(And What It Won't Do for You)
I've been using Akiflow as my daily task execution tool, and it took me a while to understand what it actually is. It's not a project management app. It's not a team collaboration tool. It's a personal command center that pulls tasks from everywhere you work and puts them on your calendar so you actually do them.
Once I stopped trying to make it something it's not, it started saving me real time.
The core loop: Capture, Process, Execute
Akiflow's entire design comes down to three phases, and if you skip any of them, the system falls apart.
Capture means getting everything into the Universal Inbox. The Command Bar (Cmd+E on Mac, CTRL+E on Windows, works system-wide) lets you create tasks without leaving whatever app you're in. It understands natural language - type "Call John tomorrow 3pm for 1h #Marketing" and it parses the date, time, duration, and project. Star an email in Gmail or save a Slack message and it shows up in your Akiflow inbox automatically.
Process means going through that inbox with intention. Akiflow keeps the Inbox separate from your Today view on purpose - incoming stuff doesn't mess with what you already planned. For each item: if it takes less than two minutes, do it now and press E to mark it done. Otherwise, press P to schedule it for a specific date, or Cmd+S / CTRL+S to send it to Someday. I aim for Inbox Zero twice a day.
Execute means working from your calendar, not your task list. Switch to Day view, drag tasks onto time blocks, and work through them in order. Press F for Focus Mode, which hides everything except what you're supposed to be doing right now.
This loop, repeated daily, is what makes Akiflow work. Without it, it's just another to-do app.
Time Slots are the standout feature
The thing that separates Akiflow from other tools I've tried is Time Slots. A Time Slot is a named container on your calendar that holds multiple tasks - like a work session called "Deep Work: Product Strategy" with specific action items inside it.
Hold Option+Click / Alt+Click on the calendar to create one. Assign a project and it inherits the project's color. Each slot shows a progress bar as you complete tasks inside it. You can make them recurring, so your Monday admin block or Wednesday deep work session just shows up every week with its tasks carried over.
The lock feature is worth knowing about too. Click a scheduled task, hit the lock icon, and it creates an event on your Google or Outlook calendar so colleagues see you as busy. Enable auto-lock in Settings → Tasks to do this for everything by default. Most people don't know this exists.
How I organize things
Akiflow has four levels of structure: Folders → Projects → Sections → Tags. The distinction between projects and tags tripped me up at first.
Projects (assign with #) are exclusive - each task lives in exactly one project. They're color-coded, and those colors show up on your calendar. So at a glance I can see how my day splits between different work areas.
Tags (assign with *) are additive - a task can have many. I use them for cross-cutting things like "Waiting For," "Quick Win," or "Deep Focus Required." A task might belong to the "Q1 Launch" project but carry tags for both "Waiting For" and "Client Feedback."
The short version: projects are for what the work belongs to, tags are for how you want to filter it.
Keep tags minimal. I've watched my own system degrade when I create too many.
The keyboard shortcuts that matter
Akiflow is keyboard-first by design, and learning the shortcuts is where the speed comes from. The ones I actually use daily:
P- Schedule a task (I use this more than anything)E- Mark doneH- Set as a priority GoalF- Focus ModeC- New taskG- Jump to any project, section, or dateO- Open all links attached to a task
The Command Bar (Cmd+E / Ctrl+E globally, Cmd+K / Ctrl+K inside the app) supports a compact syntax: # for project, * for tag, ! for priority, < for deadline, =2h for duration. If you copy a URL before opening the Command Bar, it auto-attaches to the new task.
Daily rituals keep it from collapsing
This is the part most people skip, and it's the part that matters most.
Akiflow has built-in rituals - morning, evening, and weekly - that walk you through a structured review. The morning one takes five to ten minutes: review yesterday, set one to three goals for today, clear the inbox, time-block your day. The evening shutdown reviews what you got done, replans what you didn't, and optionally preps tomorrow.
Without these, overdue tasks pile up, the inbox grows, and within a few days the whole system feels like a burden instead of a tool. Even five minutes of structured review prevents this. I set auto-triggers for each ritual in Settings → Rituals so I don't have to remember.
What Akiflow connects to
It has native integrations with Asana, Jira, Linear, ClickUp, Trello, GitHub, Notion, and Todoist. Tasks assigned to you in those tools flow into your Akiflow inbox. Some integrations (Linear, GitHub, Todoist) support two-way sync, so completing a task in Akiflow marks it done at the source. Others require updating both systems.
The Share Availability feature (S) replaces basic scheduling tools like Calendly (this was the easiest decision for me since I already paid for Calendly & Akiflow replaced my meeting scheduler) - select free slots, generate a booking link, set buffer times and limits. It checks all your connected calendars for conflicts.
Zapier and IFTTT extend it to thousands of other apps if you need that, but there is no API :/
Where it breaks down
Akiflow has clear limits, and knowing them upfront saves frustration.
It's not a project management tool. There are no Gantt charts, no Kanban boards, no native subtasks. It doesn't do team collaboration. If you need those things, keep your existing PM tool and use Akiflow as your personal execution layer on top of it. That's how it's designed to be used.
Connecting too many integrations at once turns the inbox into noise. Start with your primary calendar and one additional source. Master the triage rhythm before adding more. Jira in particular, can flood the inbox if you don't configure import filters carefully.
Over-engineering your schedule is a real trap. "There's a danger of over-organising, and I spend so much time organising my tasks that I don't actually do them." I cap daily planning at ten minutes. If it's taking longer, I'm fussing with the system instead of using it.
Most people underestimate how long tasks take, which causes the whole schedule to cascade when one block runs over. I spent two weeks tracking actual time against my estimates, then started adding a 20 to 30 percent buffer. That single change made time-blocking realistic instead of aspirational.
How I'd recommend starting
Install the Command Bar and commit to the daily rituals. Just capture tasks and time-block them. Add Time Slots for recurring work sessions and connect one or two integrations.
After that, if the basics feel natural, look at Aki AI (press A for chat, Option+A / Alt+A for voice) for things like replanning your afternoon or finding your next free slot. Explore the Aki Workflows feature for recurring automations.
The system rewards consistency over complexity. A simple setup you actually use every day beats an elaborate one you abandon after a week.
