Weekly Objectives

Set a few goals for the week, link the tasks that move them forward, and see how much time each one is getting.

Weekly objectives are the handful of things you want to get done this week, like “Ship the Q4 roadmap” or “Prepare the board meeting”. Each objective collects the tasks that move it forward, so you can see what’s planned, what’s done and whether the week has room for it.

Where to find your objectives

This week page: click This week in the left hand navigation panel, or press N. This is the main place to add, plan and review objectives.
Today: a This week’s objectives column sits beside your task list. An objective is dimmed when it has no task on that day, and hovering a task highlights the objective it belongs to. The column is hidden in narrow windows.
Right hand panel: click the purple bullseye in the right hand panel or press Shift R. Each objective shows the time spent and planned for it this week. Use the arrows next to the dates to look at another week.

Add an objective

On the This week page, click Add objective (or press A).
Type what you want to accomplish. To put it in a channel, type # and pick one.
Press Enter.

New objectives appear at the top of the list. You can also add one from the bottom of the Today column or the top of the right hand panel.

When you add an objective, Sunsama looks at the tasks you already have that week and links the ones that move it forward. A message says how many tasks were linked, with Undo if you’d rather link them yourself.

To reorder objectives, drag them up or down, on the This week page or in Today’s objectives column.

Plan tasks for an objective

Every objective card on the This week page lists its tasks. To add one:

Click Add task under the objective. An objective with no tasks yet shows Plan a task instead.
The new task goes on today, or on the first day of the week if you’re looking at a future week.

You can also link tasks you already have:

Hover a task and press R, or click the bullseye on the task, then pick an objective. Choose Unassigned to unlink it, or Turn this into an objective to make the task itself an objective.
Once a task is linked, clicking its This week label or bullseye opens the objective. Press R to link it to a different one.
Drag an objective from the right hand panel or Today’s objectives column into your task list or onto the calendar to create a task for it.

New tasks you add during the week are linked to the objective they move forward automatically. The add task card shows the suggested objective with a sparkle before you save. To turn this off, go to Settings > AI and set Weekly objective recommendations to Disabled.

A task linked to one of this week’s objectives shows a small This week label on its card.

Track your progress

On the This week page:

Each objective shows the time spent and planned for it, and each task shows its own.
The bar under the date fills as you complete objectives.
What remains this week shows how much planned time is left on your objectives and whether it fits in your calendar for the rest of the week. Objectives with nothing planned are listed under Nothing planned, each with a Plan a task button.
Progress this week shows the time you’ve spent on objectives, its share of all your tracked time, and how you’re pacing compared to last week.

Open an objective

Click an objective’s title to open it. The time spent and planned for it this week shows beside the title, and Weekly objective links to the This week page for its week. From there you can:

Change the week: click the week name next to Start to defer it by a week or a month, or move it back to this week.
Extend it: click Extend to keep it going into next week. If you change your mind, choose Remove extensions.
Set a channel: click the channel at the top left.
Work with its tasks: the objective’s tasks work like subtasks. Drag them to reorder, change a task’s date or its planned and actual time right in the row, or hover a task to unlink or delete it. Each task shows its start day, or the part of the backlog it’s in, and tasks from an integration show its icon. Click Add task (or press A) to add one.
Write notes: use the notes area for key results, context or links. Type / for formatting. Notes stay with the objective when you extend it.
Log time on a day: use the day boxes at the bottom to plan time or record time spent. This adds a task for that day.
Delete it: click … and choose Delete. Its tasks stay, but are no longer linked.

Press Esc to close it.

Finish the week

Complete an objective by clicking its checkbox, or hover it and press C.
Carry over unfinished objectives: last week’s unfinished objectives appear under Unfinished from last week at the bottom of the This week page. Click Carry over to continue one this week.

Weekly planning and weekly review walk you through these steps at the start and end of each week. See Weekly planning and review.

Keyboard shortcuts on the This week page

Hover an objective, then:

A adds a task to it. With nothing hovered, A adds an objective.
C completes it.
Q or # changes its channel.
Cmd/Ctrl Enter opens it.
Cmd/Ctrl Backspace deletes it.

Hovered tasks take the usual task shortcuts.

Filter by channel

Click Filter at the top of the This week page, or press Shift F, to show only the objectives in certain channels. The filter also applies to the objectives column on Today.

On mobile

In the iPhone and Android app, tap the menu in the tab bar and choose Objectives to see this week’s objectives and their tasks. You can check objectives off there; adding and editing them happens on the web or desktop app. To link a task, open its menu and choose Align with objective.

Narrow windows

On a narrow window, Today and This week move into the menu button at the top left, as long as the window is wide enough for your task list and the right hand panel side by side. The What remains this week and Progress this week cards are hidden on narrow windows. The right hand panel isn’t shown on the This week page, which lists the week’s objectives itself.