It is very easy to get bogged down when working on a project. Generally, the approach we take is to build out bits and pieces that make up the whole.
In my limited experience, I find myself constantly getting distracted, which makes me lose my direction, and then my motivation is spent trying to realign my train of thought. When this continues to happen, begins adding up to a lot of wasted time.
To combat this, I have been using Trello to manage tasks.
Trello gives you the ability to make columns based on whatever you want. For our purposes, I have followed a basic model of:
- Tasks to Do
- Tasks current being worked on
- Tasks on hold (due to needing other implementations first)
- Tasks Finished
For my team, we have also created a Resources column to dump any good info we can all use.
Within these columns, we can create cards for each task we assign for the project.
Cards can hold more than just the name of the task itself. When clicking into the card, we can utilize a number of different features to better identify the task at home.
Within the card, a very useful thing to do is to add a checklist for all the parts that make up the task. For example, we may be implementing a Game Over Function, but that only tells us so much. As below, we can break it down into the components that make up this function, and check them off as completed. This can signal to my group what is done, and what can still be worked on.
Labels are also very useful- I have seen them used to note urgency of the task needing completion, but we are using it in a way to categorize the different tasks to divide them up effectively.
The due-date tool is useful as it will plot the card to a shared calendar, and supply alerts if you have a due-date approaching.
Members is useful to assign specific tasks to a specific person. This notifies users individually and allows tasks to be filtered by user assignments.
On top of all of this, you can comment on cards, which will show up on the card itself, along with any history of activity that happened within the card.
Cards can hold a ton of helpful information, and can easily be moved between columns just by dragging and dropping. All together, this makes task management much easier and can help direct your attention at any point.
Note! I was NOT paid for this, but will happily accept any money :)
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