How To Stay Organized With Trello (Step By Step)

Since it's almost the beginning of June, I thought I'd share a great to stay organized for the upcoming month. I've been using Trello for a few weeks now and I've managed to find a system that works for me.

I'm one of those people that likes to the see the whole picture - that applies to pretty much everything but especially scheduling. At the beginning of each month I need to know everything that's going on and be 100% ready to go. Trello is great for someone like me because it allows me to see everything, prioritize tasks, keep track of due dates, and add any details I like.

Here's the system I've been using to keep myself organized, I hope this helps you as much as it's helped me!

Step 1 - Create A Board

You can do this by clicking on "Create new board..." and then add a title. I like to space out my letters and use ALL CAPS to add style but you don't have to do this if you don't want to. My personal board is called "T A S K S" but for the purpose of this post I'll call it "E X A M P L E". 

Step 2 - Change the Background

Or don't, it's up to you. If you like the default background photo, go for it! However I recommend choosing an image that's clean and simple. Nothing too busy or distracting. The Menu should automatically pop up on the right side of the screen, that's where you click Change Background > Photos and choose whatever image you like! (I went with the palm trees for this example.) There's also the option for making it a solid color if you wish but I think the photos are a lot of fun.

Step 3 - Create Your Lists

Awesome. You've got your all board set up, it looks nice, now it's time to add the lists! Don't worry about the cards yet - that's the next step. For now let's go through each list one by one. They all serve a different purpose and have a different title. It may sound a little overwhelming at first and if that's the case, don't worry, it's much easier once you start creating them. (I'll also go through each one in detail.)

"WEDNESDAY 5/30"
​Everything you need to do goes under this list. Tasks, meetings, events - everything that needs to be done today. Think of this list as your normal daily "to-do" list. This does​ mean you'll have to rename the list every day, but thankfully that's not difficult to do. ​To rename it, all you have to do is click on the title and type in the day of the week and the date. (At night you can go back and rename it for tomorrow's date.)

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"WEDNESDAY: FINISHED"
You just completed your first task, now what? Simply click and drag it over to your "WEDNESDAY: FINISHED" list, that way you know it's done and you don't need to worry about it. At the end of the day, it's nice to look at everything you did rather than just deleting it. Some of the cards can also be re-used the next day, if that's the case all you need to do is move it back to your (now) "THURSDAY: 5/31" list.

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"IMPORTANT: URGENT"
Tasks that have a specific due date sometime during the week go here. That way it's easy to see what's coming up and prioritize. If you have certain things that have a deadline, do those first and come up with a strategy for the day.

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"IMPORTANT: NOT URGENT"
​These are the important tasks that don't have a due date - they just need to get done sometime soon. These are tasks no one is relying on you to finish. It won't affect anyone if you can't complete them, they're just your personal tasks you wish to get done soon.

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"IMPORTANT: FINISHED"
​Once you finish any important task, drag it to this list.

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"THIS WEEK"
​Events and meetings go under this list. (Remember, not the tasks. Those go under your "IMPORTANT: URGENT" list.) ​

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"THIS MONTH"
​Events and meetings for the remainder of the month go here, just so you can look ahead. At the change of the week, you can drag an event into your "THIS WEEK" list.

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"THIS MONTH: FINISHED"
​All finished events and meetings go here.

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"SHOPPING LIST"
This one's pretty obvious - everything you need to buy goes here.

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"SHOPPING LIST: BOUGHT"
​​​​​​And finally, everything you've already bought goes here.

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Step 4 - Add Cards

Click on "Add another card" then name it. For example, "Breakfast w/Hannah". (Normally, since this is a meeting, it would already be in my "THIS WEEK" list and I would then drag it to today. This is just an example.) Once the card is added to the list, you can click on it again to add details. In the description I add the time/location of the event (plus anything else I need to remind myself of).

To add a due date to a card (specifically under "IMPORTANT: URGENT') click on "Due Date" and add the date and time. When a task is due soon, it will turn yellow. If you're past the due date it turns red.

Step 5 - Get Working!

Go ahead and organize it more if you wish, do whatever you can to make it more personal. If you don't feel confident and organized once you're finished, feel free to be creative and change whatever you want. This is the system that's helped me, but everyone is different. Do what works for you, and get working!