Some Context...
I'm writing this, inspired by the @Jimmy Seddon's awesome Trello, Gaming & Charity (Oh My!) - featuring butler automation!
I work on Trello, and on Butler. I'm an engineer on the team that builds the product.
This isn't about how Trello uses Trello, or how to use Trello for work - this is how I use Trello in my personal life. A lot of the concepts on the board I'm showing also apply to other boards I use daily at work though.
Home Maintenance, Trello style
I recently moved from an apartment into a house. With that change, came a lot of little tasks that I previously didn't needed to worry about. Things like:
I needed a way to keep track of all these things, and my brain didn't seem like a good place to try and keep all that stuff!
So here's how I manage these tasks.
If you'd like to see me walk through the board on video, here's a screencast.
Board setup
At the moment, this board only has one member: me.
Often I try to keep my boards relatively small, so that I can see the whole board on my laptop monitor.
Each task gets a card. Each card has a cadence that the task needs to be completed in. That's determined by the list the card is in.
All the cards have a due date, and the due date indicates when I next need to complete that task.
I also keep track of information related to the task in the description, and in the attachments of the card. For example all those "replace filter" tasks I mentioned? I put the link to the correct type of filter on the card, as an attachment, so next year, when that task comes up, I know which filter I need to order.
Butler automation
I use a bunch of Butler automation to keep me on-track, and to help me not forget to do some stuff. Ever forgot to take the recycling out? Yeah, me too! Not anymore though 😄
Rules
There's one rule for each list on this board. Each rule does the same thing: add some number of days to the due date, and mark the due date as incomplete.
This means all I need to do to move the due date, is mark it as complete. I don't need to worry about figuring out what date "Wednesday next week" is; Butler does it for me.
This also works in the mobile app, by the way, so often while I'm taking out the bins, I'll mark the due date complete on my phone!
when the due date is marked as complete in a card in list "Weekly", move the due date by 7 days, and mark the due date as incomplete
Due Date Commands
The due date commands on this board are basically reminders.
I have two:
Do you have a similar board? Suggestions for things I missed or could improve? Let me know in the comments!
Felix
Member of Technical Staff
Atlassian
168 accepted answers
3 comments