Raise your hand if you love peeking at how someone else utilizes Trello? I know I’m not the only one! I think it’s always cool to see how people process things differently and pick up a few tips along the way that you may want to incorporate.
So today I wanted to share how I use Trello to keep track of my goals. But the Powersheets?? Don’t you still use Powersheets? Don’t anyone freak out. : ) Yes! I still use my Powersheets! There is something I won’t ever give up about having everything dreamt up and laid out on paper. And y’all, they went like hotcakes this year and are completely sold out of the yearly set but we’ve got our hands on a copy to giveaway in the next few weeks! If you aren’t the gambling sort though, I would definitely grab a 6-month set here. I know you won’t regret it! So all that to say, I love my paper goal-setting tool and find it invaluable but I love to transfer the info into Trello and expand it a little. I like being able to flip open Trello (usually while my bath is running every night) and glance at my goals.
So here’s what the board looks like.
The first column is my actual goals and each goal has a card. Next are Monthly Progress then Routines. And lastly, Block Schedule and Backburner.
GOALS
Here’s a look at what’s included in each goals card. I list out:
- Why – What are my reasons for wanting to achieve the goal?
- Obstacles – Because they will come and I want to have a plan for them. A tip I learned from Michelle from She Works His Way
- Verses & Encouraging Words – I can make verses my prayer and stay inspired with great quotes.
- Visualization – I think getting a clear picture of what we hope life will look like gives us a clue at how to make it happen and what things need to be different in order to accomplish something. Also if it’s realistic.
- Resources – I’ll list people, products or books that may relate to my goal.
- Progress Means – This is my measurement for progress. Even if a goal feels kind fuzzy, I think it’s important to have some indicator. Many of my goals that didn’t happen last year were because I couldn’t measure them.
- Celebrate – How will I celebrate accomplishing the goal?
Next, I have two different checklists:
- Habits – Are there any habits tied to this goal? What would help me make little incremental steps forward?
- Action Steps – Here I’ll list any ideas for possible monthly goals that fit my overarching yearly goal.
MONTHLY PROGRESS
Each month, I create a new card to list out my goals for the month and action steps under each one. I like to lay this out before the month begins so as I make progress, I don’t have to stop and think what to do next and can keep a momentum. I try to keep each step really small so that it’s easy to take a bite of. I also have a checklist for the book or books I want to read that month.
ROUTINES
In the third column, I like to keep a list of rhythms and routines.
In the daily routine card, I have some quotes from a book on habits I’ve been reading called Take the Stairs just to keep me pepped up. Then I have checklists for different routines. Morning, Evening, Pre-Work, Post-Work. I even have my meal prep routine and planning my weekly routine. Please hear me out! I don’t do every one of these things every day and check them off. I just like being able to reference this list when I feel like I’m forgetting something important or when I’m not sure what to do next. I don’t look at this daily, but do like the freedom it’s brought to not have to keep this all in my head.
I also have cards for what gets my yes and no (things we figure out in the Powersheets), our finance routine (because this doesn’t come naturally to me :), morning affirmations and food affirmations. Basically encouraging Scripture to read in the morning or when I’m trying to make good food choices.
BLOCK SCHEDULE
You’ve likely heard that batching tasks helps you do more. I like to have designated days to do things so that I can be all in whatever I’m working on. This also helps me plan my week. If I have a post to write, I know when it’s going to get written. I certainly don’t do this perfectly but I love having the guide.
BACKBURNER
These are the goals that I’ve literally taken off either temporarily or indefinitely so if I feel like I need to add them back I can.
That’s it! I’d love to hear any tips on how you organize your goals so that you really incorporate those things you’re hoping to do more of into your everyday life!
Check out Val’s best tips for making real change happen in her book The Finishing School. You’ll get all the best information on goals, habits, margin, prayer and more!
COMING UP NEXT: Word of the Year
MISSED THESE?:
Yes!!!! On every level!! I love the organization of this & the way it would seem to help you accomplish things!! Definitely was encouraged & challenged by this early this morning!! Not a huge goal setter but absolutely going to implement some goals for 2018!! Thank you!! 🙂
Yay Katlin! I’m so grateful to hear that! I feel so nerdy sharing all this!! 🙂
Oh, man… the nerd in me thanks the nerd in you. =)
Haha!! I feel like my unofficial emoji is the smiley face with the glasses. All day every day!
I love how you organized this, it is extremely helpful to me. I started creating my own board for 2018 using a lot of your techniques. Thanks for sharing!
So……We are aware that I am very much so stealing this? I have been using Trello to manage the list of task for the blog launch, and now I will use it to manage my life.
Why did I not just make a template?? That would have been so much easier for y’all! Next time!
Val! I love, love, love this post! I found Trello in the fall and adore it. Thank you for such fun ideas of how to use it with goals. I created a 2018/goals board last week and can’t wait to tweak it with new additions now.
Yay!! That’s awesome!!
Thanks so much! Can your boards or cards be set to reoccur? Like could you Daily routines or Monthly tasks automatically reappear when a new day or month starts?
I don’t believe so… I use Nozbe for that!
I did not know about Trello and I firmly believe its going to change things for me! 2018 is my year!! I know you mentioned you do not make it a point to check off things daily, but if I wanted to to keep track of progress, how would that look? Does it refresh every day?
It doesn’t refresh everyday! I just use it as a list to go back to when I need it. I use Nozbe for my everyday checklists!
Thank you SO much for this post! I use Asana but this was so helpful to do a similar set up there! I work from home for a small non-profit and laying out these goals in this way has already made this year feel so much more organized and productive!
That’s awesome, Casey!! So glad you found the format helpful.
I found this so inspiring – I love seeing how other people stay organized + accountable in their goals! I would also be interested in seeing how else you use Trello to stay on top of things!
I love it too!! 🙂
Cool post, thanks! I tried the power-up Habit Tracker by UpgradeYourBrain for a routine and I really liked it. Its essence is that habits are integrated into the list of daily activities and have reminders, so you can hardly forget about them