Checklists

Checklists are lists of tasks you want to do together. Spring opening, winterizing the cabin, holiday hosting, packing for a trip. Unlike schedules (which are one-task recurring), checklists are many-tasks-at-once.

Two kinds of checklists

Pre-built templates. We ship checklists for the most common seasonal jobs: spring opening, fall winterization, hurricane prep, trip packing, holiday hosting, post-storm walkthrough, new-baby setup. Start from a template and adjust.
Custom. Make your own. Either one-time or recurring (every year, every quarter, every trip).

Starting a checklist

From the Checklists page, click New checklist.
Pick a template, or start blank.
Give it a name and an optional due date.
Add items by typing them in. Hit Enter between items.
Save.

Once saved, the checklist becomes an active instance that shows up on your Home page and Calendar until it is complete.

Importing tasks from schedules

If you already have schedules in Life Maintenance for some of the tasks (say, you have an HVAC filter schedule and you want it on your spring-opening checklist), use Import from schedules in the editor. The items you pick get added to the checklist and stay linked back. Checking off the checklist item also marks the schedule done.

Item-level details

Each checklist item can have:

A title.
Notes. "Use the long ladder, the short one does not reach."
A photo. Helpful for "before" and "after" shots.
An assignee. Family-plan only. "Olivia takes the cushions out of storage."
A linked schedule, item, or supply.
A due date for that one item, separate from the overall checklist due date.

Tap any item to expand it and edit.

Recurring checklists

For things you do every year (spring opening, hurricane prep, year-end taxes), set the checklist to repeat. When the next due date comes around, we automatically create a fresh instance with all the same items, reset to unchecked.

Past instances are kept in your history so you can look back at last year's notes and photos.

Sharing on Family

On the Family plan, anyone in the household can check off items. The activity log shows who did what. This is great for distributing the work without anyone having to be the foreman.

Mobile-friendly

Checklists are designed to be tapped through on a phone while you are actually doing the work. The interface is large-tap-target friendly, supports photos from the camera, and works offline if you lose reception in a basement.

When to use a checklist vs. a schedule

| Use a checklist when… | Use a schedule when… | | --- | --- | | You have many tasks to do together. | You have one task that recurs. | | The list changes each time. | The pattern is the same each time. | | There is a clear "start" and "end." | The task is ongoing. | | You want a single completion event. | You want a history of completions. |

Some things are both. Hurricane prep is a checklist, but the individual items (test generator, top up gas can) might also have their own annual schedules.