Happy Sunday Friends!

Welcome back to another Sunday Friends! I’m glad you’re here. Here is your Sunday Musings, dedicated to exploring and sharing thoughts and insights on productivity, technology, and life. If you find it useful, please feel free to forward this along to friends!

Recommendation

📝 Trello

If you’re like me (and you’re reading this, so probably). You love tools for your systems. Trello is a great simple Kanban-like (card-and-list format) tool that lets you set up lists in columns and cards as topics. Think of it like those lean sigma or agile sessions where everyone puts sticky notes on the wall. Why do I like it?

It’s Easy

To set up your board, you just add a couple columns and cards and you’re up with a simple board in about a minute. Better, you can just pull from a template and you very quickly have a framework for collaboration and organizing a session. Also, it’s good both on mobile and computer.

It’s Fast

You can add anything to your board, images, documents, checklists, etc. Once you add the image to a card, it also shows up as the thumbnail, which is nice. The checklists are great for breaking up a task into smaller pieces (creating a system).

Collaboration is Smooth

You can add collaborators and assign cards to them. You can also use the board for the whole team project. This gives a common operational picture and transparency and clarity. For group decision-making, you can have people upvote preferred cards.

Templating is a Key Accelerator

Trello has hundreds of free template boards created by the company and by users. Pick your category (productivity, project management, marketing, etc.) Duplicate the template, and you’re off. Some I like are:

It’s Free (and tiered)

If you just have a couple people for a project, you can do 10 boards and unlimited cards per workspace. If you need more it has tiered plans, going up by about $5 per user/month for more advanced capabilities in tracking and external integrations.

Limitations

Trello’s simplicity is both a feature and a curse. It’s not meant to deal with large blocks of information or to have threaded conversations. It’s not as customizable, or as complex with advanced features for integrating all aspects of work and multiple projects with many parts and collaborators. For that I like Monday.

It’s great FREE tool for simple team project management and idea organization on the go. If you want project maps, timelines, and multiple drillable dashboard views, be prepared to pay for them.

This Week in Productivity

⚙️Systems

What is it?

Systems are sets of tasks, activities, and routines, working together that accomplish a specified result. They include productivity tools, or simple frameworks to help us approach and knock out our to-do list. A productivity system should help us maximize our effectiveness and efficiency.

When we want to achieve something, we tend to focus on the singular outcome, the goal. Tackling that goal with a system - chains of processes leading to that goal - creates a mental shift. Many times, we achieve our goal: Lose 10 lbs., buy a sports car, save $1000, and then we go right back to our old habits. Creating and internalizing systems moves us from that short-term thinking to long-term focus and change.

How I use it

I try to break down what I need to do into smaller pieces and look at them as processes. Then refine them into sustainable and repeatable processes. Once I fit the pieces together, I follow the system, refining along the way. Knowing the goal is good for planning and visualizing where you need to go. Systems are how you blaze the right path. Thinking in terms of systems and finding that path is I get things done no matter the size of the tasks. To quote James Clear, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

Here’s a good link for it!

Quote I’m Musing

“Make your exit with grace—the same grace shown to you.”
- Marcus Aurelius

This is a snippet from the last paragraph (12.36) of Meditations. Marcus is near his end (which happens to be this week, March 17th, 180), and that he ends with this entry is testament not only a testament to his living his beliefs but is also a source of inspiration and comfort to many of us who read his journal.

That he is talking of accepting mortality is absolutely what he is saying. I think there is more we can take from this. It’s an acceptance and understanding that what we do is, ultimately, ephemeral. Our life, careers, hobbies, relationships, you name it. It all ends at some point and that time isn’t ours (generally) to choose. Love what you do while you can, love your career, your friends, your family most of all. Ensure that you’re there with them and basking in the time you get. When it’s time to move on, exit with the grace and gratitude of someone who has loved every moment.

I would love your feedback!

Which musing is your favorite? What else do you want to see or what should I eliminate? Any other suggestions? Just send a tweet to @erichaupt on Twitter and put #SundayMusings at the end so I can find it. Or, eric@erichaupt.com for long form email.

Have a wonderful week, I’ll see you Sunday.
-e