A to-do list is among the simplest, most reliable productivity tools that exist. But there are so many different ways to track, sort and achieve to-dos. The popularity of Bullet Journals over the past few years demonstrates the appetite for new approaches of keeping track of things, however many of the tools have been critiqued for being too time-consuming, especially in their initial set up.
At IBAO, some of the staff use Trello to track their work, with one set-up that stands out as the most efficient way to organize and prioritize to-dos. It’s possible to do this in other programs—in fact, it was initially developed as a physical system using post-it notes on a white board—but we’ll stick to Trello for the explanation.
In the web-based list-making application, Trello, you start with a black screen called a Board. You add Lists which are essentially column-shaped containers. Then you create Cards within those lists, which represent the items to be done. You can create a Card for a task in seconds and easily drag and drop to reorder within a list, or to move between lists. It’s a flexible, intuitive program.
The Ultimate To-Do List, which one IBAO staff member has been using a version of for over a decade, requires three Lists:
- To Do
- Doing
- Done
The stuff you need to get done right now, obviously goes in the To Do List. Anything that needs to be done but won’t be done today goes into Doing. And everything else goes into Done. Using a Done List for finished tasks isn’t strictly necessary but can be helpful for keeping a record of what you’ve accomplished.
This system is so simple it almost doesn’t require further explanation. The strength of it is the minimal time investment required to maintain it. By making it easy to move Cards within and between Lists, Trello enables a frictionless way to reorder and reprioritize items at the speed of thought. As tasks expand or collapse throughout the day, you can effortlessly update your Trello Board and ensure tasks are being addressed in the order they need to be. Give it a try!
