Hello, Scot Friesen here at Simpletivity. If you are a longtime viewer or subscriber to the Simpletivity YouTube channel, you know that I recommend Trello as the best way to manage or organize your projects.
Whether you're working with several other individuals, on a team project, or just managing your own personal to-do list, Trello is such a flexible tool. It's an easy tool to use to manage everything you would like to organize and accomplish.
Why use Trello
I often get asked the question, how do I set one of my Trello cards as completed? If I have finished one of these tasks, what do I do once I've completed that task?
Today, I'm going to show you some of the more traditional methods of how to do that and introduce you to a brand new feature. It was just introduced a few days ago, allowing you to set a due date to mark it as completed.
How to archive a Trello card
Let's start off with some of the more traditional ways that people have used to show a card is completed. Probably the most basic one is to just archive the card.
For users who really don't want to see the card on their Trello board anymore, archiving a card in Trello is an option. You can always search it, go back, and bring it back to your main Trello board.
Sometimes the most effective way to show that a card is completed is just to remove it altogether. However, I realize that is not the best solution for everyone, and often people would like to see it on the same screen.
Maybe you get to the end of your day or the end of your week, and you want to be able to review all of the things that you've completed. An alternative option is to create a separate list.
How to create a done list
Here, I've created a Done list. If I've already emailed Jane about this situation, I can just drag it over to my Done list.
If I've gone ahead and booked this flight for my Chicago trip, I can just drag it over to the Done list. This is very much the Kanban method of moving a task through a particular process.
Once I've finished it, I can just drag it over into my Done list and view them there. I can review what I've accomplished and, maybe at the end of the week, archive this entire list or these tasks individually.
How to use labels
The third method, and probably one of the more common methods that people use to indicate that a card is completed, is by using labels. Trello makes different colored labels available, and you can go beyond just having a color.
You can actually put a piece of text on that color as well. I've already gone ahead and put completed on the red shade.
When I add this to this card, it's going to add a little red bar there. When I'm viewing my entire Trello board, if I click to open up that card, you can see I even have the text to tell me what that color means.
This can be very helpful if you just want to manage fewer lists or keep those to-dos in a single list. You can just add that color, letting you know that you've completed that particular task.
How to use the Due Date Checkbox
Just recently, Trello introduced a new way of indicating that a card is completed if you use the due date feature. The key thing is that you need to have a due date associated with a card in order to use this completed feature.
I'm going to first start by adding a due date to this card and hit save. Here, you can see as per usual, we have our due date listed within the card.
You'll see that there's something new. There is now a checkbox just to the left of it.
Before I click that checkbox, I'm just going to click outside of the card. Let's see if anything has changed on the front.
You'll see on the front, it looks exactly the same. If you've added a due date to a card, you have the date and the little clock icon telling you that this particular card is due by December 16th.
Now, if I go ahead and complete this task today, I can check this box. My due date icon area has changed to the color green, indicating that I have completed that task.
Of course, that green shows up on the front of the card as well. Longtime Trello users will notice that green is a new shade for the due date area.
How the Due Date Checkbox works
You could have a yellow shade if you were getting close to the due date or within 24 hours of your selected due date. You may be used to a red shade when it's past due.
When you've set something and passed that due date, selecting this checkbox will change whatever color it is to green, indicating that the task is finished. Now, I can quickly review all of my tasks in this list and see which ones have been completed.
Issues with the Due Date Checkbox
A few things you may want to note: I'm going to open up this card once again. If we scroll down to the bottom here in the Activity Feed, you will notice that it is not keeping track of this checkbox.
If I uncheck or check the due date, it is actually not keeping a record of that action. You can see that I added this card to the to-do list and set the due date to December 16th.
There's no record as of yet as to when I have completed this task. That could be a problem or something you may be disappointed in with this particular feature.
If you've completed this task early or even late, Trello is currently not keeping a record of that action. I'm assuming that this is something that Trello will be adding relatively shortly.
We can see this behavior show up in other areas. Let's take an example of a checklist.
I'm just going to quickly add a checklist to this card. It will say that I just added a checklist.
If I check this first one here, this question's one, you will notice that Scott Friesen completed questions on this card is recorded. I'll check the next one, and it shows Scott Friesen completed review the contract on this card.
The ability to record these individual tasks or checklists here within the card is being kept track of. The capability is there, and I'm going to assume in short time that Trello will start to record this particular action.
Whether it's unchecked or checked, it will record when you've completed that task. As of right now, it is not showing up in the Activity Feed.
Conclusion
With this new feature in Trello, the ability to check a due date off is available only if you've added a due date to a card. Not every task or to-do needs a due date.
Perhaps you are fine with using a color-coded method, moving that card into a Done or Completed list, or using the archive function to get it off your Trello board completely. I would encourage you to test the new completed due date feature, giving you the ability to check things off in Trello.
If you liked this video, I would encourage you to like, subscribe, and comment below. What do you think of this new feature in Trello, and how are you planning to use it?
If you have not checked out the Simpletivity.com website, I would encourage you to do so. You will find many more tips and techniques to help you stay productive there.
Remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
