How to Use ClickUp as a Tana Alternative

ClickUp can replace Tana for project management, knowledge organization, and team collaboration if you set it up with the right structure and workflows. This step-by-step guide walks you through configuring workspaces, docs, tasks, and views so you can manage projects and knowledge in one flexible platform.

The instructions below are inspired by the comparison of Tana and its alternatives in the original Tana alternatives article, but here the focus is on practical setup and daily use.

Step 1: Plan Your ClickUp Workspace Structure

Before you start building, decide how you want to organize your information. Tana relies on nodes and super tags; in ClickUp, the equivalents are Workspaces, Spaces, Folders, Lists, and tasks.

1. Define your main areas of work. Examples:

   • Client projects
   • Product development
   • Marketing
   • Personal knowledge base

2. Create a Workspace that represents your organization or main account.

3. Within the Workspace, create Spaces for each broad area you identified. For example:

   • Client Delivery
   • Product & Engineering
   • Content & Marketing
   • Knowledge Hub

This gives you a high-level structure similar to how you might split areas of focus in Tana, but optimized for collaborative work.

Step 2: Build Hierarchies in ClickUp for Projects and Topics

Where Tana lets you nest notes and tags, ClickUp lets you stack Folders, Lists, tasks, and subtasks to reflect projects, areas, and resources.

1. Create Folders inside each Space to group related projects or themes. For example, in a Content & Marketing Space you might create:

   • Blog & SEO
   • Social Media
   • Campaigns

2. Create Lists within each Folder to separate work types. In the Blog & SEO Folder, Lists might include:

   • Content Ideas
   • In Production
   • Published Articles

3. Use tasks as primary items. Each article idea, campaign, or feature request is a task. Subtasks can capture checklists, sections, or steps.

This hierarchy lets you navigate work as clearly as a structured node graph while still staying compatible with standard project management practices.

Step 3: Use ClickUp Docs for Knowledge Management

If you used Tana for networked note-taking or a personal wiki, you can recreate that behavior using ClickUp Docs inside your Spaces.

1. Create a Docs hub in your Knowledge Hub Space. Examples of Docs:

   • Team Handbook
   • Project Playbooks
   • Research Notes
   • Meeting Notes Archive

2. Organize Docs with nested pages and headings. Use headings for hierarchy and the sidebar for quick navigation.

3. Link Docs to tasks. Attach a Doc directly to a task or insert task links into the Doc so implementation items stay connected to reference material.

4. Use mentions for context. Use @ mentions for people, tasks, and Docs so your information remains cross-referenced, similar to how Tana connects nodes.

Docs become your long-form, evergreen knowledge base, while tasks track actionable items.

Step 4: Configure Custom Fields in ClickUp

Tana super tags add properties to nodes. In ClickUp, Custom Fields perform a similar role by adding structured metadata to your tasks.

1. Identify the attributes you repeatedly track. Examples:

   • Content type
   • Status beyond basic stages
   • Priority or impact
   • Effort estimates
   • Related product area

2. Create Custom Fields at the Space, Folder, or List level. Common types include:

   • Dropdowns for categories
   • Labels or tags
   • Numbers for scores
   • Dates for milestones

3. Apply fields consistently. Make sure your core workflows share the same field set so you can filter and report across many Lists.

With Custom Fields, you can recreate the flexible metadata model you might have in a node-based tool, while keeping data in a more familiar task board layout.

Step 5: Set Up ClickUp Views for Daily Work

Views are where day-to-day productivity happens. Instead of endlessly navigating nested structures, you can surface just the work that matters.

1. Create a List view for detailed tables of work with all relevant Custom Fields visible.

2. Use Board view to recreate a Kanban-like flow. Columns can be based on:

   • Status (Idea, Drafting, Review, Published)
   • Owner
   • Priority

3. Enable Calendar view when your work is time-bound (publishing schedules, launches, events).

4. Use the Everything view to see tasks across Spaces, then filter by assignee, status, or Custom Fields.

Thoughtful use of views turns ClickUp into a practical control center instead of a static database.

Step 6: Automate Repetitive Work in ClickUp

One advantage of moving from a purely note-based system to ClickUp is automation. Once your structure is in place, you can save time with rules and templates.

1. Create task templates for repeated workflows. For example, a blog post template might include:

   • Predefined subtasks (Outline, Draft, Edit, Design, Publish)
   • Default assignees
   • Preset Custom Field values

2. Set up Automations so status changes trigger actions. Example rules:

   • When status moves to Review, assign to editor
   • When a task is completed, move it to the Published List
   • When priority is set to High, notify the project owner

3. Leverage recurring tasks for ongoing processes such as weekly reviews, reporting, or content audits.

These automations transform your workspace from passive storage into an active system that supports your team’s workflow.

Step 7: Collaborate Efficiently Inside ClickUp

Collaboration is where a project platform can outperform a local knowledge tool.

1. Use comments on tasks and Docs to keep discussions tied to specific work items rather than scattered across channels.

2. Mention teammates with @ mentions to assign small follow-ups or request feedback.

3. Share Docs and views with stakeholders who only need visibility, not full editing access.

4. Centralize updates using notifications and dashboards so people see what has changed without hunting through many Lists.

This approach aligns everyone on the same source of truth and reduces duplicate work.

Step 8: Review, Iterate, and Scale Your ClickUp Setup

As your projects and knowledge base grow, you should regularly refine your setup.

1. Schedule a periodic review (monthly or quarterly) to evaluate:

   • Which Spaces or Lists are no longer used
   • Which Custom Fields people actually rely on
   • Which Automations are still relevant

2. Archive or merge structures that create clutter or confusion.

3. Standardize naming conventions for Lists, tags, and fields so reports remain readable.

4. Train team members on the latest workflows to keep adoption high.

Over time, this keeps your workspace lean and aligned with your evolving processes instead of turning into an unstructured information dump.

Further Resources Beyond ClickUp

To deepen your productivity and systems design skills, you can combine this setup with outside guidance. For consulting on implementation strategy, see Consultevo. For more context on how this platform compares to other tools in the same category, revisit the original Tana alternatives guide for a strategic overview of strengths, limitations, and use cases.

By following the steps above and adapting them to your own workflows, you can use this platform as a complete replacement for node-based systems while gaining robust project management, automation, and collaboration features.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

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