Using the Sunsama app has transformed how I organize my workday. Unlike other productivity tools I’ve tried, this SunSama app review will highlight how it excels in time blocking and task management. Whether you’re searching for a sunsama mobile app review or a comprehensive sunsama review 2025, you’ll find that this daily planner stands out for its guided planning approach that takes just 10 minutes to complete.
I’ve found that Sunsama pulls in all my tasks from Notion, displays my calendar events, and consequently helps me see everything happening in my business throughout the day. Specifically, the app follows a three-step planning flow: picking tasks, deferring non-essential work, and ordering your priorities.
At the end of the day, Sunsama shows what you accomplished and what remains pending. Furthermore, the built-in time tracking helps me understand how long tasks actually take, which has improved my estimation skills. If you’re targeting an eight-hour workday, the app actually recommends starting with only five or six hours of committed work—a realistic approach I appreciate.
Let me walk you through how to master Sunsama and transform your daily planning process.
Step 1: Capture Your Day’s Work
The first step to mastering Sunsama involves gathering all your work into one central place. This process essentially turns the app into your command center for the day ahead.
Pull in meetings and calendar events
Initially, I connect my Google Calendar or Outlook to Sunsama. The app automatically displays my meetings and appointments in the right sidebar, giving me a clear visual of my time commitments. What I particularly appreciate about this feature is how it shows me the available blocks of time I have for focused work.
During my morning planning session, Sunsama color-codes my calendar events based on which calendar they belong to, making it easy to distinguish between personal and work commitments. Moreover, I can drag these calendar events directly into my task list if I need to prepare for them or complete something beforehand.
The calendar sync happens in real-time, meaning any new meetings that pop up throughout the day will appear in Sunsama without requiring a manual refresh. This keeps me from double-booking myself or overcommitting to tasks when my schedule suddenly changes.
Import tasks from Notion, ClickUp, or Trello
The power of Sunsama truly shines in its ability to pull tasks from other productivity tools I already use. Rather than forcing me to abandon my existing systems, it works alongside them.
To import tasks, I simply click the “+” button and select the integration I want to use. Afterwards, I can:
- Pull in Notion database items as individual tasks
- Import ClickUp tasks assigned to me
- Select Trello cards from boards I’m working on
- Bring in Asana projects that need attention
- Add GitHub issues that require my focus
Each imported task maintains its link to the source, allowing me to jump back to the detailed information in the native app whenever needed. Notably, any updates I make to a task in Sunsama (like marking it complete) will sync back to the original platform, keeping everything in harmony.
Add emails and Slack messages as tasks
My inbox often contains action items disguised as messages. Thankfully, Sunsama allows me to convert emails and Slack messages into trackable tasks.
With the Gmail integration, I can browse my inbox directly within Sunsama and add important emails as tasks with a single click. The task maintains a link to the original email, so I can reference it when I’m ready to respond.
Similarly, the Slack integration lets me turn channel messages or direct communications into actionable items. This feature has been particularly valuable for capturing requests that come through chat rather than formal project management tools.
By the end of this capturing process, I have a comprehensive inventory of everything requiring my attention—meetings, project tasks, communications—all centralized in one interface. This complete visibility prevents important work from slipping through the cracks and gives me the foundation for effective planning.
Instead of constantly switching between apps throughout the day, I can use Sunsama as my single source of truth for what needs to get done. This consolidation alone has significantly reduced my daily stress and improved my overall productivity.
Step 2: Estimate and Prioritize Tasks
After gathering all my tasks in one place, I need to be realistic about what I can actually accomplish. This second step in the Sunsama workflow is where the app truly shines compared to other task managers I’ve reviewed.
Set time estimates for each task
Once I’ve captured everything, I add time estimates to each task. In Sunsama, this can be done in several ways:
- Clicking the clock icon on any task
- Hovering over the task and using the keyboard shortcut ‘W.’
- During task creation by typing ‘~’ followed by my time estimate
Adding these estimates isn’t just busywork—it’s the foundation for making realistic plans. According to Sunsama’s official guide, most people underestimate how long tasks will take, especially when new to time estimation. Therefore, I’ve learned to add about 20% more time than I initially think a task requires.
For complex projects where estimation feels impossible, I break them down into subtasks and estimate each component individually. This approach has dramatically improved my planning accuracy since I began using the app.
Use the workload counter to check the feasibility
Perhaps my favorite Sunsama feature is the workload counter that appears at the top of each daily column. This counter updates automatically as I add and estimate tasks, providing immediate visual feedback about my day’s commitments.
The workload counter offers three different views I can cycle through:
- Total time remaining for all uncompleted tasks
- Work time remaining (excluding personal tasks)
- Actual time spent versus planned time
As I add more tasks, the counter changes color—turning yellow when approaching my workload threshold and red when exceeding it. I’ve set my threshold to 6 hours of productive work per day, though Sunsama allows custom thresholds for each day of the week.
This visual indicator serves as a reality check. Previously, I’d create impossibly long daily to-do lists. Nevertheless, Sunsama’s counter forces me to confront the finite nature of time. The app’s philosophy is counterintuitive yet powerful: planning to do less actually helps me accomplish more.
Defer non-essential tasks to another day
Whenever my workload counter turns yellow or red, I know it’s time to make tough decisions about what can wait. Sunsama makes deferring tasks straightforward with several options:
- Drag tasks to tomorrow’s column for quick rescheduling
- Use the snooze menu to defer to a specific future date
- Move less time-sensitive items to the backlog
- Delete tasks that aren’t worth doing at all
Before deferring, I ask myself important questions: Am I avoiding this task because I don’t feel like doing it? Is it truly less important than other tasks? This self-reflection helps me prioritize based on value rather than mood.
Ultimately, Sunsama’s approach to estimation and prioritization aligns with research on effective task management. The app helps implement what productivity experts call “implementation intentions”—specific plans that reduce the mental effort required to begin tasks.
When I’m overwhelmed, I apply the “rule of three” approach—starting a new list with just the three most important tasks that will move me forward. This technique, easily implemented in Sunsama, helps restore clarity and momentum on difficult days.
By completing this estimation and prioritization step, I’ve transformed my Sunsama dashboard from an overwhelming list into a feasible, prioritized plan—setting the stage for the crucial next step: scheduling.
Step 3: Schedule and Time Block
With my tasks estimated and prioritized, the next crucial step in my Sunsama workflow involves transforming this list into an actionable schedule. Time blocking has become the backbone of my productivity system, given that it creates clear boundaries for focused work.
Drag tasks into your calendar
Directly interacting with my schedule is straightforward in Sunsama. I simply grab a task from my list and drag it to my preferred time slot in the calendar view. This visual approach allows me to see how my day unfolds as I build it. Important to realize that setting time estimates beforehand ensures that each task creates a calendar event with the correct duration.
At this point, I appreciate that Sunsama gives me options about where these time blocks appear. I can choose to display my scheduled tasks on my external calendar (Google, Outlook, or iCloud) or keep them on Sunsama’s internal calendar if I prefer not to clutter my shared work calendar.
Use auto-scheduling for quick planning
For rapid planning, Sunsama offers excellent auto-scheduling capabilities. To use this feature:
- Hover over any task and press X on your keyboard
- Right-click and select “Add to calendar.”
- Click the colored timestamp in an existing task to add more working sessions
Effectively, the auto-scheduler finds suitable empty spots in my calendar for each task. In case of scheduling conflicts, Sunsama’s auto-rescheduling kicks in, ensuring I’m only scheduled to work on one task at a time. In addition to this, if I complete a task earlier than planned, the system automatically adjusts my remaining schedule to fill that empty time.
Occasionally, I need to prevent auto-rescheduling—holding down the Shift key while dragging a task accomplishes this. Additionally, any mishaps can be quickly fixed with Cmd+Z (or Ctrl+Z on Windows), which reverts the auto-scheduler’s changes.
Balance personal and work time
Achieving work-life integration, as opposed to merely work-life balance, has become substantially easier with Sunsama. I’ve learned to deliberately schedule personal activities during traditional work hours, albeit with some intentionality required.
First thing to remember is adding personal time blocks before building out my workday. I create specific blocks for morning routines, lunch breaks, and end-of-day decompression time. These personal blocks serve as anchors around which I schedule my work tasks.
For focused productivity, I also implement dedicated “focus time” blocks of 1-2 hours each day, during which I’m unavailable for interruptions. This practice, coupled with Sunsama’s visual planning interface, has made balancing different aspects of my life more manageable than with any other tool in my Sunsama review 2025 testing.
Step 4: Reflect and Review Your Progress
Reflection lies at the heart of productivity improvement with Sunsama. After planning and executing my day, the final piece of the Sunsama workflow helps me understand patterns and make continuous adjustments to my work habits.
Use daily shutdown prompts
The daily shutdown ritual in Sunsama serves as my workday’s official endpoint. Each evening, the app automatically prompts me to wrap up my day. This simple yet powerful practice helps me mentally “close the tab on work” without carrying loose ends into my personal time.
What makes this feature truly valuable is its customizability. I can personalize shutdown prompts to focus on specific aspects of my day. My favorite custom prompts include:
- “What task am I most proud of completing today?”
- “What did I learn today?”
- “What will I do differently tomorrow?”
These structured questions transform a simple task review into a meaningful reflection that improves my approach over time.
Track completed vs. pending tasks
Sunsama’s daily shutdown flow requires me to review what I’ve finished and what needs to be moved forward. This accountability mechanism prevents important work from slipping through the cracks.
For incomplete tasks, I can either defer them to tomorrow with a single drag or reschedule them for a specific future date. Subsequently, the app tracks my completion patterns, giving me insights into my estimation accuracy and work capacity.
Indeed, this tracking has revealed that I consistently overplan Mondays and underplan Fridays, allowing me to adjust my scheduling approach accordingly.
Review the weekly dashboard and trends
Beyond daily reflection, Sunsama’s weekly review provides a broader perspective on my productivity. Every Friday (or any day I choose), the app invites me to review my week.
The weekly dashboard displays:
- Progress toward weekly objectives
- Time spent on objectives versus other tasks
- Breakdown of time by day and project
- Completed versus planned work visualization
This visual summary has proven remarkably valuable. In fact, the charts show me “the true story of how my week actually went, often revealing patterns I hadn’t consciously noticed. The review includes space for written reflection, creating clarity about wins, challenges, and lessons learned.
Ultimately, these reflection rituals have become one of my favorite features in the sunsama app review process – they’ve helped me develop sustainable work rhythms rather than constantly pushing for unattainable productivity.
Step 5: Customize Sunsama to Fit Your Workflow
Beyond basic planning, Sunsama truly shines through its customization options. After several months of using the platform for my SunSama review, I’ve discovered how tailoring the app to my specific needs has amplified its effectiveness.
Use tags and categories for organization
Sunsama’s organization system revolves around channels and contexts. Channels function like hashtags, categorizing tasks by project or area. Plus, contexts allow me to group related channels—letting me quickly focus on work tasks or personal responsibilities with a single click.
One organizational approach I’ve adopted is creating contexts for “Work” and “Personal” life. By marking a context as “Personal,” all associated tasks remain private and won’t count toward my workload calculations.
Set recurring tasks and objectives
For routine work, Sunsama offers robust recurring task capabilities. To set this up, I create the task, click the three-dot menu, select “Repeat,” then configure my preferred schedule.
Weekly objectives serve as my north star. Every Friday, Sunsama prompts me to review progress toward these goals, helping me maintain focus on what truly matters.
Integrate with Gmail, Slack, and more
Connecting Gmail lets me pull important emails directly into my daily plan. Equally important, the Slack integration transforms messages into actionable tasks.
Both integrations sync changes bidirectionally—when I complete a task in Sunsama, it updates in the original platform automatically.
Conclusion
Mastering Sunsama transforms daily planning from a chaotic struggle into a streamlined ritual. Throughout my journey with this tool, I’ve discovered how the five-step workflow creates structure without sacrificing flexibility. The ability to gather tasks from multiple sources, estimate time requirements, prioritize effectively, schedule with precision, and reflect meaningfully stands apart from other productivity apps I’ve tried.
The workload counter certainly deserves special mention as it forces honesty about what can realistically fit into one day. This feature alone has saved me from the disappointment of perpetually incomplete to-do lists. Additionally, the reflection prompts have gradually improved my time estimation skills and helped identify patterns in my productivity.
Sunsama works differently because it doesn’t try to replace your existing tools. Instead, it connects them, creating a unified command center for your day. The balance between structure and adaptability makes it suitable for various work styles and industries.
Your productivity system should ultimately reduce stress while increasing output. Sunsama accomplishes both goals through its guided planning approach. The daily question “What do you want to get done today?” might seem simple, yet answering it thoughtfully with Sunsama’s framework has profoundly changed how I work. The app doesn’t promise miracle solutions—it offers something better: a sustainable system that evolves with your needs and grows more valuable over time.