Trello offers an opportunity to implement GTD, which promotes the idea of separating things into lists. You can capture in Trello all the areas which have your focus, to which you want to detail and to make progress in some way. But you can add complexity, subtlety and context by using labels and custom fields, importance, and priority to each of your cards. You can easily move lists around as required to give them the visibility you need (I usually put current or next action lists on the left). You can set up multiple boards for each context, horizon, subject or project as makes you feel comfortable. ## Trello video This video is an introduction to Trello showing cards, checklists, Kanban view, due dates and scheduling, sync with Google calendar, and including URL links. ![[basic-features-trello.png|Mind map of Trello’s main features showing cards, checklists, and Kanban board layout, due dates, calendar view, calendar sync, and URL links]] The mind map above describes the basic features of Trello covered in the video below.  ## Trello’s many features [Trello](https://trello.com/) has many features, including checklists, links, a description section and comments. ![[Trello has many functions.png|Mind map, summarizing Trello’s key features, such as checklists, comments, power ups, time tracking and reporting, links to resources, comparison with Todoist and Toggl, usage of Trello for mental feedback, sharing information and collaboration in teams, monitoring progress.]] - Trello uses kanban, which is simple and visual (drag and drop, no nested tasks) - You can attach links to external resources (Drive, Evernote, websites, emails) - You can set up checklists within cards - Each card can have a due date - Each board can be displayed in the calendar, timeline or board view - Trello is very flexible, fast, and available on all platforms. - It synchronizes quickly and reliably across platforms (tablet, phone, desktop, web) - Power ups provide extra functions like Gantt - It feels reliable, solid and highly available. - It is easy to pick up, to open and note your ideas. ![[Trello functions.png|Mind map of Trello’s functions, including Kanban, attachments, checklists, and calendar view, links to other software – Evernote, URLs, email, embedded content]] ### Trello cards All key information for a project item can be contained in a Trello card, notably its description, a checklist, and due date. Defining a task needs a mixture of writing and lists; one plays off the other. You may write first and then create a list or start with a list and then write. But either way, Trello is ideal to reflect on the meaning of your card. The result is a task which feels properly framed, expressed in a ‘doable way’. Again a vital principle of the [[Getting Things Done (GTD) framework]] is ’If you can’t formulate the job, you can’t do it – your mind will resist doing it. In keeping with this, this may mean changing the title of a card as the task progresses, to be closest to the next action and record past tasks and future endpoints in a checklist, or in comments. ![[attachments centralise information on a Trello card.png|Example of a Trello card with centralized attachments and information]] ### Kanban My systems work like a Kanban. Todoist pulls Trello pulls Ayoa. Three horizons. Design, Planning and Engaging. Kanban is a simple, clear presentation. You can move cards around easily and so there is a mind mapping ‘playful’ feel to it. ![[trello-kanban.png|Trello Kanban Board with cards organized in columns]] Easy presentation in Trello kanban See [[Examples of Kanban in task management]] ### Trello checklists A checklist is a sub-to-do list. It may be just a list of things to check. You may need separate task cards ’check item 1, check item 2, check item 3′, or the main title of the task card might be ’Check the 3 items in this list. ![[trello checklists.png|Trello card displaying a checklist of subtasks]] This principle still complies with GTD, which encourages you to phrase tasks as ‘really’ doable things. ### Global list of actions The workspace view provides a table or calendar view of all actions across all boards, but not actions on checklists. Shame, though it’s not available on android. ![[Trello list of all tasks.png|Trello workspace view showing links to table and calendar views across boards]] ### Calendar sync To sync a Trello board with Google Calendar: 1. Activate calendar view ![[Trello activate calendar view.png|Screenshot of activating calendar view in Trello]] 2. Enable and copy URL ![[Trello copy calendar url.png|Copying the calendar URL from Trello for syncing]] 3. Add URL to google calendar ![[Trello add url to calendar.png|Adding Trello calendar URL to Google Calendar]] ## Links to external resources Trello provides an opportunity to regroup all the information relevant to a theme, subject, area of focus, or task on a single card. ### URL links Trello allows you to add attachments to a card such as files. You can also add links to Evernotes by URL. ### Link to documents You can easily paste links to documents so as for example to explain the background of current thinking related to a card. I feel it is more efficient to store the data in Google Docs and then paste the URL into Trello. Trello then remains a coordinator rather than a storage system. I prefer to restrict Google Docs to ‘native’ Google Docs files (spreadsheets and docs), while keeping other file types (images, word documents) in OneDrive and Dropbox. ### Link to Gmail by URL If I write or receive an email in connection with a task, I link the email to the card by its Gmail URL. I might add a checklist item, such as ‘wrote an email to Fred’, then put the card in the waiting column until Fred responds. Another solution involves using Sort’d a Gmail overlay, which allows you to create a kanban of your Gmail. ## Reporting with Trello Trello used to provide timesheets and time spent reporting with the Trello Plus chrome extension, but unfortunately, this is no longer being developed. This was one of the functions that initially convinced me to use Trello, apart from the nicety of kanban and the reliable sync. Time spent info from Trello Plus was also visible on each card. Time spent by week by board ![[week by board in Trello.png|Trello Plus report showing time spent by week and board]] Week by user in Trello Plus (deprecated) ![[week by user in Trello.png|Trello Plus report showing time spent by user]] Trello Plus report (now deprecated): ![[trello plus report.png|Summary report from Trello Plus Chrome extension]] If you want to record and report time spent on tasks in Trello, which we highly recommend doing, use a time tracking power up, which will do the job. ![[time tracking power ups in Trello.png|List of time tracking power-ups available for Trello]] Alternatively, [Toggl Track](https://toggl.com/) does a very good job of recording and reporting time spent on tasks, but obviously this adds the requirement to sync data such as tasks and projects across systems. It’s particularly important to track ‘long’ tasks, say a piece of work which takes longer than a week, split over several weeks or done bit by bit over time. The actual ‘working week’ will be composed of many diverse unrelated tasks. But the long task has to be tracked and delivery time estimated. ### Custom Fields Custom fields you should consider creating: - Next action - Resources needed (tools) - Time needed - Cost ![[examples-of-custom-fields.png|Examples of custom fields in Trello cards]] ### Custom field types Text number drop-down with colours ![[Trello types of custom fields.png|Different types of custom fields available in Trello]] ## Other task managers Here is a quick comparison of Todoist, Trello and Toodledo ![[comparing-todoist-trello-toodledo.png|Comparison chart of Todoist, Trello, and Toodledo features]] The characteristic of a task manager for everyday tasks is that it needs to be flexible. Todoist supports nesting tasks and due dates. Tasks can be nested or un-nested easily. Tasks can be scheduled on the calendar. For instance, Todoist is both for ad hoc tasks and can be used by a team. Scheduling is important for any task manager, but Gantt, as a project management tool, can be overkill in task management. ### Tasks in Todoist [[Todoist is an effective task manager]] and can incorporate many projects, tasks and subtasks. It provides a very efficient environment to schedule multiple multi-level tasks, and now offers a Kanban view. ![[todoist-long.png|Screenshot of Todoist interface with multiple projects and tasks]] ### Tasks in Google Tasks Google Tasks tracks emails and ad hoc tasks, email follow-ups, perfect diary integration, and immediate synchronization. It allows you to click back to emails easily, but has no tags or labels. ![[google-tasks.png|Google Tasks interface showing email and ad hoc task tracking|320]] ### Tasks in Toodledo Toodledo was a very early and effective task manager. Its mobile app was very efficient, but the online desktop tool is less user-friendly, having many columns. A task can’t be opened in its own window. ![[toodledo-desktop.png|Toodledo desktop interface with multiple columns for task management]] ## Conclusion A Trello card is clear and includes all relevant information, a description, checklists, comments, and linked items. All information is in one place, including tracking data; task descriptions are more doable. ![[Trello task card.png|Detailed Trello task card with description, checklist, and linked items]] Recording time and improving estimates contribute to better delivery, more accurate predictions and ultimately better price management. Trello helps to focus on driving forward and organizing time while centralizing other information resources through attached URLs (or files).