I used to be a paper planner upto 6-7 years ago, when I started going digital, and Google Drive, Evernote, Wunderlist and other productivity apps have become my friends. Among these, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Google Tasks are still some of my favorite friends. But more recently, Trello has become my very favorite productivity app. Currently, I pretty much survive on Trello, Google Drive/Docs/Excel, Google Tasks, Google Calendar, and Asana. I basically organize my entire life, (or maybe most of it), through these apps.
Trello is a great productivity app. It is available on both iOS and android platforms, as well as desktop. I very easily use it to add stuff that are easy to fall between the cracks. Example, I now have a one-stop area where I keep all the snapshots of details of potential upcoming events instead of going through multiple emails. I even started using it for homeschool planning/ lesson planning.
Through this post, I hope to shed light on how these apps can really help you organize life to a different level. It is not a tutorial, but mainly intended to just give an idea on its versatility.
The one good thing about using apps is that it is available in the palm of your hands, and you can jot down stuff fast as soon as you think about it, instead of searching for your paper planner. The world has gone digital, and one good benefit I have seen is the availability of multitude of productivity apps that keep you at your organized best.
I’m sorry if this post is a little too detailed or confusing. But I just hope to enlighten you on the numerous possibilities to use the app, and hopefully you will find some inspiration to adapt it to your needs.
The basic version of Trello is free to use, and I only have a free version. There is lots of potential even with the free version, that I don’t see myself having to upgrade atleast for now. It basically works as flashcards, or sticky-notes that you can move around.
I have numerous boards for different permanent subjects. It’s also great for any project planning, trip planning, etc, and the boards can be shared. I do not use it as a daily to-do app. I currently use Google Tasks for that. But I use it mostly as a storehouse of information, ideas, or projects that I can very easily have access to.
Under each board, I will have multiple lists catering to different things, and under each list are several cards. On the cards, you can ‘write in’ stuff at the back, including text, images, attachments, checklists etc. You can also use colored customized labels or tags. One beauty of Trello, lies in that we can duplicate cards, and move cards between different lists or boards. It’s almost like moving sticky-notes from one place to another. Each board can have a free ‘powerup’, which is essentially a few extra features that you can connect that board to. Among free options that you can connect your board to are are google drive and calendar.
For example, under my ‘High School Planning’ board, I will have multiple lists including an inbox, local resources for high school(that I get from multiple sources or homeschool groups), possible future course options (to add in cards for different opportunities that I don’t want to later search emails of ), career aptitude test resources, questions to clarify, dual enrollment, education requirements, awards/ clubs/honors, competitions, etc.
Ever since using Trello, I have all my spiritual stuff organised. Till now, I had things all over, in several journals. I now have separate lists for theme related Bible verses, daily Saints for each month, random spiritual input from different sources, Saints quotes, personal reflections, kids morning prayer material, prayer requests, etc. Whenever I come across something I want to reflect on later, I add it to this list; also any relevant Bible verses, under the respective theme.
For homeschooling, I have several boards, one of which is for general planning. I have lists for jotting down things as I remember, that I want to incorporate into our homeschool at some point, ideas for summer intensives, homeschool tips from different sources, experiments to try, things to remember before putting together next year’s curriculum etc.
For homeschool lesson planning, I have a separate board. I have lists for each kid, so I know which chapter they are working on currently, and anything special they were to do that week. I also have lists for upcoming events with deadlines and other pertinent info, extracurriculars with dates, and so on. I currently drag all the relevant cards for that week to the ‘current week’ list. For any online courses they take, I take a snapshot of the assignment questions so that I won’t need to log in later and see what the question is before correcting the assignment. For anything I need to print later, I keep a list with the relevant info of the website link with the page number I printed till. I also have a list with login info for different courses. There’s also options to share your board with your kids if you opt to. We can also add in due dates for assignments.
I just started a board for family friendly movies that I got from different sources. I haven’t personally gone through the reviews of the movies on the list yet, but adding it in so I can when I get a chance. At some point, I hope to label/tag them according to reviews, age etc.
I am working on updating my recipe book in Trello. One good thing is the ability to apply labels for different categories. We can apply multiple labels to the same dish. Example, I have labels for instant pot dishes, oven baked dishes, breakfast dishes, meatless, chicken dishes etc. So for an instant pot chicken dish, I can put both labels on, and it will be easy to spot. I try to limit the recipes in the board to things I actually might end up making.
For the kids paid chores, I now use Trello to keep track of the accounting, and what all paid chores they actually ended up doing a particular week, with amount earned. ( There are certain special chores we assign for them to do for pay. Most other chores that they do on a routine basis, we do not pay; but they are required to do as part of being a member of the family and good stewards of God’s creation. )
I also recently started a Cricut board with all the project ideas I come across that I want to try in the future, nice quotes, snapshots of all the vinyl colors I have, etc.
I have a ‘Courses purchased’ board where I keep all the login links and access info on the back of each card, organized by category.
I also keep my ‘Master Wish List’ and ‘Master Maintenance List’ boards in Trello. (You can read more about this here)
Recently I am starting a ‘Books to Read (for kids)’ board, where I am putting in cards of books, from good book lists. This way, I can move them to different lists depending on which ones to get from the library next. Once they read, I can label them as ‘read’, or move them to another list. This way, I can also track the books they read from the library.
I do have numerous other boards too, but I think I’ll now stop confusing you :), as you probably now got the idea.
I hope you got a glimpse of how easy it is to get organized in pretty much any aspect of your life, with simple apps such as these. It is just a wonderful tool for organizing life on the go!
What favorite productivity apps do you use? If there’s anything that you really love, please post. I am constantly on the lookout for great apps that make life easier!