Not going to lie that project management software can feel like something that only belongs to the corporate world for many of us.
Well, it makes sense since this type of software tends to benefit those with a large team.
So it can be a little far-fetched if an author uses this kind of tool.
Sure, you may work with an editor and a book cover designer.
But a simple solution to manage the project will do.
And let’s not forget that you only use a handful of the features, anyway. The rest of them are irrelevant to you.
Well, you’re not wrong to think that way since this type of tool tends to benefit large teams more than individual users.
But it doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from using a project management tool in your author business.
The good news is a handful of them are simple enough to use. What’s more, it caters to the individuals too, not just to the large teams.
Trello is one of them.
What Trello is all about
In a nutshell, it’s project management software. But what makes Trello different is the way you can organize the project.
Rather than having to click everywhere just to find what you’re looking for, you can see a snapshot of your project in one view.
Think of it like you’re organizing your project with a corkboard. You tend to see a snapshot of everything in one view, right?
That’s how it is with Trello. The only difference is that you can do the same digitally.
Of course, you can integrate Trello with apps such as Slack and Google Drive for a seamless workflow.
But if you only need the project management component, Trello is easy enough for you to get started right away.
What makes project management software like Trello a better option for authors
I won’t deny that Trello can be hard to grasp at first since it doesn’t provide you with much guidance other than creating a new board.
But even with that, you’re still left with a blank board when you create one, figuratively speaking.
So how can Trello benefit you when the only thing you get is a blank board as a start?
Well, that’s the beauty of Trello.
You can start by creating the list in your Trello board and label it in whichever way you prefer.
Let’s say you’re planning to write a book.
When you think of all the things you need to do, you will need to gather the research materials for the books, inspirations for specific scenes, and list down the writing, editing, and publishing tasks.
You can do that by having a separate place to gather your reference and the project tasks.
Bullet journal, perhaps?
But with Trello, you can have all these things in one place.
You can have a list that contains reference materials and inspirations alongside another list that contains all the tasks you need to do in your book project.
In the case of publishing, you can label the list as publishing and add the cards with all the things you need to do, publishing-wise.
It can be things like contacting your book cover designer for availability and distributing the book to other retailers if you go wide.
Still can’t see the picture yet? Here’s how I use Trello to organize the task for revamping The Efficient You website.
As you can see here, I make the labeling simple by labeling the list as to-do, doing, and done.
When I’m about to do the task, I will move the card to the doing list. And when I already completed the task, I simply drag the task to the done list.
Want to add a to-do list to one of the cards? You can do that by clicking the card. You can even add a description to the card for clarity purposes if you need to.
You’re free to organize the board in whichever way you want without restriction.
What you should know about Trello
The good thing about Trello is that the basic version of Trello is free. But the only caveat is you can only create up to 10 boards in the free version, though.
And if you need other features such as Table, Calendar, Timeline, Dashboard, and Map, then you will need to upgrade to the premium version.
Of course, upgrading to the premium version allows you to create as many boards as you like.
But I find that being able to create up to 10 boards is already enough for me since many of them tend to be a one-time project.
Once I already completed the project, I will close the board and have no intention of reopening the same board again.
That will only leave me with a few boards, depending on what I’m working on during the year.
You can even let Trello email you the summary of the project’s progress as well. That is helpful if you’re using Trello to collaborate with other people for the project.
Is project management software like Trello for you?
If you want something visual that imitates organizing your project with a corkboard, then Trello will fit the bill here.
Yes, Trello can be confusing to use at first. But if you spend the time to see what the basic Trello has to offer, then it’ll be a game changer for you.
Think Trello is something that will help you with organizing your book project? You can sign up for Trello right here:
P.S. Well, guess what? If you’re using Twitter to connect with your readers, you can use Trello to organize all the things you need to do on Twitter.
But do you know what are the things you need to do to make Twitter less of a time-suck?
If you don’t, take a look at my Twitter Marketing for Business guide.
With this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about Twitter from setting up your Twitter profile to the tasks you need to do to manage your presence on Twitter.
Interested in buying the guide? You can get the guide right here on my Payhip store:
Buy Twitter Marketing for Business guide on Payhip
Use the coupon code THEEFFICIENTYOUBLOG to get 20% off on your purchase.
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