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Can I Visualize my Project Timeline in Kanban Tool?17 Jan 2023
The nature of the Kanban method is visualizing the project by the completion stages, which usually become the board's columns.
![Stages of completion as columns Kanban Tool board with columns representing stages of work completion](https://static.kanbantool.com/blog/visualize-project-timeline/stages-of-completion-as-columns.png)
While it is the recommended way to utilize Kanban Tool, it may appear to leave less room for keeping visual track of the timeline. Nevertheless, you can use a due date on each task, observe the time left countdown on every card, and - most notably - preview the timeline in the interactive Calendar:
![Using Kanban Tool interactive calendar Viewing tasks' planned completion dates in Kanban Tool interactive calendar](https://static.kanbantool.com/blog/visualize-project-timeline/using-kanbantool-interactive-calendar.gif)
In our view, this setup gives you the best of both worlds: a Kanban view with task positions determined by completion stages and a calendar view displaying by when each item needs finishing.
The other approach is treating the workflow stages as your complete-by indicators, e.g.:
![Timeline based flow Using the time-based workflow in Kanban Tool](https://static.kanbantool.com/blog/visualize-project-timeline/timeline-based-flow.png)
This way, the board bases on the notion of keeping task completion by set days, weeks, or other time values.
Lastly, should you wish, you can add swimlanes (rows) to the board to display your project information as a Kanban & timeline hybrid.
![Hybrid flow Track work completion stages with a time-based split as swimlanes in Kanban Tool](https://static.kanbantool.com/blog/visualize-project-timeline/hybrid-flow.png)
Because of its complexity, this is the last approach we'd recommend, but we know that some Kanban Tool users find it quite helpful. A flow like this can provide a way to visualize tasks planned for much later but hidden away from the daily work view.
![Hide those swimlanes you don't need to view now Using Kanban Tool to visualize work completion and plan tasks in time-based swimlanes](https://static.kanbantool.com/blog/visualize-project-timeline/hide-those-swimlanes-you-dont-need-to-view-now.gif)
Still unsure how to best manage your work? Feel free to experiment and tinker with the board setup until you find a way that fits. You can edit your board's layout anytime without losing your live task data!
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