Top 5 Asana Features You’re Not Using (But Should Be)

Jul 30

You know what’s wild? I used Asana for years without realizing half of what it could do.

Like, I thought I was using it well. I had projects. Tasks. A color-coded tag or two. But then I started poking around and went, “Wait—this has been here the whole time?”

So, if you’re using Asana mostly as a glorified to-do list… you’re not alone. And this post is for you.

Today we’re getting into 5 Asana features you’re probably not using—but totally should be.

Most of them are free. A few are sneaky-fancy. All of them will make your work feel smoother, saner, and way more under control.

Either keep reading or watch the video below:

Multiple Teams = One Brain, Many Hats

Okay, first up: multiple teams.

A lot of entrepreneurs avoid this for the longest time because they think “teams” means, like, actual people. Like coworkers. Or employees. Or that they'd need an HR department to justify it.

But you can totally use teams just for yourself. Or for you and your VA. Or you and your four side-hustles.

And you should use teams whether you're solo or not.

Each team gets its own little bubble: its own projects, templates, rules. Which means you can mentally compartmentalize without opening six million tabs.

Want a team just for your client work? Go for it.

One for content creation? Love that for you.

One for your new Etsy store that you're not ready to tell anyone about yet? Excellent idea.

It’s the digital version of “a place for everything, and everything in its place,” but without actually folding socks.

And here’s why that matters: your brain can finally stop trying to hold everything at once.

You know that feeling when you're switching from writing a newsletter to onboarding a client to researching hashtags for a new product launch—and somehow all the tabs start blurring together?

Creating separate teams helps you segment that chaos.

It gives each part of your business its own room, so to speak. Its own label. Its own drawer.

I like to think of it as my own little digital filing cabinet.

The "Clients" drawer is like the reliable section that always stays organized.

The "Marketing" folder is where creativity flows freely, with its colorful rugs and plants.

And my "Personal" box? That's where I keep myself sane during my off hours - tracking appointments, planning vacations, and everything in between.

The beauty is, each section stays in its lane. I can open one “drawer” at a time, focus on what’s inside, and then close it when I’m done.

Plus, using this system also simplifies sharing and permissions—if I expand my team. I can grant access to just one part of my cabinet, without giving them keys to everything.

So, yeah. Don’t let the word “team” scare you off. You’re allowed to be your own team. Or ten teams. And they can all get along beautifully.

The Messaging Feature — AKA, Inbox Zero’s Chill Cousin

Next: Asana messaging.

This is not the same as task comments. Messaging is for higher-level convos or general updates.

Here’s why it’s magical:

You can message individuals or entire teams.

You can link to specific tasks or projects inside the message.

And—it doesn’t get lost in your email abyss or your DMs between cat memes.

Bonus: You can even send messages to yourself.

It’s a great way to keep communication visible without needing another app.

And here’s the thing: because messaging happens inside Asana, everything stays contextually relevant.

You’re not hunting for the backstory in a 47-email chain titled “Re: Re: Final FINAL client doc?”

It’s all right there—with your tasks, your timeline, your references.

Let’s say you’re prepping for a launch and you need your designer to double-check something.

You don’t have to assign them a whole new task (and risk forgetting to set a due date, and then they don’t see it, and then everything’s on fire).

You can just drop them a message, tag the launch project, and ask them to check out the promo post to get their opinion.

Or maybe you're working with a VA and you’re trying to decide between two workflows.

Instead of clogging up a task thread with twenty back-and-forths, you pop into messaging and hash it out there. Simple, neat, off your mind.

So yeah. Messaging is one of the best hidden gems in Asana. It’s functional, respectful of your focus—and honestly? Kind of underrated.

Views & Tabs—Not Free, But Seriously Worth It

Alright. Now we’re venturing into paid Asana land for a sec, but this one is huge.

Multiple views and custom tabs.

If you’ve ever clicked into a project and wished you could only see what you needed to see without deleting everything — same.

Until I realized you can have:

A Board View for big-picture Kanban style stuff
A List View for nitty-gritty task management
A Calendar View to actually see your week and cry less

And now, with custom tabs, you can create a view that only shows, say, this week’s content or just tasks you’ve tagged as “prep before launch.”

Is this feature free? No.

But if Asana is your digital headquarters, the upgrade’s kind of like… renovating your kitchen. Suddenly everything just works better.

(Also, if you want help figuring out if a paid version is even worth it for you—I do quick Asana audits that include recommendations for this. No pressure to buy, just… check it out if you’re curious.)

Real-Life Example

Let me give you a real-life example: let’s say you’re managing content.

In Board View, you could have columns like “Ideas,” “Drafting,” “Needs Review,” “Scheduled,” and “Published.”

You can drag and drop each piece of content as it moves through the pipeline, which is super satisfying if you’re a visual thinker (or just someone who loves a good progress bar).

Then maybe you flip to List View when you’re assigning due dates or batching tasks. Because sometimes you just want to see everything in one tidy vertical line and check it off like a grocery list.

And on a Thursday afternoon, when your brain is foggy and you’re trying to remember what’s due tomorrow—you switch to Calendar View and breathe a tiny sigh of relief. Oh look, it’s all there. Spaced out. Manageable.

Custom tabs take that even further. You can filter by assignee, tag, due date, custom fields—whatever makes sense.

For example, in my YouTube project, I have a tab that only shows content that I'm currently working on right now. I don't see any of my many ideas, I don't see content that is ready to be repurposed.

Only what I need to be working on at the moment. That way, I’m not getting distracted by stuff that does matter, but not today.

The point is: you don’t have to see everything all at once. You get to choose what information shows up, and when. And that alone can make your entire workday feel calmer.

Commenting = Quiet Collaboration

Let’s talk about commenting. Which feels obvious, right? But there’s a way to use it that makes everything better.

Instead of treating comments like an afterthought—try using them like little sticky notes. Sticky notes that ping the right person and never fall off your desk.

You can:

Ask follow-up questions right in the task
Leave yourself notes about context
Or tag your teammate with a comment like “ready for your review” without having to change the due date or reassign the task

It keeps the convo where the work is. No more searching your inbox for that one reply from three Tuesdays ago.

It’s also great for boundaries. Like, you can respond on your time, not theirs.

And it’s so much more than just convenience.

Commenting keeps the thread of context intact.

You don’t have to re-explain something five days later because it’s all there—in the same task, in the same place.

Say you’re working on a launch and someone drops in a Tella video with feedback.

Instead of it living in Slack or email or some mysterious Notion doc you swore you bookmarked, it’s right there in the comment section of the task called “Write launch email #2.”

Or if you’re like me and assign tasks to future-you, you can leave little reminders for yourself.

It’s these little moments of communication that make your system feel like it’s working with you, not against you.

Also—if you're the kind of person who needs to mentally “hand something off” before you can relax—leaving a clear comment like “Ready for your review by Tuesday” can mentally close the tab in your brain. Even if the work's still in progress.

So yeah, commenting is super helpful and time-saving.

It’s collaborative without being invasive. Structured without being rigid. And honestly, a total win if you value focus, boundaries, or just not forgetting what you meant to do three days ago.

Templates – Even If You’re Using the Free Version

Okay, last one—and this one is so underrated and important.

Templates.

If you’ve ever copied and pasted the same checklist 50 times and told yourself “I really need to make a template for this someday”… guess what? That someday is today.

Even if you’re on the free plan and can’t make official templates, here’s the workaround:

Create a new project
Build it out exactly how you want it (sections, tasks, dependencies, notes, all of it)
Name it as a template
Duplicate it whenever you need it

Boom. DIY templates.

It’s like meal prepping for your business. A little annoying upfront, a huge relief later.

You can make templates for content processes, launches, client onboarding, podcast workflows, whatever.

Anything repeatable? Deserves a template.

And once you have a few set up, you’ll be amazed at how much mental space they free up.

Instead of trying to remember if you already added “send invoice” or “create welcome packet” to your new client project—you just duplicate the template, tweak a few names or dates, and you’re ready to go.

Templates give you structure on autopilot.

They let your past self take care of your future self, which honestly feels like a small act of self-kindness in a world that is… a lot.

They also help your business grow without turning into a chaotic blob of Post-its and memory scraps.

Because the more you systemize the repeatable stuff, the more energy you have for the creative or strategic things that don’t come with a checklist.

And if you’re thinking, “Okay cool, but I don’t have time to build all of that out right now,” you don’t have to start from scratch. If you want to steal some of mine—no shame—I’ve got a whole toolkit ready for you to use.

Built for real humans who forget things. Like me. And probably you.

It's called Asana Essentials and you can find it here.

So yeah—those are my top 5 Asana features that are hiding in plain sight.

Most of them are totally free. And the ones that aren’t? There’s either a workaround, or a really good reason to upgrade.

I know Asana can feel like a lot. Especially when people talk about it like you should be using 74 automations and six zillion colour codes.

But honestly? Just pick one feature from this list to try this week.

That’s it. One.

You’ve got this.