If you’re anything like me, staying organized is essential as a Work-at-Home mom (WAHM)! It can also be challenging to find exactly what you need to help with that organization. Check out how Trello is the perfect tool for organizing the WAHM life.
The Quest for the Perfect Planner
I have been on the hunt for the perfect planner for years! I have tried the cheap ones you buy at the store, the fancy ones you can buy and customize, the ones you personalize online, and the ones you download and print. I even created one myself.
No matter what I tried, it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. The cheap ones didn’t have enough space for what I needed, the customizable ones were too big to carry around with a diaper bag, and the ones I printed myself just weren’t what I wanted. Plus, the amount of money I’ve spent on all this would make my husband cringe! (Shh, don’t tell him, ok?)
I always followed the same pattern with all of these planners. They would work for a few months as I tried to match what was available in the planners with what I wanted them to do. My grocery list would end up on some random day of the week and my weekend plans wouldn’t fit in the box. I would have appointments in my planner or on my phone, but I wouldn’t consistently use one or the other. Finally, I would get so frustrated with each of these planners, they would end up in my random storage spot, never to see the light of day again.
I even tried using just my phone as a planner. The calendar feature was fine, I had an app for my grocery list, and I would email myself important notes that I wanted to save. It worked, but it just didn’t have the cohesiveness to a planner that I would have liked. It’s hard to stay organized when information is in three separate spots!
Meeting Trello for Organizing the WAHM Life
As I started reading different things about starting a business, people kept commenting how great Trello was. Since I don’t have a background in project management (teacher here!), I began checking out the options. Trello seemed like a pretty good choice, but I was a little skeptical after being disappointed so many times.
So, I started using Trello. Although it was not difficult to use, I was not really sure that it would be any better than the planners I had used before.
Then I had the opportunity to be a beta tester for the Organize Your Life with Trello course with Cara Harvey and Elisa Giorgio. These amazing ladies shared the fabulous flexibility that Trello offered. They also taught how to maximize Trello’s potential to truly organize life!
I learned so much through this course. These ladies have some mad Trello skills, and they share some of their most spectacular boards. They also provide ways to use power-ups, extensions, and other apps, as well as ideas for other boards you might want to create. Plus, they show everything you need to get started and using Trello for all of your planning and organizing needs!
Obviously, since I was such a big fan of the course, I decided to become an affiliate. If you would like to check out or purchase the Organize Your Life with Trello course, you can do so here. (Affiliate Link)
Now, don’t worry! This is more than just a long commercial for an online course. Here’s how I use Trello for organizing the WAHM life.
My Weekly Planner for Organizing the WAHM Life
The main planner that I use for everything in Trello is my weekly planner. It is so helpful for keeping up with everything I need to do! I am not a fan of planners that are divided up by hour or half-hour increments, or even the ones that are divided into morning, afternoon, or evening. For my board, I have a list for each day of the week, and then I separate my categories into personal, business, and home.
In my personal sections, I include cards about the different things going on with my family. Each person has a different color label, so it’s easy to tell who’s doing what. For example, my husband has been traveling a lot for work, so the black-labeled cards show when he’s out of town.
My business section contains all the cards for tasks I need to accomplish for work. All these cards have my purple label, and then they have the label that fits with whichever category they fit in for work. It’s so easy it is to add a card with a due date, links, details, images, checklists, etc. I can even copy cards from my other business boards to my weekly to-do board, if I need to!
My Home section contains cards of tasks for the home. The week shown in the image above only has the cleaning tasks that need to be done, but other weeks have shown lots more than that. I’ve had the cable installation appointment in that section, the appointment to get the car inspected, and even phone calls I’ve had to make for home insurance. I put that section last, because it’s my least favorite.
I also like to include to include my meal plan for the week. I do easy breakfasts and lunches, so there’s only dinner to plan. Planning it out makes it easy to make my grocery list (my next list) for the week.
My shopping list comes next. I have all of my groceries on one card, so that I can make a checklist. When I’m at the store, I pull out my phone, open the app, and check off the things as I buy them. You could also organize them in sections, but this list works well for me!
Besides groceries, I do individual cards for special things I need to purchase. These would be things like gifts, school supplies (coming too soon!), and clothes or other necessary items. I love that I can include links to items or pictures if I see something that I need to talk to my husband about. There are so many ways to personalize how you use Trello!
My last two lists are helpful for future weeks. Since my weekly board plans only the current week, I have to have a place to put upcoming events. I create a card for events as I schedule them and put them in the Upcoming list. When it’s the Sunday before the event, I move them to the day they will happen. This way they’re on the calendar, but they aren’t in the way of the current week. I place them in the Upcoming list in chronological order, so they’re right where I need them to be to put them in the right list when they happen.
The Recurring List is where I keep all of the items that repeat either daily or weekly. On Sunday afternoon, when I plan for the week, I can copy events from the Recurring list to the list where they belong. It is so helpful, as I don’t have to recreate cards that have already been created.
Increasing Trello’s Cababilities
While Trello by itself is fantastic, there are ways to make it even better! You can do that with Butler Bot, Power-ups, and Chrome extensions. As I’m pretty new to Trello, I’m just learning about these, but I’m sharing some of my favorite tips for all of these. You need to check them out!
Butler Bot
Trello has a Butler Bot that you can tell what to do, and he does it when you want him to. You can use Butler Bot either by inviting him to be a member of a board or as a power-up. While I didn’t include it in my screenshot above, my last board is my Butler Bot board. I add cards to that list, and he completes them at a specific time. For example, one of the cards that I have tells him to move my Shopping list to the first position on Monday, so that it’s right there when I want to go grocery shopping.
Another thing Butler Bot does for me is put events in chronological order in my Upcoming list. Every Sunday, that’s part of his job, so that list is ready when I go to plan for the week. I still have a lot to learn with Butler Bot, but I like what I see so far.
Power-ups
Trello has power-ups that you can use, as well. You can choose to use your one power-up per board with your free account for Butler Bot, but I like to use the Butler Bot list instead. Then I can use my power-up for other things. For my Weekly To Do board, I use the Calendar Power-up, which can display the events on the board in a calendar. You can even sync it to your Google Calendar, if you want to. There are lots of other Power-ups, so be sure to look at them to see which one (or ones, if you have a paid account) will work best for you.
Chrome Extensions
One more way that you can increase Trello’s capabilities is through Chrome extensions. There are so many different choices of extensions! I have two extensions that I’ve started using with my Weekly To Do board. The first one that I use is the Tasks for Trello extension. This gives each card a checkbox, so you mark it off as you complete it. It also puts a comment that the task is done, so I can see it’s completed in the app, too. Notice how the card titles are crossed out in my Monday list.
I also use the List Layout for Trello extension when I want to see the all of my lists without scrolling. It’s helpful when I want to drag and drop cards between different lists. All I have to do is click the box in my browser bar, and I’m ready. So much easier!
Other ways to increase Trello’s capabilities
I also love how Trello integrates with many other apps. I can take a screenshot or picture on my phone or computer to attach to a card. When I tell Google Assistant to make a note, I can have it add the note to a list in Trello. You can even create zaps in Zapier between Trello and other apps. I haven’t done that yet, but it’s on my list of things to try soon.
Summing Up Trello
So, that’s a quick tour of the Weekly To Do board I use for organizing the WAHM life with Trello. It’s helped me so much with getting organized and scheduling what I need to get done for my family, business, and home. I’m pretty sure Trello can do the same for you!
If you would like to get started with Trello, I’ve got you covered! You can sign up for your free Trello account (affiliate link).
That’s also why I wanted to share this Trello board with you. I’m putting the link to the board in my Resource Library, so, if you’re already a member, you can head there right now to get your link to copy this board. To help you get started, I included an extra list with extra instructions. There’s even a quick video to show you how I use it.
If you aren’t a subscriber yet, use the sign-up form below to subscribe to the list. You’ll receive the password in a pop-up after you’ve subscribed and in an email after you’ve confirmed your email address. Plus, you’ll have access to the Getting Started on Pinterest Checklist I created, as well as all the other resources that I plan to add to the Resource Library in the future.
If you want to learn even more about Trello, don’t forget to check out the Organize Your Life with Trello course. You can find out all the details or purchase the course here. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking to improve your Trello skills. It really has helped me successfully implement an organization system that works for me!
Now it’s your turn: How do you handle your weekly planning for organizing the WAHM life? Do you use Trello? How does it work for you?
Feel free to comment below or on my Facebook page to share your best tips!
Until next time,
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