How I Use The Trello App To Organize My Entire Life

From running Life Goals Mag to sticking to my wellness routine, here’s how I organize it all through Trello.

When you want to do and achieve a million different things, it’s hard to keep track of it all without a good system in place. This past year was the first year of my life where I really felt like I was making big strides in becoming my best self. I got a promotion at work, moved into a studio apartment of my own, developed a solid morning routine, started working out and eating healthy, while running Life Goals Mag (LGM) on the side.

While the Trello app has definitely not been the reason for my life transitions, it’s a tool that’s helped me stay on top of it all.

Trello is a productivity app where you can organize just about everything into different categories and lists. You create boards for any topic of your choosing and within each board, you create cards where you can add checklists, labels, and due dates. You can include photos and attachments too, and move everything around in a second, which makes it super convenient for organization.

I use the mobile app, the desktop app, and the website version and they all automatically sync up so you always have access to Trello on the go.

There are a variety of ways to stay organized with Trello, so I thought I’d take you through the way I personally use Trello to stay on top of my goals and feel put together.

My weekly board

My most loved Trello board is my “weekly” board where I keep track of my daily schedule at a weekly glance.

I’ll create a “this week” column as well as a column for each day of the week. At the beginning of each week, I’ll type in all the things I want to accomplish throughout the week in that column and then go in and figure out what days and times in the week I can make room to get them done and how long the tasks are likely to take.

I first add in all the tasks that I want to stay the same throughout my week and label them with the color purple for “daily.” This includes my morning routine card, my evening routine card, and my lunch routine card. Inside these cards are my routine plans for the week. I’ll copy the card over to duplicate it for each day of the week, so I can see them all at a glance. If my routine changes, I’ll just swap it out.

I’ll then go in and add in my workout plans for the week. I’ll label those yellow for “well-being.” I plan out most of my LGM work, labeled in black, for the evenings after my workouts.

I set my weekly schedule up to time block my days. I like to dedicate my available time to working towards my goals.

For example, I have a morning routine that I dedicate to specific activities; I work my day job, and allocate LGM work for my lunch break; I plan for a walk during a 15 minute break.

After work, I’ll workout and then I’ll give myself a specific project to work on afterwards. And after 9-9:30pm, I’ll typically wind down and get ready for bed. I’ll spend that time browsing the internet, writing in my one line a day journal, reading or watching a tv show before going to bed between 10-11pm.

This may all sound super strict, and I totally get how that might sound unappealing. I’m the kind of person who hates feeling like I have no freedom. But weirdly enough, setting myself time blocks to get everything done feels like I have more freedom than ever. I don’t have to follow the plan exactly (and I don’t a lot of times), but it’s a nice guideline.

If I don’t set a weekly schedule, I’m less likely to get my LGM work done or my workouts in. With planning ahead of time with Trello, I don’t feel stuck or lost as to what to do with my free time, and I’m far more productive and intentional.

Monthly board

I use my monthly board to plan my weeks out at a monthly glance. I copy over tasks from my monthly board to my weekly board to make it easy and consistent. This view is helpful for figuring out what goals I want to accomplish in the month, and how I can break up your goal into bite sized pieces.

I have recurring goals like working out regularly that always show up, but I also like to factor in projects I’d like to complete in the long run.

It’s kind of fun to check in at the end of each month and prep for the month ahead.

Ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish this month that will get me closer to my big goals?”

“What didn’t get done last month, and how can we improve it in the upcoming one?”

And then be sure to refer back to your “monthly” board when setting up your “weekly board.”

I also created a “yearly” board broken down by each month, which you can do to give yourself a glance at how you can break down your goals into the whole year.

I’d recommend planning only one quarter at a time, because it’s difficult to know what changes will happen by the end of the year at this point. It makes it feel less overwhelming to look at your quarterly vision.

My editorial calendar

Trello allows you to add something they call “power ups.” There are dozens of options for power ups, but the only one I have at the moment is the calendar option for the LGM editorial calendar. It’s a great way to get a full visual for the month, while still breaking it down into the days of the week in the regular view.

You can create a calendar view for planning your monthly and weekly schedules as well. All you do is add in deadlines in the standard view and click on the calendar tab in the righthand corner to switch views.

I keep a physical planner in addition, so I only use the calendar option for our editorial calendar. But I think it’s a really powerful option to look at your tasks from a monthly view

Other Life Goals Mag boards

I love Trello for making lists and organizing everything related to LGM. I use it to plan posts ahead of time (I actually even write posts out on Trello sometimes), to get clear on our vision, to make sure I remember important things, keep track of documents, etc.

My most frequented list is the “LGM masterlist” which is where I put any ideas that come up throughout the day. It’s separated by categories like newsletter ideas, blog ideas, people I want to reach out to, brands I want to contact, etc.

I find it useful, because when I would have a random idea or thought in the past, I’d use the Notes app on my iPhone. But this is a more more efficient and organized way to keep up with my endless ideas for me.

Wellness boards

One example of how you can use Trello for wellness is with my “healthy living” board, which includes recipes, grocery lists, and blogs with recipes or good wellness information that I want to come back to.

I don’t keep a ton of recipes here, because I use Pinterest more regularly for cooking ideas, but I like to keep grocery list ideas and have it as a hub for my wellness interests.

Wellness is something I’m currently loving, so I find it fun to keep track of my nutrition, healthy foods, trends, and on.