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Best Practices for Time Management and Task Prioritization

Decide what to work on next, and make sure nothing important gets buried.

Atarim team Updated 7 Aug 2026 · 5 min read
Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices
Atarim tasks ordered by priority with due dates set
Before you start

Relevant for

  • Project Managers, Design Leads and Team Members.

Required knowledge

  • Familiarity with the Atarim dashboard.

Tools & resources needed

  • Access to an Atarim account.

Keeping projects on track comes down to two questions: what phase is the work in, and what should someone pick up next. Project stages answer the first, the Priority board view answers the second, and a weekly review keeps both honest.

One view that answers “what do we do next?”

Keeping projects on track comes down to two questions: what phase is the work in, and what should someone pick up next. Project stages answer the first, the Priority board view answers the second, and a weekly review keeps both honest.

1. Organise Work with Project Stages

Stages break a project into phases, so it’s clear what’s required before the work moves on.

Instructions:

  • From the project page, set up the stages your work actually runs through — Planning, Design, QA and Final Audit, for example.
  • Create tasks with their stage in mind, so people know what has to happen first. Everyone can see which phase the project is in.
    • Stage deadlines on the project
    Creating a project stage with a due date
    Creating a stage
    Review stages weekly to see whether work is flowing or piling up
    A stage that never empties is a bottleneck, and it’s usually a resourcing problem rather than a task problem. Learn More About Project Stages
    Stage changes don’t notify anyone
    Moving a project into a new stage sends nothing. If the team or client needs to know, tell them directly.

    2. Prioritise with the Priority Board View

    The board’s Priority view groups tasks by urgency, so the queue is visible rather than something you hold in your head.

    Task Status & Priority is a paid feature
    Setting a task’s status and priority is available on paid plans only. Where your plan doesn’t include it, the control is locked and names the minimum plan required to unlock it.
    PriorityUse it for
    CriticalBlocking work, or anything client-facing that’s broken now.
    HighDue soon, or holding up someone else.
    MediumPlanned work with room in the schedule.
    LowWorth doing, but nothing breaks if it waits.

    The board only reflects reality if priorities are actually set, so this view is only as good as the triage behind it.

    Instructions:

  • Open the board and switch to the Priority view.
  • Set each task’s priority so the columns reflect reality.
  • Work down from Critical.
    • Tasks grouped by priority in the board view
    The Priority board view
    Critical tasks surfaced at the top of the queue
    Working down from Critical
    Use this view during stand-ups
    Having the queue on screen settles “what should I pick up” in seconds, and it surfaces disagreements about priority while they’re still cheap to resolve.
    Keep Critical genuinely rare
    If a third of the board is Critical, the label has stopped meaning anything and people fall back to picking whatever’s nearest — which is the situation prioritisation was meant to prevent.
    Note
    You can change a task’s priority from the task itself as well as by dragging it between columns. On a busy board, opening the task and setting the value is often quicker. Explore Kanban Boards

    3. Break Large Tasks Down

    A task that never moves is usually too big rather than blocked.

    Instructions:

  • Use the task description or comments to lay out the smaller steps.
  • Assign those steps to people, or give them their own deadlines.
  • Update the task’s status and notes as each step lands.
    • Split anything that would sit in the same column for more than a few days
    A task stuck at “in progress” for a week tells you nothing about how far along it is — three smaller tasks tell you exactly. Discover How To Manage Tasks

    4. Set Due Dates That Mean Something

  • Set a due date on tasks that genuinely have one.
  • Combine due dates with priority so both urgency and deadline are visible.
  • Filter by assignee or priority to see one person’s queue.
    • Don’t put a due date on everything
    Dates on tasks that don’t need them train people to ignore dates generally, and then the real deadlines get missed too. Learn More About Due Dates And Prioritisation

    5. Automate the Routine Parts

  • Open Workflows from the dashboard.
  • Configure a trigger, such as a status change or a new task.
  • Choose the action — a notification, or something in a connected tool.
  • Test it with a real task before relying on it.
    • Setting up a workflow
    Audit your workflows periodically
    Automations built around a process you’ve since changed quietly keep firing, and stale notifications are how a useful channel becomes one people mute. Explore Workflows

    6. Run a Weekly Review

  • Schedule a short session to look at completed work and what’s pending.
  • Re-prioritise anything whose urgency has changed.
  • Adjust stages and deadlines to match reality.
    • Fifteen minutes weekly is enough
    And it’s what keeps the board trustworthy. A board people don’t trust gets ignored, and then priority exists only in whoever’s head is loudest that day.

    FAQs

    How do I change a task’s priority?

    Drag it between columns in the Priority board view, or open the task and set the value directly.

    What are the priority levels?

    Low, Medium, High and Critical.

    How do I optimise project stages?

    Review them regularly and adjust to match how your team actually works. Stages that don’t reflect reality stop being useful.

    Will the team be notified when I change a stage?

    No. Stages are for visibility — tell people directly when something meaningful changes.

    Should every task have a due date?

    No. Dates on tasks that don’t need them make people ignore dates generally.

    How do I see one person’s workload?

    Filter the board by assignee, optionally combined with priority.

    Common issues

    • Everything is marked Critical — re-triage. If most things are critical, nothing is, and people stop using the view.
    • Work piles up at one stage — that’s a bottleneck. Look at resourcing rather than the tasks themselves.
    • A dragged task didn’t move — open the task and set its priority directly instead.
    • Nobody knows what to pick up — make sure every task has a priority and an owner.
    • Deadlines keep slipping — tasks are probably too large. Break them into smaller pieces so progress is visible earlier.
    • A workflow isn’t firing — check the trigger conditions still match how you work.

    Conclusion

    Prioritisation works when the board reflects reality: stages that match how work actually flows, priorities that are used sparingly enough to mean something, and tasks small enough that progress is visible.

    The weekly review is what holds it together. Without it, the board drifts from the truth and people go back to deciding priority in their heads. Discover How To Handle Backlogs And Bottlenecks

    Tips & best practices

    • Keep the Priority view current — it’s only useful if it’s accurate.
    • Reserve Critical for work that genuinely blocks something.
    • Check for bottlenecks if tasks aren’t moving through stages.
    • Break large tasks into smaller ones so progress shows earlier.
    • Use due dates selectively rather than by default.
    • Audit workflows so automations match your current process.

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