Truth: This shelter-in-place life has caused us all to make some changes and learn how to operate in a whole new world. We're facing new challenges like homeschooling, having to cook dinner every night, perhaps working from home, and generally trying to manage a whole lot of things is (let's be honest) putting a bit of a strain on our brain power and mental load. Which on the upside, has caused many of us to learn some new things that perhaps, we'll carry forward when we return to "normal life"... whatever that is! I have been trying to think about what I could share that might help some of you out, when it hit me.
I have something that is both INVALUABLE and FREE. Yes, the perfect combo. I would love to introduce you all to Trello. Think of Trello like a post it note system that is fully digital and can live on your computer, on your phone, and on any other family member's computer that might need it. The 'post-it-notes' are Cards. The cards are organized onto Boards based on the overall life category that you need to store and organize information within.
This totally free online tool has been the biggest game-changer in my life, which I know is a BIG statement, but it's true. If you've ever felt like you have a thousand balls in the air and keep dropping them, if you struggle to locate the links to all the homeschooling apps your kids are supposed to be using, if you are often overwhelmed by all that there is to do and yet get to the end of the day and haven't managed to cross any of the important things off your list, this is for you.
I have a Trello board for my weekly To Do list. Anytime I think of something that needs to be done, I add it to the To Do's column. Then I have a column for every day of the week. At the beginning of each week I look at all of the To Dos, I drag them to the day that I want to try to get them done, and then I archive them as I finish that task. It is so gratifying and it keeps me from overloading any one day. We have a Master Trello Board for all of our projects with every task that needs doing. They get assigned to Team members along with due dates, documents or links needed to complete the task. All in one place. But here's where it's going to change your life TODAY, friends. Come in close.
I cook every single night for our family. That's 7 meals a week, 365 days a year. And the question "what's for dinner" was one I literally just could not handle anymore. Meal planning each week was a chore and it literally brought me down every time I had to deal with it. So a couple of years ago I spent a Saturday pulling together every recipe for the meals my family loves to eat. I gathered the ingredients list, the recipes, and made Trello cards for each and every one. It started as a 3 week plan and has grown to a FULL 8 WEEK MEAL PLAN. And I'm sharing it with you for free. Zero dollars.
You can use this meal plan 100% as is and you are DONE. Or you can add your favorite recipes and customize it to your family's needs and dietary preferences. Do you eat out every Saturday? Great, just remove all of the Saturday meals. Need every Tuesday night to be easy because you're always running around to soccer/baseball/dance classes (at least in normal life)? Trello can handle that too. You can add recipes, rearrange them, label them, add photos, and generally manipulate it in any way that will help you and make sense for your life.
Getting started on Trello is easy. Even if you aren't super tech savvy, I promise you will be able to figure this out! Trello has lots of great tutorials and videos to show you the way. Once you start you will will be hooked. I hope you enjoy Trello and that it takes a bit of the mental load off in your everyday life, but especially now!
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments! I'm excited to see how you like using Trello for ALL THE THINGS and especially how you enjoy trying these yummy meals!
