{"id":7816,"date":"2019-05-28T09:30:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T08:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/?p=7816"},"modified":"2019-05-28T11:39:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T10:39:04","slug":"the-organisational-tools-i-rely-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2019\/05\/28\/the-organisational-tools-i-rely-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The organisational tools I rely on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you hit your bed at night do you sometimes feel that you haven\u2019t achieved what you hoped to? If so, you may be helped by using online organisational tools. When many of us start a project, big or small, we often start by writing lists, but writing and lists are linear and our thoughts aren\u2019t. Consequently using alternatives to text and lists can increase our productivity. The common feature of my favourite organisational tools is that they are non-linear and visual and this helps us formulate our thinking and plan our time. That is why in the TEL team we use organizational tools to help us run our day and to be more productive.
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Let me start with an example. Writing this blog post was not the only thing I needed to do today. There were a number of other competing tasks. However with the help of a project management board I am able to timetable and prioritise this task. Today, writing this blog post was at the top of the agenda.
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Example Trello board from
https:\/\/trello.com\/inspiringboards<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having prioritised this blog post as my top task for the day, the first thing I did was to draw a mind map of the things I wanted to say in the post. I had a host of ideas but how could they be organised? I used a second organisational tool that helps me organise my day-to-day work life – a mind map. Mind maps can be a paper exercise but there are several n big advantages to using computer-based tools.
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Mind map (using the free drawing app Draw.io<\/a>) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is important at this point for me to note that the tools this post introduces will be of interest to you but the same organisational tools will be of use to students. It is a good idea to introduce tools like this to your students because they can help them organise lecture notes, organise their thinking and they are a great way of getting started on an essay. Furthermore there are some important accessibility barriers that these tools help students overcome, making your teaching more inclusive to all students whatever their background or circumstances.
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Introducing Trello<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trello is project management software that we have mentioned before<\/a>. I have a number of boards on Trello including the high stakes projects I am working on and the day-to-day management of tasks including email responses and so on.  Depending on the type of project on which I am working the board may be collaborative with other team members or private to me.
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In my opinion thes greatest strengths of Trello are its usability and its flexibility. Trello is highly featured but it is also simple to use. It allows you to easily and quickly visualise the tasks you and others in your team are engaged with and their current status.
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You have a row of column titles that can be whatever what. In my day-to-day planner, they include stalled tasks, pending tasks, active tasks, awaiting review and ongoing  tasks. The cards can have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n