How I Rebuilt My Todoist System (And How You Can Too)
I spent about two hours this week reworking my entire Todoist setup. At first glance, that might sound excessive — but the truth is, I was drowning every time I opened the app. Tasks from Karate RX, Average Ninja, my personal training, and even home life were all jumbled together in one overwhelming feed.
The solution wasn’t to add more features. It was to simplify, or take away.
I thought I would share it with any other Todoist enthusiasts out there, or maybe infect more with my illness. 😉
Step 1: Identify the Buckets That Actually Matter
Instead of dozens of projects and subprojects, I boiled my life down to five clear categories:
Karate RX (Business) — shared with my staff so we can assign tasks back and forth.
Average Ninja (Content) — for content creation and systems.
Personal Training — for workouts, daily habits, and nutrition.
Life OS — personal, family, and finance.
Archived Projects — I don’t like deleting stuff
Step 2: Stop Using Projects for Everything
A mistake I used to make was treating projects like “folders of tasks.” That made them messy. Now I use projects only for ownership and let filters do the heavy lifting.
This is especially powerful if you work with a team or share life responsibilities with a spouse. Projects define who owns the space. Filters define what needs your attention today.
Step 3: Build Filters That Match Real Life
Todoist can overwhelm you with options, but I built a set of views that mirror how I actually work day to day. Here’s my current Favorites bar as well as the query commands to go into the filters when creating them:
📅 This Week → 7 days
One unified view of the upcoming 7 days across all areas.
🌍 Master Today → today | overdue
Shows everything due today or overdue across all projects.
🧘 Today — Life OS → (overdue|today) & ##Life OS
Keeps personal, family, and finance tasks visible without business noise.
🏋️ Today — Training → (overdue|today) & ##Personal Training
Keeps workouts separate so they don’t get buried under business tasks.
🥋 Karate RX — My Tasks → overdue & p:karate rx & assigned to:me | 7 days & p:karate rx & assigned to:me
Tasks staff assigned directly to me.
👥 Karate RX — Staff Overview → overdue & p:karate rx & assigned to:others | 7 days & p:karate rx & assigned to:others
Quick review of what staff are working on.
📸 Average Ninja — 7 Days → 7 days & ##Average Ninja
Shows all Average Ninja content and system tasks due this week.
This keeps me from bouncing around. When I sit down, I know exactly where to look: “Master Today” for my personal priorities, “Staff Overview” to check what my team is doing, “Training” when it’s time to train, and “Average Ninja” to keep content creation moving.
For a household, you could use the same approach:
My Tasks → assigned to: me & ##Household
Spouse’s Tasks → assigned to: spouse & ##Household
This Week → 7 days & ##Household
Step 4: Systematize What Repeats
You’ll notice I don’t have my birthdays sorted yet. A bridge to build another day.
Another mistake I used to make was re-creating the same chores, admin work, and projects every week. Now, I’ve built repeatable systems into my Karate RX board:
Daily/Weekly Routines → emails, voicemails, invoices.
Monthly/Quarterly Systems → curriculum updates, financial reviews, holiday planning.
Creative Projects → flyers, new programs, campaigns.
Delegated/Waiting On → staff coverage, outside vendors.
For households, this could be:
Daily/Weekly Routines → dishes, trash, laundry.
Monthly Systems → budget review, grocery stock-up.
Projects → plan a trip, remodel the living room.
Delegated/Waiting On → “Waiting on spouse to order Amazon supplies.”
Step 5: Keep It Visual and Shared
I learned that Todoist Favorites can be reordered and styled with emojis so the most important views are always one click away. That small visual detail keeps the system approachable. If you need help choosing or getting emojis, I suggest using chatGPT and copying and pasting (that’s what I did).
If you’re managing tasks with a partner or family, having these shared views makes it less about nagging and more about collaboration. Instead of:
“Did you take the trash out?”
You both just open the Household Today filter.
(If you only use filters in your favorites like me, these can be sorted in whatever order you like in the FILTERS tab!)
Why This Matters
After two hours of setup, my Todoist no longer feels like a firehose. It feels like a dashboard. I open it and immediately know what matters today, what my staff is working on, and what’s coming next.
For me, this isn’t just a productivity trick — it’s part of building my Life OS: systems that make the important things repeatable so I can focus on growth, training, and living instead of being buried under tasks.
And you can do the same. Whether it’s running a business, training for a front lever, or managing a household with your spouse — the principle is the same:
Simplify the buckets.
Use filters for clarity.
Systematize what repeats.
It’s not glamorous, but it’s discipline. And discipline is what frees you.
✅ Step-by-Step Setup Checklist
Here’s a quick guide you can follow (or share with your spouse, team, or kids):
Define your main buckets → Business, Content, Training, Life (or Household).
Set up projects → Use them for ownership (who does the work), not endless lists.
Create core filters → This Week, Master Today, Today — Life OS, Today — Training, Karate RX — My Tasks, Karate RX — Staff Overview, Average Ninja — 7 Days.
Build recurring systems → Daily/Weekly chores, Monthly routines, Creative projects, Delegated tasks.
Style and favorite your filters → Add emojis, reorder them in Favorites, keep them one click away.
Review weekly → Take 10 minutes to glance at This Week, assign tasks, and reset.
That’s how I rebuilt my Todoist. Not perfect, but it’s functional, repeatable, and scalable. And if it helps my business, my training, and my home life run smoother — then it was two hours well spent.
Happy training, and comment below if you need any help, or want to share any of YOUR insights about ToDoist!