reads better in a list than "Sprint 14".

How do you put tasks in one?

From the Cycle row on the task panel, which reads "No cycle" until you pick one. In the New task dialog, use the pill reading "No cycle" next to the project pill while you create the task. See How to edit a task.

A task belongs to one cycle at a time. Putting it in a new one takes it out of the old one.

How do you filter your work to a cycle?

On Work › My tasks, press + Filter and choose Cycle, listed under "The task". Pick a cycle and it appears as a chip on the filter bar, narrowing the list to that cycle.

My tasks filtered to the current cycle is a short list of what you personally committed to for the fortnight. It is the main reason most teams use cycles at all.

On a department or a project page, use the dropdown in the header that reads All cycles. On a project it narrows the List and Board tabs. The Progress card on the Overview keeps counting the whole project, so it still answers how far along the project is.

How do you change a cycle's name or dates?

Choose the cycle in a filter first. Admins then see a pencil: on the Cycle chip on My tasks, or beside the All cycles dropdown on a department or project.

The pencil opens Edit cycle, with the name, Start and End. Press Save to keep your changes or Cancel to leave it as it was.

How do you delete a cycle?

Open Edit cycle, press Delete, then press Confirm delete. The cycle goes, and its tasks stay exactly as they are, simply without a cycle.

What happens to unfinished work when a cycle ends?

It stays in the cycle it was in, so you decide where each piece goes next. Filter My tasks or the department to the cycle that has just ended. Then open each unfinished task and choose the next cycle from its Cycle row.

When is a campaign the better fit?

When the thing has a launch rather than an end date, and when it spans teams working towards one moment.

Autumn drop is a campaign. The fortnight in which three of its tasks happen to fall is a cycle.

Most workspaces end up using both, and they sit side by side without getting in each other's way. See How to set up a campaign.