Daily planning
The Workplan is a visual canvas for planning and organising your day. It gives you an infinite, zoomable surface where you can lay out entries as cards, draw connections between them, add sticky notes, and sketch ideas. Think of it as a digital whiteboard that is tightly integrated with your Ultrathink knowledge base.
What the Workplan does
Unlike a simple to-do list, the Workplan lets you see all of your priorities at once in a spatial layout. You can:
- Arrange entry cards in any order or grouping that makes sense to you
- Draw connectors between related entries to visualise dependencies
- Drop sticky notes for quick reminders and context
- Use drawing tools to annotate, circle, or highlight areas of the canvas
- Create separate boards for different projects, contexts, or planning horizons
Everything on the Workplan auto-saves as you work, so you never need to worry about losing your layout.
Getting started
Opening the Workplan
- Click Workplan in the sidebar
- The canvas loads with any previously saved cards and layout
- If this is your first time, you will see an empty canvas ready for use
Navigating the canvas
The Workplan is an infinite canvas, meaning there are no fixed boundaries. You can pan and zoom freely to work at whatever scale suits you.
| Action | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Pan (move around) | Click and drag on empty space, or use arrow keys |
| Zoom in | Scroll up, pinch out on trackpad, or press + |
| Zoom out | Scroll down, pinch in on trackpad, or press - |
| Fit everything on screen | Click the Fit to content button in the toolbar, or press Ctrl+0 |
The zoom range runs from 25% (bird's eye view) to 200% (close-up detail). The default is 100%.
Adding your first cards
Entries appear on the Workplan as cards. There are two ways to add them:
- From your knowledge base: Click Add Card in the toolbar, search for an entry, and select it. The card appears on the canvas linked to the original entry.
- Quick card: Double-click anywhere on empty canvas space to create a lightweight card directly on the Workplan. Type a title and press Enter.
Once you have a few cards on the canvas, drag them into a layout that reflects your priorities. Cards snap to a grid by default, which keeps things tidy.
Working with multiple boards
A single canvas can get crowded if you try to plan everything on it. Boards let you create separate workspaces within the Workplan feature, each with its own cards, connectors, sticky notes, and drawings.
Creating a new board
- Click the board dropdown in the top-left corner of the Workplan
- Click New Board
- Enter a descriptive name for the board
- The new board opens as a blank canvas
You can create as many boards as you need. Switching between them is instant; just select a different board from the dropdown.
Suggested board setups
Different boards work well for different purposes. Here are some common patterns:
| Board name | Purpose | What to put on it |
|---|---|---|
| Main | Primary daily planning space | Today's priorities, current tasks, quick reminders |
| Project X | Dedicated planning for a specific project | Requirements, designs, research entries, dependencies |
| Brainstorm | Free-form ideation and exploration | Loosely connected ideas, questions, themes to explore |
| Archive | Completed plans for future reference | Finished boards moved here rather than deleted |
Tips for organising boards
- Keep your Main board focused. Move completed or deferred entries off it regularly so it reflects what matters right now.
- Name boards descriptively. "Q1 launch plan" is more useful than "Board 2" when you have several boards open.
- Use one board per project. This prevents unrelated entries from cluttering the same canvas and makes it easier to see the full scope of a project at a glance.
- Archive rather than delete. If you finish a planning session, rename the board with a date prefix (for example, "2025-03 Sprint review") and move on to a new board. You can revisit archived boards later for context.
How the Workplan connects to your knowledge base
The Workplan is not a standalone tool; it draws directly from your Ultrathink entries. When you star an entry in your knowledge base, it becomes available to add as a card on the Workplan. If you un-star an entry, its card is automatically removed.
This tight integration means:
- Cards on the Workplan always reflect the latest state of the underlying entry
- Clicking a card opens the full entry in the detail panel
- Changes to entry titles, topics, or task status are reflected on the card automatically
- You do not need to duplicate information between your knowledge base and your planning surface
When to use the Workplan
The Workplan is most useful when you need a visual overview rather than a linear list. Common scenarios include:
- Morning planning: Lay out your priorities for the day, group related tasks, and identify dependencies
- Project kickoff: Pull in all relevant entries and arrange them to see scope and relationships
- Meeting preparation: Assemble agenda entries, reference materials, and talking points in one view
- Research synthesis: Spread out research entries and draw connections between findings
- Weekly review: Look back at what you accomplished, archive completed boards, and set up the next week
Next steps
Now that you understand the basics of the Workplan, the following pages cover more specific capabilities:
- Adding entries to your workplan covers card types, creation methods, and card actions in detail
- Focus mode explains how to minimise distractions and use connectors, sticky notes, and drawing tools
- Progress tracking walks through navigation, grid settings, keyboard shortcuts, and practical tips