How to Use ClickUp to Plan and Publish Hot Takes
ClickUp can help you turn bold opinions into organized, high-performing hot takes that attract attention while staying on brand and on schedule. This how-to guide walks you step by step through planning, writing, reviewing, and publishing hot takes using a clear workflow.
We will follow the structure and examples from the original hot takes resource at this ClickUp hot takes article and translate the ideas into a practical process you can manage inside your workspace.
What Is a Hot Take and Why Use ClickUp?
A hot take is a strong, memorable opinion that challenges common beliefs or adds a surprising angle to a topic your audience cares about. Done well, it sparks conversation, shares your unique perspective, and positions you as an authority.
Managing these ideas in ClickUp helps you:
- Capture and refine bold ideas without losing them
- Evaluate which opinions are worth publishing
- Coordinate research, writing, and approvals
- Stay consistent with tone, facts, and brand guidelines
By turning hot takes into tasks and workflows, you remove chaos and make it easier to repeat the process.
Step 1: Set Up a ClickUp Space for Hot Takes
Start by dedicating a ClickUp Space or Folder to content and hot takes. Keeping everything together makes it easier to track your pipeline and reuse winning ideas.
ClickUp hierarchy for hot takes
Use this simple hierarchy:
- Space: Marketing or Content
- Folder: Thought Leadership / Hot Takes
- List: Hot Takes Pipeline
- Tasks: Individual hot take ideas and articles
This structure lets you see all hot takes at a glance and organize them by status, topic, or channel.
Create core custom fields in ClickUp
Add custom fields to your ClickUp List so every hot take task holds all key details. Useful fields include:
- Angle Strength (1–5): How bold or contrarian the take is
- Primary Audience: Who the take is meant for
- Risk Level: Low, medium, or high potential for backlash
- Channel: Blog, LinkedIn, X, newsletter, or webinar
- Owner: Person responsible for delivery
These fields help you quickly filter for the strongest, safest, or most relevant hot takes.
Step 2: Capture Hot Take Ideas in ClickUp
Next, you need a simple system to capture ideas as soon as they occur. ClickUp gives you several options that map well to the types of hot takes described in the source article.
Use ClickUp tasks to store raw ideas
Whenever someone shares a strong opinion, create a task in your Hot Takes Pipeline List. In the task:
- Write the opinion as a short, punchy title
- Add context in the description: why you believe it, what it challenges, and who cares
- Attach or link to examples, data, or competitor content your take responds to
Do not worry about wording yet; focus on clarity and potential impact.
Organize ideas by type of hot take
From the examples in the source content, typical patterns emerge that you can reflect with ClickUp tags or custom fields:
- Contrarian: Goes against common industry advice
- Nuanced: Adds depth to a popular topic rather than fully rejecting it
- Future-facing: Predicts how trends will evolve
- Myth-busting: Exposes what does not work as advertised
Tagging tasks in ClickUp with these categories helps you build a balanced content calendar across several hot take styles.
Step 3: Build a ClickUp Workflow for Hot Takes
A consistent workflow makes hot takes safer, more thoughtful, and easier to approve. You can create a status flow in ClickUp that matches the lifecycle of each idea.
Recommended ClickUp statuses
Set up statuses like these:
- Idea – Raw, unvetted takes
- Evaluating – Reviewing angle strength, risk, and fit
- Drafting – Writing the hot take copy or article
- Review – Editorial, legal, or leadership review
- Scheduled – Approved and queued for publishing
- Published – Live and ready for promotion
- Retrospective – Analyzing performance and reactions
Move each ClickUp task through these statuses as you work, so the team always knows what is in progress and what is blocked.
Define assignees and subtasks in ClickUp
Within each hot take task, create subtasks to reflect the process:
- Clarify the angle – Define the main claim and supporting points
- Research and fact-check – Gather data or credible sources
- Draft content – Write the post, script, or article
- Internal review – Get feedback from your team
- Risk check – Evaluate tone, legal, and brand safety
- Finalize and format – Optimize for the chosen channel
- Schedule and publish – Add to your content calendar
Assign each subtask to the right person in ClickUp and set due dates to keep everything on track.
Step 4: Shape Strong Hot Takes in ClickUp
The original hot take examples show patterns you can turn into repeatable guidelines. You can store these principles directly in ClickUp for your team.
Create a ClickUp doc with hot take rules
Use a shared Doc inside ClickUp as your playbook. Include sections like:
- What makes a hot take: Clear, specific, and arguable
- What to avoid: Vague, mean-spirited, or fact-free claims
- Required support: Stories, data, or examples
- Brand voice: How bold you can be while staying on message
Link this Doc from every hot take task so writers and reviewers work from the same standards.
Use ClickUp comments to refine the opinion
As you draft, teammates can use comments and suggestions to:
- Clarify who you are challenging and why
- Strengthen the main claim so it is unmistakable
- Cut filler or soften overly aggressive language
- Add examples that align with your product or service
This collaborative editing process makes the final hot take sharp, clear, and safe to publish.
Step 5: Schedule and Publish with ClickUp
Once your hot take is approved, you can treat it like any other content asset and schedule it using existing systems in ClickUp.
Connect ClickUp to your content calendar
Use a Calendar view in your content Space to see when each hot take goes live. For each task:
- Set a due date as the publish date
- Link to your CMS, social scheduler, or email platform
- Add checklists for channel-specific formatting steps
Seeing hot takes alongside regular educational content helps you maintain a healthy mix of opinion pieces and evergreen resources.
Use ClickUp to track reactions
After publishing, capture performance data in the same task:
- Engagement metrics: views, comments, shares, replies
- Positive and negative feedback samples
- Follow-up content ideas sparked by the discussion
You can log this in custom fields or comments in ClickUp so the team can quickly learn which angles resonate and which ones miss.
Step 6: Run Retrospectives in ClickUp
Because hot takes are bold, they deserve structured reflection. ClickUp can host simple retrospectives after major opinion pieces.
Retrospective template in ClickUp
Create a recurring task or template with prompts like:
- What worked about this hot take?
- What risks showed up in comments or press?
- Did we stay true to our brand voice and values?
- What would we change next time?
Use a ClickUp Doc or task comments to collect responses from marketing, leadership, and customer-facing teams.
Improve Your Hot Take System with ClickUp
Turning strong opinions into a reliable, safe, and repeatable content engine requires structure. By using ClickUp to capture ideas, manage risk, and coordinate delivery, you can publish hot takes that spark conversation without losing control of your message.
If you want help designing a broader content operations system around your hot takes and thought leadership, you can also explore consulting services at Consultevo, where teams often integrate ClickUp into their workflows.
Start by setting up your hot takes Space, define statuses and custom fields, and document your rules. Over time, your ClickUp workspace becomes a living library of sharp opinions, proven frameworks, and lessons learned that continually improve your brand’s voice.
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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