Manage your tasks like a pro with Trello

Have you ever dreamed of a simple and efficient task management tool that integrates with your calendar and help you yo remember your due dates? This is exactly what Trello does! With more than 1 million active users and 150,000 new members per week, this organizational tool is a must! This article will help you become familiar with how Trello works so you can make the most of this tool!

What is Trello ?

Trello is a web application to manage projects and team tasks. I use this tool daily since it serves as my editorial calendar for my blog and it works miracles on many aspects of my life (I am now much more organized)!

How to use Trello?

1. Create an account

Create an account on Trello and let’s get into this tutorial!

2. Create a board

What you see in the image above are called “boards”. These represent dashboards where you can manage a particular project. The boards contain many lists and cards as needed (we’ll get into that later).

To create a board, sign in, then click on “Create New Board”. You will then enter the name of the board and select the team to which it belongs if any. If the board is for you only, select none.

3. Create lists

Lists are containers for the cards, as shown in the image above. The three most popular lists follow the Kanban method : “To Do”, “In Progress” and “Done”. Depending on the type of project, I sometimes add “pending” when I may have to wait to obtain certain information in order to complete a certain task.

You can now create the lists that are needed for your project! Just click on “Add a new list” or click anywhere in the page and you’ll be able to create a list!

4. Create cards in your lists

Cards represent a “task” to achieve in a project (see the yellow box in the image above). To create one, click “Add a card” from the bottom of a list.

Cards can contain lots of information: a description, comments, a due date, an attached file, the members assigned to the card, etc. you can also assign one or more label to a card.

To add any of the information listed, you can put your cursor on the card and click on the pencil that appears, or just click the card and this window will open:

Click on a button at the right to add the corresponding information to your card.

5. Labels

The labels are used to add extra information to your card. It’s pretty convenient!

To assign a label to your card, put the cursor on it and click on the pencil that appears, and then on “Labels”. Otherwise, you can simply click on the card and click at the right on the button “Labels” like explained earlier.

6. Assign a Due Date

You can now assign due dates to the cards you want. This feature is very helpful to give a little “kick” to some teammates so they’ll finish their task on time!

Again, to add a due date, the procedure is the same as for the labels. Just click on the card and click on “Due Date”.

7. Checklists

I love checklists!!! To add one, click on the card you want, then on “Checklists” and enter the title of your checklist!

Now, you know all the basics knowledge you need to start your first Trello project and be successful! I’ll let you discover by yourself all the other amazing things Trello can do!

Teamwork

Trello is perfectly suited to perform teamwork. In fact, you can create a team and add the members concerned. To do so, you’ll need to enter their email address or username.

Teams are a group of people working as a team for the same company for example, but this team does not necessarily work on the same project : some team members can only work on certain trello boards and not all of them depending on what they’re working on.

1. Create your team

When you are logged in, you can at any time click on the + at the top right of the page to create a new team!

Enter a team name and a description if you’d like. Click “Create” !

2. Invite members to your team

After creating the team, a page similar to this one appears:

Click on the “Members” tab to start adding members to your team!

You can do this either by searching by username on Trello or email!

Practical uses of Trello

• Editorial calendars
• Manage a project with a team
• To do list
• Shopping
• Meal planning
• And so much more !

Browse more examples of how you can use Trello.

To go further

Mobile application

The mobile application is available on Google Play and the Apple Store. I prefer to use Trello on a computer in order to have an overview of all my lists, but it is useful when you have an idea on the bus and you want to add a card!

Power-ups

Increasingly power-ups are added to Trello. This is what can tempt users to switch to the paid version. The complete list of power-ups available here.

The power-up that I find most interesting is that I am still active is the one that allows a calendar in his picture! Here’s what it looks like :

It’s wonderful because it allows to have a tool that is easy to visualize all the tasks we have to do. Also, tasks can slide from one date to another in order to change its due date!

Embed Google Calendar (and iCal)

It is possible to integrate Trello you to your Google Calendar or iCal. Soon I will publish the procedure to import your Trello cards in your calendar! On capturing screen shown below to my calendar, you can see 3 of my Trello tasks!

It is well to note that it is not possible to move tasks directly from the calendar. Rather Trello return to change the date and time!

I will soon write an article about it!

Keyboard shortcuts

You can view all the keyboard shortcuts by typing “?” in a board. My favorites are:

• T : Edit the title of a card
• C : Archive a card
• D : Assign a due date to a card
• L : Assign a label to a card
• M : Add or remove members to a card
• Space : Assign yourself to a card
• Enter : Open a card

Conclusion

I hope I have convinced you that Trello is the perfect tool for managing projects, teamwork and much more! The only limit is your imagination. Also, the application is constantly evolving. If you are curious and want to discover the next improvements on which team Trello is working, visit their board!