Tasks, desks and subtasks

How tasks, desks and subtasks fit together in PlexiDesk, where each one shows up, and the ways to add them, including asking Plexii.

All plansUpdated 15 October 2026

In PlexiDesk, tasks and desks are the same kind of thing at different sizes. A desk is a task with a canvas of its own, where you lay out the widgets for that piece of work. The smaller jobs you add on a desk are tasks filed under it, and a task can hold subtasks of its own. Because they are all tasks, each one has a status, can have a due date and an assignee, and shows up in All Tasks and in any plan it belongs to.

Use this article to get the picture straight before you start organising work. The articles linked from each section go into the detail.

How the pieces fit together

What	What it is	Where it lives
Room	A container that keeps related desks together.	In All rooms.
Desk	A task with its own canvas for widgets.	In a room, or at the top level.
Task on a desk	A job filed under a desk, such as one step of the work.	In the desk's Tasks widget.
Subtask	A smaller step inside a task.	Inside its task, in the task's details.
Plan	A room that also has a timeline, a board and other planning views.	In Plans, and still in All rooms.

A few things follow from this:

Any task can become a desk. Open a task in the Tasks widget and click Give it a desk to give it a canvas of its own. See Tasks widget.
Every task appears in All Tasks. Desks, the tasks on them and their subtasks all appear in one list there, with the rooms and desks they sit in shown above each name. See See every task in All Tasks.
A plan schedules everything inside its room. The desks in a plan's room, and the tasks filed on those desks, become the plan's tasks. See Plans: timelines for your rooms.

Before you start

Tasks, desks and subtasks are included on every plan.
To add a task on a desk, open the desk first. Tasks on a desk live in its Tasks widget, so add one if the desk does not have it yet. See Tasks widget.

Add tasks

Add a task on a desk

Open the desk.
In the desk's Tasks widget, click in Add a task to this desk.
Type the task and press Enter.

You can also click New desk at the top of the side menu while a desk is open, and choose A task on this desk in the New Desk window. The new item is filed under the desk you are on instead of becoming a separate desk. See Create a desk.

Add a subtask

In the Tasks widget, open the task by clicking its name.
Click in Add a subtask, type the step and press Enter.

The task's row then shows how many of its subtasks are finished, such as 1/3. See Plan a task in the Tasks widget.

Add a task to a plan

Open the plan in Plans, click Add task, type a title and press Enter. The task is created as a desk in the plan's room. See Use the plan timeline.

Ask Plexii

You can ask Plexii to add work for you, in your own words. Plexii proposes each change as a card, and nothing happens until you apply it. The cards that deal with tasks are:

New task: adds a task on the desk you have open. Plexii can include a due date and the person it is assigned to.
New desk: creates a whole new desk.
Update task: renames a task, changes its status or notes, or sets or clears its due date.
Start, followed by a length such as 25-minute focus session: starts a focus session of that length on the desk you have open.

A new task and a focus session both need a desk to belong to. If no desk is open, applying the card tells you to open a desk first. See Meet Plexii, your assistant.

Status, dates and people

Every task has one of four statuses: To do, In progress, Parked or Done. The Tasks widget calls the first one Open. See Track a desk's status and time.

Some details are shared by every view of a task, so a change in one place shows everywhere:

Status. Ticking a task in the Tasks widget, clicking Mark done in All Tasks or dragging a card to Done on a plan's board all change the same status.
Due date. The due date in the Tasks widget is the date All Tasks uses, and it is the Planned finish in a plan.
Assignee. The person a task is assigned to in the Tasks widget is the one a plan shows as its owner.

Two planning details are kept separately:

Start dates. The Start date in the Tasks widget and the Planned start in a plan are separate dates.
Links between tasks. Waits for in the Tasks widget and the dependencies in a plan are separate links. A plan schedules only from its own links. See Edit a plan task and its dependencies.

Common questions

Is a desk a task?

Yes. A desk is a task with a canvas. That is why desks appear in All Tasks, and why a task can be given a desk of its own.

Why does All Tasks show my desks as well as my tasks?

All Tasks lists every task in your workspace, and desks are tasks. The rooms and desks above each name tell you where it lives.

Plexii made a new desk when I wanted a task

Open the desk first and ask Plexii to add the task to this desk. A New task card adds it to the desk you are on, while a New desk card makes a separate desk. If a card is not what you wanted, do not apply it.

Where do subtasks show up?

Inside their task in the Tasks widget, and in All Tasks, where the task they belong to appears above their name.

Guides in Tasks and plans

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].