Choose what to work on

Board shows the same tasks as the Outline, arranged by status. Switching views doesn’t create a second plan.

The four statuses

Status	Use it for
Backlog	Work you haven’t started, or have deliberately put aside
Active	Work you’re currently giving attention to
Waiting	Work blocked on someone or something else
Done	Finished work

The startup plan spread across Backlog, Active, Waiting and Done, with a second goal below it. — The same tasks you wrote in Outline, now arranged by status. Their parent names stay above them.

Drag a task into a column to change its status. You can also use its status menu. With single-key shortcuts enabled, 1 sets Backlog, 2 Active, 3 Waiting and 4 Done.

Decide what comes first

Reorder tasks within a column by dragging them, or select one and use Alt + ↑ or ↓.

Use the order to express what you want to tackle first. This doesn’t change what a task belongs to. To move it into another part of the plan, use Move to… or the Outline.

Expand a column

Use the expand button in a column heading, or select a task and press E with single-key shortcuts on.

That status takes the full Board area. Tasks appear in a sideways row, grouped by their parents, with room for their notes and other details. Expand Backlog to compare upcoming work, or Active to concentrate on what you’ve started.

Expanded Active shows two startup tasks and Send the invoice under another goal, with parent brackets above each family. — Active across two goals. The brackets keep each task’s purpose visible, even in one sideways row.

You can rearrange tasks within their family. This view doesn’t create a single priority order across unrelated families.

Press Esc or choose Board in the breadcrumb to return. Phones show status tabs instead of expanded columns.

Tasks with subtasks

A task with subtasks reflects the work below it. It reads Active if any open work underneath is Active, Done when everything is finished, and Waiting when all remaining work is Waiting. Otherwise it reads Backlog.

Changing a whole branch affects the work inside it. Marking it Done finishes its open work. Other status changes leave finished tasks alone, unless you reopen a branch that was entirely finished.

Starting a branch can start several tasks. When that would exceed an Active limit, Faucus starts just its first task instead, provided there’s room.

Review in Zen

Zen gives you a written account of the plan: what’s active, what’s waiting, what finished recently and what dates are approaching. Open a task’s title to change its details.

Use it for a quick review when you don’t need to rearrange anything.