Chel is one of my absolute favorite tools for staying productive.
Whether you're working with an organization or a team, or if you want to use Trello for your own personal use, there are just so many flexible, different ways that you can use the Trello application.
Now, Trello is most commonly used for project-based work.
Maybe you're keeping track of a process and you want to move something from left to right.
Maybe you want a lot of people engaged, and you want people contributing and commenting on a particular project or process.
Well, today I want to show you how to use Trello for your own personal to-do list.
I don't think a lot of people consider Trello as a to-do list manager, but I personally feel that Trello is the best to-do list manager on the market.
I'm going to show you why.
Today I've just created a very simple Trello board.
I've got three lists: one titled "Notes and Ideas" (I could use this for brainstorming or maybe notes that I write down throughout the day), a "To-Do" list where I'm actually going to manage my individual tasks, and then a "Projects" list where I'm going to keep track of my bigger projects, taking a look at them at a higher level.
I think it's really important that you separate your to-dos from your projects—they are different, and sometimes our to-do lists look a lot more like a projects list.
A great thing about Trello is that you can have them in front of you on the same page and see the differences between the two, see if your to-dos are lining up with your projects.
In Trello, it is very easy to input your tasks.
As soon as you hit enter, it opens up a new card for you to enter in another task.
So, incredibly easy to capture the tasks that you have added to your to-do list.
And, of course, being a drag-and-drop application, I can rearrange my tasks any way that I like.
Clicking on a task gives me a lot more functionality.
I can add a label if I want to prioritize my tasks.
I can add a due date, which is essential when you are creating or considering a to-do list manager.
Now, at this point, you're probably saying, "This isn't really that different than Todoist or Wunderlist or Remember The Milk or many other to-do list managers that are out on the market."
And that's true—the ability to add a due date or to add a label or priority is pretty standard functionality.
But now let's get into some of the things that Trello can do that most other to-do list managers cannot.
So, I just mentioned you can drag and drop and reorder your tasks any way that you like.
Just that simple piece of functionality is not available on most task lists.
Most task list managers only allow you to sort alphabetically, or perhaps by priority or due date.
You don't have the power to push something to the top unless it has a label or matches their type of default sort order.
But the real power, I find, of Trello is what you capture within the card.
So yes, I already have a label on this one.
I already have a due date, and the ability to add a further description would also be sort of basic functionality for a to-do list manager.
But often, they keep it very, very basic.
So, for example, most to-do list managers only allow you to capture text in the description area or in the notes area.
You cannot add actual links.
Well, Trello doesn't limit you there.
You can add as many links as you want—active links so that you can go to those web pages, make use of those URLs.
Most to-do list managers will not allow you to add an attachment.
If you want to attach a PDF, if you want to attach a photo, if you want to attach an image, all of those things are capable of being added to a Trello card.
Another nice advantage of Trello is that there is the comment section.
While this was initially designed for projects and for team members to comment against one another, I use the comment section to keep track of little things that may be related to that task.
So, let's say, for example, this task has to do with contacting someone—that's the task, is to call Paul and discuss the upcoming meeting.
Well, maybe I tried to reach Paul, but I couldn't get through.
Well, I can capture that within the card itself, can save that comment.
It's time-stamped, so when I come back to this task and I want to know the history of that task or the status of that to-do, I can see it right here.
I can add as many comments as I like and see, "Why have I not completed that yet?" or "What was the last step that I took with that particular task?"
So, a lot of additional functionality.
Checklists, another feature that most to-do list managers cannot handle or do not provide, is adding a checklist within a task.
Maybe you want to add the next step in that process.
So, you know, many, many additional features that you can add to Trello, yet the top level or the high level of your to-do list remains very, very clean, very easy to manage, very easy to see between your different tasks.
The last thing where I think Trello really flexes its muscle in comparison to most other to-do list managers is how it is seamless between its desktop version, its iPad or tablet version, and its mobile version.
I find that most to-do list apps are very strong when it comes to their mobile app, yet when it comes to their desktop, it is quite weak—you are very limited by the amount of functionality that you can do.
Trello is seamless between desktop, tablet, and mobile.
That's really what you want from a robust to-do list manager.
I don't know about you, but I do most of my work on a desktop.
I do most of my work on a laptop.
So I want my to-do list available, and I want to be able to easily update and edit things here when I'm on the desktop.
I'm not going to be sitting at my desk, flipping up my phone every twenty minutes to cross things off or to see what's next on my to-do list.
And Trello has done a beautiful job with their mobile apps and how seamlessly it works with their desktop version.
So, if you haven't tried Trello out as a to-do list manager, I strongly encourage you to do so.
I've provided a link in the description below so you can access Trello and take it out for a spin yourself.
Trello as a to-do list manager—it's very simple.
