One step at a time.
In efforts to become more organized with my classwork and tasks as a student taking both undergrad and grad classes, I tried out two project management systems. The two platforms I tried were Trello and Asana. Starting them both on Monday night, I planned out my projects, assignments and homework that needed to be accomplished. However I quickly realized I liked Asana much more than Trello for planning my assignments. As I felt a bit overwhelmed using more than one platform, I switched to solely Asana for the rest of the week after testing both for three days.
“Break the unreasonable down into small chunks. A big goal is only achieved when every little thing that you do everyday, gets you closer to that goal” – Maren Kate
The image above showcases my Asana profile as of Sunday after using it for the week. I created four lists:
Done
Do Today
This Week
Random to Do
I found out a way to program the done list that when an item is moved to that section, it is automatically checked off as completed. Personally, I like to see what I have accomplished throughout the week so I kept the ‘done list’ to the far left of the screen. Then next to it, was my ‘do today’ list which I was able to use while planning each day individually. It was helpful for me to separate tasks and what needed to get done each day. Then the next section was ‘this week’ where I recorded assignments and tasks with their due dates for this upcoming week. That way, I could move tasks from this section to the ‘do today’ section each day while planning. Lastly, on the furthest right I have a ‘random to do’ section where I can list things I don’t want to forget but don’t necessarily have a due date.
Overall, this system really worked for me and I enjoyed the process of customizing my boards and the project each corresponded too. Another feature I really liked was the subtask feature. This way I could further organize each task into bite-sized pieces to make it more manageable. The subtasks feature was one of the things that made me prefer Asana over Trello as Trello had the subtask feature as well but in order to view it you had to click into each task whereas Asana made it easily accessible at the home screen.
After watching videos from ProjectManager on youtube, I learned the importance of project management. Breaking down deliverables with a detailed project plan and timeline is helpful for individuals to see all necessary tasks and plan accordingly (5 Steps). I am a very visual person so seeing everything on boards in Asana was more helpful to me than the lists and calendar feature personally. An important habit for success is to stay organized with checklists or software to stay accountable and minimize distractions (7 Work Habits).
Additionally, having a detailed project management system is an important habit to work smarter rather than harder (Work Smarter). With project management systems including Asana, you can assign different tasks to teammates to help you collaborate and manage assignments. Having a documentation system or process can help you overall stay on top of your work and feel less stressed in addition to staying productive.
Unfortunately, Asana is only free for 30 days, however I will certainly keep using it for the remainder of my free trial as I found it to be very helpful, keeping me on task.
“7 Work Habits You Need to Succeed – Project Management Training.” YouTube, 4 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsLTDQ9H7-M.
“How to Work Smarter Not Harder.” YouTube, 29 July 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQx6L-EVJYM.
“Project Planning Process: 5 Steps To Project Management Planning.” YouTube., 11 Feb. 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do8iykQKMfU.
Hey, I’m Ashley!
I am a graphic & interactive designer passionate about creating purposeful, fun, and engaging design. Whether it’s a brand identity, a responsive website, or a social media campaign, I love connecting ideas with strategy to make work that’s not only beautiful, but effective.
