Chief of Staff
Set the goals it weighs on every task
Your standing priorities, where they came from, how they are measured, how to change them, and how to turn one into a step-by-step project.
Your Chief of Staff does better work when it knows what you are actually trying to achieve. The Goals tab holds your standing priorities, and it weighs them on every task it takes on, not just the one you mention them in.
Goals are not a to-do list and not a project plan. They are the few things that matter right now, and the tab holds up to three.
Where yours came from
Most people already have goals here without adding any. What you said during setup, when you were asked what you are working toward, becomes your first list. Open the Goals tab of your Chief of Staff to see it (on a phone, tap Menu, then Goals).
Add one
- Click + Set a goal (or Set your first goal if the list is empty). The button disappears once you have three.
- Type it plainly, for example "Grow MRR to $10k in 90 days".
- Press Enter, or click Add goal.
Be specific enough to be checkable. "More listings" gives it nothing to weigh. "Three new listings in Cedar Park by the end of the quarter" gives it a target, a place, and a deadline.
Confirm how it is measured
Shortly after you add a goal, your Chief of Staff restates it as something it can count, for example "Measured as: listing appointments per month, target 10 appointments by March 31, 2027", and asks "Is this how you want it measured?"
- If that reads right, click Yes.
- If not, click Change it and fill in what to count, the unit, the target number and the date yourself.
- If it has not come up with a measure, click Set it yourself.
Once a measure is confirmed, the goal shows your progress. Type your latest number in the box under the goal and click Save. Progress does not update on its own, so update it when you check in. When a goal's check-in is due, your Monday morning message says so, with a link to your goals. Edit measure lets you change the measure later.
Remove one
Each goal has a Remove link, which asks you to confirm with Yes, remove. Take a goal off the list when it is done or no longer the priority. A stale goal quietly pulls work in the wrong direction.
Turn a goal into a project
Next to each goal is Make a plan. Click it and your Chief of Staff picks the goal up in chat: it asks a few clarifying questions, then turns the goal into a project with clear steps, and tells you which steps it will handle and which need you.
The plan itself lives in the Projects tab. See Turn a goal into a project your Chief of Staff works.
Or talk it through in chat
You can also tell your Chief of Staff about a goal in chat. It takes it into account in that conversation and can build the step-by-step plan in Projects. It does not add the goal to this tab for you, though, so add, change or remove goals here to make them stick.
Why it matters
Priorities that live only in your head cannot be shared. Written down here, they become the tie-breaker on every judgment call your Chief of Staff makes while you are doing something else.