Labels

Written By Manos Mastorakis

Last updated About 1 hour ago

Labels in Routine let you categorize and organize tasks, events, contacts, and pages using a unified tagging system. Unlike most productivity tools that limit labels to tasks alone, Routine applies labels across all object types, giving you a consistent organizational framework throughout your workspace. Labels are not metadata; they're first-class database objects that can be queried, filtered, and displayed in custom views.

🙌 Functionality

With Labels, you can:

  • Apply labels to tasks, events, contacts, and pages

  • Create custom labels for different contexts (work, personal, projects, etc.)

  • View labels at a glance in your agenda and calendar

  • Filter and sort objects by label

  • Use the Labels screen to see all objects with a specific label

  • Add labels during quick capture

  • Create custom views and databases of your labels

  • Display label visualizations on any page

  • Query labels like any other database object

Labels work across all object types, not just tasks.

⁉️ Why use Labels

Most productivity apps treat labels as simple tags limited to tasks. In Routine:

  • Labels work across all object types (tasks, events, contacts, pages)

  • You can see which meetings, people, and projects share the same label

  • Labels are queryable objects with their own database

  • You can build custom views filtered by label

  • Quick capture lets you apply labels instantly without opening full details

  • The same organizational system applies everywhere, reducing cognitive overhead

This unified approach ensures your organizational system scales across your entire workspace.

📝 How to use Labels

Adding labels to existing objects:

  1. Double-click any task, event, contact, or page to open it

  2. Click the label field and select or create a label (e.g., "Work", "Personal")

  3. The label appears on the object in your agenda, calendar, and other views

  4. Hover over compact views to see full label details

Using labels with quick capture:

  1. Open the dashboard (CTRL+SPACE or CMD+SPACE)

  2. Type your task (e.g., "Call John")

  3. Add a label inline (e.g., "Work")

  4. Plan for today or schedule as needed

  5. The task appears with the label already applied

Viewing and managing all labels:

  1. Click Labels in your sidebar

  2. See all labels with object counts (tasks, events, pages, contacts)

  3. Click a label to view all objects tagged with it

  4. Filter, sort, and customize the view

  5. Create new labels directly from this screen

Creating custom label views:

  1. Create a new page or view

  2. Add a database view

  3. Select "Labels" as the database source

  4. Your labels appear as queryable objects

  5. Filter or visualize however you need

💬 Use cases

Labels are especially useful for:

  • Context-based work → separate "Work", "Personal", "Side Project" tasks, events, and notes

  • Client or project tracking → label all tasks, meetings, and contacts related to a specific client

  • Team coordination → use shared labels for team projects or departments

  • Custom workflows → create labels for statuses, phases, or categories unique to your work

  • Cross-object organization → see all work-related items (tasks, meetings, people, pages) in one place

Labels ensure you can organize and retrieve information by context, not just by object type.