Getting Started

Quick Start

This page walks you from opening Nyask for the first time to finishing one loop your own way. Nyask starts by asking you to pick one way to begin. Only what you chose shows up on screen, so the features you don’t use won’t get in the way. Don’t overthink it — just follow along from the top.

1. Pick one starting point

The first time you open it, Nyask asks “How do you want to start?” Pick the one of five setups that’s closest to what you have in mind. Whatever you choose, you can change it later.

Tasks only

Just adding and managing to-dos. The lightest setup.

Calendar only

Just adding plans and seeing them on the calendar.

Tasks with AI

Let Nyall (AI) help you add, tidy, and break down your to-dos.

Calendar with AI

Let Nyall (AI) suggest turning notes into plans and adjusting times.

For projects

Run with sprints, a board, and estimates.

Each card shows what turns on with that setup. “Tasks with AI,” for instance, turns on tasks and AI — so you can check the breakdown right there. If you can’t decide, choosing “Skip (start with tasks only)” begins with the lightest setup.

There’s no need to line everything up at the start. Insights (looking back) becomes available once you’ve built up a record of completed work, and the usage view appears once you’re on a setup that uses AI. What you need shows up when you need it.

2. Your first loop

Once you’ve chosen, that setup’s screen opens. Whatever you picked, the shape of using Nyask is the same: write, look, move.

Write: jot down a to-do or a plan from the input at the top. On a setup that uses AI, just say what’s on your mind and Nyask sorts it into the right kind for you.
Look: to-dos line up in the task list, plans on the calendar. What shows up in the nav is only the starting point you picked.
Move: once you start or finish something, move its state along. That movement stays in your progress and your record.

On a setup that uses AI, you can ask Nyall (AI) to organize and break things down for you. Suggestions are yours to review before applying, so nothing gets rewritten out from under you.

3. Add more as you go

The features you didn’t pick aren’t gone. They’re just not on display — you can bring them out anytime.

When you want to add one, open “Setup” in settings. Your current setup, and the features you can add, are gathered there. It’s the same layout you chose from at the start, so adding more is easy.

Nyask also speaks up while you work. Once dated notes pile up, it offers “See these as plans?”; once completed work builds up, “Take a look back?” — offering just the feature you’ve grown into, right when it fits. Rather than laying everything out all the time, it hands you what the moment calls for.

Adding a feature keeps everything you already had. Turn on the calendar later, and the dated notes you wrote before line up as plans right away. Even while the display is pared down, nothing underneath is gone.

Next steps

Once you’ve made one loop, head into the guide that fits the setup you chose.

Tasks / Items

How to jot things down, filter, repeat, and move a task through its states. The foundation of every setup.

Calendar

Adding plans, and seeing dated notes as plans on the calendar.

Nyall (AI)

Talking to Nyall to get things organized, and taking its suggestions on board.

Agile Workspace

Sprints, a board, and estimates for running work in cycles.

For what Nyask is at heart, see the overview; for the day-to-day foundation of handling your to-dos, see Tasks / Items.