Shock horror, I’m blogging about something sensible for a change. And as it’s Wednesday I’ll attempt to make it wordless as well. Although in my liaison with a newspaper editor last week (when my first ever pitch went to print!!!!!) I mentioned that I was from the Jane Austen school of writing and rarely used 10 words when 100 would do. 

Anyhoo, in my recent part-time contract gig we used a stack of online programs. Half of our team worked remotely and so we needed to find tools which allowed us to communicate and coordinate our projects—big and small. One of my favourite programs we used was Trello.

It’s a very simple project management and planning tool and for those who need a visual aid it’s perfect.

Yonks ago I shared the highly-technical process I was using to organise my book blogging and reviewing.

I receive hard copy and ebooks. Most I request directly from publishers or via an online database; others just arrive. I have to prioritise them in publication date order, read them, write the reviews, schedule in advance (and sometimes simultaneously upload onto the database), then just before publication date I post and share on social media. And then… when the book’s finally published I have to update summaries to Goodreads, Amazon etc. *sigh* It’s freakin’ exhausting.

However, a US book blogger recently commented on the fact that she uses Trello to organise her book reviewing and a lightbulb went off in my head. I also *possibly* declared my undying love for her even though it was the first time I’d visited her blog. (I’m easy like that! 😉 )

Like me, Trello is free and simple so it’s perfect!

Here’s a screenshot from the Trello Tour.

Of course I’m only just starting so yet to customise my dashboard and so forth, but I’ve set up several boards.

On each board you can add lists and cards. Within each card you can create to-do items, add notes, upload images, add colleagues, tag other members of your team, set due dates and so forth. My Books & Reading board is very simple at the moment and may change (as I only did it yesterday). And… it’s not rocket science because you simply drag the card from one list to another as you complete each phase.

I’m doing a job or two each month for a local company so keeping track of that (to invoice at the end of the month) via Trello as well. And I’m about to start contacting local businesses re online writing opportunities, so my Business Approaches board has ‘contact made’, ‘follow-up’ lists and the like.

Thankfully, Trello is also available for other platforms, so I’ve added the app onto my iPad so I can be super-organised. No matter where I am.

And, did I mention it’s free?

Does Trello appeal? Or perhaps you use something other than excel or scraps of paper already? 

Linking up with Trish and My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday and Agent Mystery Case for Worth Casing Wednesday.

PS. Not sponsored… obviously. Just sharing the love.