Sunsama: 17 Features That Will Make You Switch Productivity Tools

Have you tried every productivity tool out there and they always seem like they're just…too much? They take you months to learn, and there are too many options, so you buy templates hoping they will speed up the learning process only to be stuck trying to force someone else's vision of time management into your business.

Well, no more! Sunsama prides itself on being “a daily planner that helps you feel calm and stay focused”.

It is a daily productivity app that helps you plan achievable days, set weekly goals, and will even integrate with your current productivity tools and calendar system.

Some of you may know that I'm a pretty hard-core Notion fan, but I was recently introduced to Sunsama by my business coach and she was raving at how well this fit her ADHD brain and how simple it was, and to be honest, I've never heard her rave about a productivity tool – well ever.

So I had to check it out myself! Here's what I found:

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase. I only recommend products or services that I personally use and believe will be beneficial to my readers. The earnings from these links help support this website and its content. Thank you for your support!

What is Sunsama?

I think that the Sunsama website says it best:

The Last Productivity App You'll Ever Need: Sunsama is your daily productivity assistant that helps you plan sustainable workdays, set weekly objectives, and integrate with your favorite tools.

And that is really it in a nutshell. As you'll see further in this post, the creators of this tool have kept things very simple, clean, and easy to follow, and their website is the same. No fluff, just “this is what we are and what we do”.

How Is Sunsama Different From Other Productivity Tools?

So how is Sunsama different from the Notion's and Asana's of the productivity world? There are a multitude of ways, but I'm going to discuss only a few that I feel are important.

Sunsama Is Simple.

As a Notion user and lover, I will fully admit that Notion can be a very overwhelming program because there are too many options.

Not with Sunsama, but that's not to say that Sunsama is lacking in any way, because I don't believe it is. I feel the Sunsama gives you all the options you need, to efficiently plan your day but doesn't inundate you with 1000 different ways to accomplish the same thing.

In fact, I was checking my emails earlier and it's like Notion heard the tappity-tap of my fingers typing about how simple Sunsama is – Notion just sent an email saying they are making changes to make completing basic tasks easier.

Sunsama already has that nailed!

The simplicity of Sunsama helps to promote a better work-life balance. Plan your day, do your work, and then go live your life!

Fast & Easy to Onboard

Another point for Sunsama is the ability to start today and be set up in less than 60 minutes, (I think it took me about 30 minutes, so I've been ultra generous with 60 minutes).

Notion wasn't like that. I had to spend days, and weeks, learning all about Notion and either creating templates for my business or buying ones that I then had to adapt to my business. It took a long time and I'm still making changes to how I use it.

I want to reiterate that I still love Notion, and will continue to use and recommend them as a time management tool, however, in comparing them to Sunsama, Sunsama is easier to onboard and start using right away.

My Favourite Sunsama Features

After digging into this productivity tool and basically looking for a reason to hate it so I could continue to boast that Notion is the best tool ever, I realized that I couldn't find reasons to hate it, and I actually kind of love it.

And I think you will too. Here are 17 Sunsama features that I love, in no particular order:

1. Weekly Objectives

I love that part of planning your week in Sunsama is to list your goals (weekly objectives). And if that wasn't enough, then you can assign your tasks to align with your objectives. And it's so easy to do! This helps you determine each day if the tasks you're scheduling are really important for right now. Do they align with your weekly objectives?

By default, on Friday afternoon you'll be prompted to review your weekly objectives. You can change this day, but I wanted to add this to my “things I love” because making goals is useless if you never review them to see if you are accomplishing them!

2. Daily Planning Ritual

Sunsama prompts you each morning (or the time you have indicated as your best time) to plan your day by dragging tasks from various integrations into your daily agenda. This helps set clear daily goals and manage time effectively.

During the daily planning, you will:

• reflect on yesterday's progress
• add tasks to your day by dragging them from your objectives, integrated apps, calendars, emails, etc.
• Finalize your daily plan by choosing the order of tasks and estimated time to complete

3. Integration With Popular Tools

Sunsama integrates seamlessly with many tools such as Asana, Trello, and yes, Notion! This allows users to bring in tasks from different platforms into one unified workspace of Sunsama.

And as of May 2024, Sunsama has integrated with Zapier, which means that you can create automatic workflow tasks from 5000+ tools straight into your Sunsama for scheduling!

I still love the task list functionality of Notion (I keep it pretty simple), but I love being able to drag a task into my Sunsama time blocker or calendar, turn on focus mode, and get it done!

4. Calendar Sync

Sunsama synchronizes with your Google calendar, Outlook, and more., enabling you to see your meetings and tasks in one place. This syncing feature ensures that you don’t double-book yourself and can plan your tasks around scheduled meetings.

5. Timeboxing

TImeboxing (or “timeblocking”) is a way to convert your task list into a scheduled itinerary for the day by scheduling your tasks in your calendar.

Sunsama supports timeblocking, allowing you to allocate specific time slots to tasks or activities. This is useful for dedicating focused time to high-priority tasks without interruptions.

6. Focus Sessions

The tool includes features for running focus sessions, which are timed work periods designed to encourage deep, uninterrupted, work. Users can set session lengths and break times according to their personal productivity rhythms.

The focused sessions are started by clicking on your task, and then pressing the arrow start button (looks like a music play button). This starts the timer.

Once you start the time, the window below will pop open. The time will keep counting up until you press stop.

Another awesome feature is that, if you're a fan of the Pomodoro technique, you're in luck! You can switch over to the Pomodoro style timer where it will alert you in 25 minutes to see if you want to take a break. You can push through and take a break later, so if you choose this timer, you're not bound by the 25 minutes.

7. The Focus Bar

This is your progress bar and it is situated just below the date and is bright green. This is a great visual to show you how much you've completed in your day. For me, this is such a motivation booster as I am a very visual person!

8. Channel and Category Organization

Tasks and projects can be organized into channels or categories, making it easier to segment work by client, project, or team. This organizational structure helps in managing multiple projects efficiently without clutter.

I love the channels (they look like hashtags #work)! As you'll see in the next section, channels are going to provide you with so many insights into how you spent your day. It's like a built-in time audit each day!

9. Analytics and Reporting

Sunsama provides analytics on how you spend your time, offering insights into productivity patterns. Users can track time spent on tasks, measure efficiency, and adjust their strategies based on data-driven feedback.

This is where the channels come in really handy! I can easily see how much time was spent blogging, creating products, email marketing, etc.

10. Daily Digest and Notifications

Users receive daily digests and notifications that help them stay on top of their tasks and deadlines. This feature ensures that nothing gets overlooked and helps maintain a steady focus on the day’s priorities.

11. Task Rollover

Unfinished tasks can automatically roll over to the next day. This feature ensures that uncompleted tasks are not forgotten and helps users reassess their priorities regularly.

If you roll a task over 4 consecutive days (you can change this to up to 14 days) it will be transferred to the Archive list. This is meant for you to really consider if this task is important. If it is, you can add it to your backlog list (your list to be scheduled later) or you can merely delete it, almost like a built-in Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

12. Backlog

So you might be thinking, this is all great stuff, but where am I going to quickly jot down items that I don't want to schedule quite yet? Sunsama has you covered on that as well. You can use the Backlog list for your “I want to do this task someday”.

Think of this area like a task Brain Dump. Of course, you're going to want to be careful how much you put in here so it doesn't become a super long list that never gets scheduled, but it's a great spot to add tasks you need to do, but not sure when.

13. Daily Shutdown

At the end of the day, Sunsama encourages a reflection on the day’s work, asking what was accomplished and what could be improved. This helps in building productive habits and continuous improvement.

It even gives you this super cute message at the end! Like what? I feel like I just got a hug from my productivity planner! ❤

14. Dark Mode

To ease the strain on the eyes, especially during late hours, Sunsama offers a dark mode. This feature is not only about aesthetics but also about enhancing usability and reducing eye fatigue during long working hours.

To set this up, use the pull-down menu in the top left of your web browser screen labelled “Sunsama” and go to “Settings”. It's the last option under “General”.

15. Collaboration Features

Teams can use Sunsama to see what everyone is working on, making it easier to coordinate on projects and tasks. There’s also functionality for assigning tasks to team members and discussing tasks directly within the app.

And remember, Sunsama integrates with other tools like Notion, so you'll have to start from scratch in Sunsama, just roll your information in. So easy!

16. Mobile Accessibility

Sunsama offers a mobile app that provides most of the desktop features, allowing users to plan and track their tasks on the go. This ensures that users can remain productive even when away from their main work environment.

I love the dark mode for the mobile app and for the most part, it does everything the web browser does! Easy peasy!

17. Keyboard Shortcuts

I love keyboard shortcuts. As an avid Excel user, I got used to using keyboard shortcuts and Sunsama is no exception. For example, if you want to add a task, all you have to do is press “A” when you're on the main screen and the “add a task” menu will pop open. Talk about efficiency!

Pressing the “?” (control + ?) key will open the keyboard shortcut menu for you to learn what the shortcuts are.

What Does Sunsama Cost?

Sunsama is not like other productivity tools that have several pricing plans depending on what features you want. Sunsama is a “one price and you get all options” system. You might be asking why it costs money when others have free options.

Sunsama has responded to this question with the following information.

I think they make a good point. They also state in another area of their pricing manifesto that lifetime deals do not keep customers committed to using the product, nor does it keep them, the creators, incentivized to continue to make improvements.

By having monthly paying customers, Sunsama is making improvements based on current paying customers' feedback.

At the time of this post, Sunsama runs at $20 USD/month or $16 USD/month if you pay annually.

Start Using Sunsama Today

I'm still pretty new to using this time management tool, but I am convinced that it's a winner and I'm going to be using this from now on. Notion will still be my go-to for other aspects of my business, but planning my day will be Sunsama and its simple-to-use time-blocking system.

If you want to try it out, get a free month of Sunsama here. Normally you would only get 14 days to try it out for free, but that link will get you a full month. Need more info? You can read my official Sunsama review here.

So what's next? Sign up for your free one-month trial of Sunsama and then join our Facebook Group and let everyone know how you like using Sunsama!