Organize · Tasks
A task board from note checklists, grouped by due date
In Barside, every checklist item in every note is a task. The Tasks board gathers them in one place, grouped by due date: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Next 7 days, Later and No due date. Tick one on the board and it is ticked in the note.
If your to-dos are scattered across meeting notes, project briefs and journals, you do not need a separate to-do app. Barside builds a task board from note checklists: every checklist item in every note shows up on one Tasks board, grouped by when it is due. Tick a task on the board and it is ticked in the note. Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac. Your tasks stay on your own computer.
This guide shows how the board works, how to set dates, and how to add tasks from anywhere, including from your AI.
Why a task board from note checklists works
Most tasks are born inside a note: "send the proposal" comes out of a client call, "book the room" comes out of a plan. Keeping them there has real advantages:
- Tasks keep their context. The card on the board links to the note that explains the task, so "follow up with Jon" still makes sense a month later.
- Nothing to copy. You write the checklist once, where you are thinking. The board collects it.
- One place to plan. The board answers "what is late, and what is due today?" across every workspace, in one look.
How the Tasks board works
Open Tasks in the sidebar. The board has one column per time frame:
- Overdue, which appears only when something is late.
- Today, Tomorrow and Next 7 days.
- Later, for anything further out.
- No due date, for checklist items you have not scheduled.
Each card shows a checkbox, the task's text, the note it comes from in that workspace's color, a date chip and a bell chip. The date chip says Add date, or shows the due date as Today, Tomorrow, a weekday for the coming days, or a date like Oct 12. Overdue dates show in red. The bell chip shows the task's reminder, like Tomorrow 9:00 AM, and says Remind when you point at a card without one. Click the note's name to open the note.
Within a column, tasks are sorted by due date, then by the most recently edited note. The top of the board counts the open tasks it shows, and the sidebar shows your total of open tasks next to Tasks. Checklist items nested inside other items show as tasks of their own.
Above the columns, Search tasks… matches the task text and the note title, the workspace menu shows All workspaces or just one, and Show done adds a Done column with up to 100 finished tasks. Hide done puts it away.
Set due dates in the note or on the board
Dates are what sort the board, and you can set them wherever you are.
In a note:
- Point at a checklist item. A small + date button appears at its end. Click it.
- Choose Today, Tomorrow, Next Monday or In a week, or pick a date and click Set.
- The item now shows its date, like Tomorrow. Click the date to change it, or choose Remove due date.
You can also put your cursor in a checklist item and click the calendar button under More formatting in the note toolbar.
On the board, click a card's date chip to pick another date, and use the small X beside the date field to remove it. Or drag the card to another column, and Barside picks the date for you:
| Drop the card on | Its new due date |
|---|---|
| Today | Today |
| Tomorrow | Tomorrow |
| Next 7 days | The coming Friday (on a Thursday or Friday, the day after tomorrow) |
| Later | Eight days from today |
| No due date | No date |
A message confirms each move, such as Due Fri, Oct 2. The Overdue column does not take drops, and finished tasks cannot be dragged.
Get reminded about a task
A due date sorts the board. A reminder is an alert at an exact time, for one task.
- Point at a checklist item in a note and press the bell at its end, or press the bell chip on its card on the board.
- Choose In 1 hour, This evening (shown until 5:30 PM), Tomorrow morning or Next Monday, both at 9:00 AM. Or pick a date and time and click Set.
- The task now shows its reminder, like Tomorrow 9:00 AM. Click it to pick another time, or choose Remove reminder.
When the time comes, a notification shows the task's words, its note and the time. Click it, and the note opens with the task lit up. The bell in Barside's top bar lights up, and the Reminders list shows the task with 10 min to snooze it, Done to tick it, and Remove. Ticking the task ends its reminder. A reminder you missed while Barside was closed shows once when Barside runs again. A new line made from a task, a copy pasted into another note and a duplicated note do not bring the reminder with them, so nothing rings twice. For an alert about a whole note, use a reminder on the note.
Add, edit and delete tasks
- Add. Type in the Add a task… field at the top of the board. Choose a due date (Today is the default, or Tomorrow, Pick a date or No date), choose the workspace if you have more than one, and click Add.
- The Tasks note. Tasks you add on the board go to a note called Tasks in that workspace. Barside keeps it out of All notes, the workspace lists and the note counts, because the board already shows its tasks, and search still finds it.
- Edit. Double-click a task's text, or click its pencil.
Entersaves,Esccancels, and an empty line keeps the old text. A task with a note link or formatting opens its note instead, so nothing in it gets lost. - Delete. Click the trash button. Task deleted. appears with Undo, which puts the item back beside its old neighbors in the note. Deleting removes the item and anything nested under it.
- Tick. Click the checkbox. The task leaves its column, shows under Show done, and is ticked in its note too.
More ways to add tasks
The board is only one way in. Tasks also come from:
- Any checklist in any note. Open More formatting in the note toolbar and click Checklist. Every item is a task.
- Create → New task, which opens the board with Add a task ready to type.
- The search bar. Press
Alt+Shift+Spacein any app, typetask buy milkand pressEnter. Barside adds the task to the Tasks note of your first workspace, with no due date, and you never leave the app you were in. See the search bar and hotkeys. - Templates. Every ready-made template has a checklist: Action items in Meeting notes, Top three priorities in the Daily journal, Next week's priorities in the Weekly review, Milestones in the Project brief, Follow-ups in the One-on-one and Next steps in Research notes. See note templates and repeating notes.
- Your AI. The AI assistant can list, add and complete tasks and set reminders on notes and tasks, with the AI you connect in Settings → AI. Barside has no AI of its own.
- AI apps. Claude Desktop, ChatGPT and other MCP apps can use
list_tasks, and with your permissionadd_taskandupdate_task, which also sets or removes a task's reminder. The ready-made Plan my day and Weekly review prompts start from your tasks. See AI connections. - Agents. The optional meeting agent reads a call transcript and proposes its action items. Approve them in the approval inbox and they are added as a Follow-up checklist at the end of the transcript note, with a due date when the call named a day. Scheduled agents can propose tasks the same way. See AI agents that ask before they act and meeting follow-up and action items.
- Imports. When you import notes from Notion, Evernote and Obsidian, checklists become tasks.
Examples
- A freelancer keeps one workspace per client, and every call note ends with an Action items checklist. On Monday morning, the board with All workspaces shows what each client is waiting for.
- A student dates the checklist items in lecture notes: read chapter 4, finish the problem set. The Next 7 days column is the week's plan.
- A team lead turns on the meeting agent. After each transcribed call, the action items wait in the approval inbox, and once approved they land as a checklist in the call's note and appear on the board.
- Anyone doing a weekly review opens the board on Friday, ticks what is done, and drags what slipped into Next 7 days or Later.
Where tasks show up besides the board
- The search bar lists open tasks under Tasks, with their due date and note.
- Quick AI answers questions like "What tasks are due today?" and "Plan my day from my tasks and calendar", with the AI you connect. Type the question in the search bar and press
Tab. - The daily briefing in Library lists unchecked checklist items next to your reminders, commitments and today's events. See the daily briefing from your notes.
- The tray menu has Tasks, which opens the board.
- Modes. Default Mode, Writer Mode and Team Mode show Tasks in the sidebar. Reader Mode and Creator Mode keep it on the More tab, and the search bar always finds it. See app modes.
Details and limits
- A task is a checklist item. It has its text, a done state, an optional due date and an optional reminder. There are no priorities, assignees or repeating tasks.
- For an alert at a set time, press the task's bell. For an alert about a whole note, put a reminder on the note. For a routine, make a repeating note from a template with a checklist, like a daily journal every weekday at 8:30.
- Done column. Show done lists up to 100 finished tasks.
- Backups and sync. Tasks live in your notes, so ZIP backups include them, and with Barside Plus, cloud sync keeps them on all your computers.
- Systems. The board works the same on Windows 10 and 11, on Linux and on Mac.
Privacy
Tasks are worked out from the notes on your computer, and nothing is uploaded unless you turn on cloud sync with Barside Plus, which syncs your notes and the tasks in them. AI apps see tasks only in the workspaces you share with them, and they never delete anything. Read the privacy guide and how AI connection permissions work.
How it compares
A separate to-do app means copying tasks out of your notes and losing the reason behind them. Barside keeps the task in the note and gives you the board anyway, next to linked notes, reminders, meetings and reading. If you are weighing your options, read the Notion alternative and Obsidian alternative guides, or the lists of the best note-taking apps and the best Notion alternatives.
Works well with
FAQ
Questions and answers
How do I turn a checklist into a task in Barside?
You do not have to. Every checklist item in every note is already a task and shows up on the Tasks board. Add a checklist with the Checklist button under More formatting in the note toolbar, then give items a due date if you want them sorted by day.
How do I add a due date to a checklist item?
Point at the item in the note and click + date, or put your cursor in it and use the calendar button under More formatting. Choose Today, Tomorrow, Next Monday or In a week, or pick any date and click Set. Remove due date clears it again.
Does ticking a task on the board tick it in the note?
Yes. The board and the note show the same checklist item, so ticking it, editing its text or changing its date in one place changes it in the other. Show done on the board lists the tasks you finished.
Where do tasks I add on the board go?
Into a note called Tasks in the workspace you choose. Barside keeps that note out of All notes, the workspace lists and the note counts, since the board already shows its tasks, but search still finds it.
Is the Tasks board a Kanban board?
It works like one, with columns by due date instead of by status: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Next 7 days, Later and No due date. Drag a card to another column and its due date changes. It has no custom columns, and finished tasks go to a Done column you can show or hide. For a board with columns you name yourself, add a kanban board to a note.
Can I edit or delete a task on the board?
Yes. Double-click a task's text or use its pencil to edit it. A task whose text holds a note link or formatting, like bold text, opens its note instead, so nothing in it is lost. The trash button deletes the item and anything nested under it, and Undo puts it back where it was in its note.
Can my AI add or finish tasks?
Yes, with the AI you connect. The assistant can list, add and complete tasks. AI apps connected through MCP can list tasks and, with your permission, add them or change their text, done state, due date or reminder. Barside has no AI of its own.
Can I get a reminder for a task?
Yes. Point at a checklist item in a note and press the bell at its end, or press the bell on its card on the board. Pick a shortcut like In 1 hour or Tomorrow morning, or any date and time. At that time, a notification opens the note at the task. The due date still sorts the board, and the reminder is the alert.