amanda dangelo

Between outlining new episodes for my new upcoming podcast and managing events for the club I run at my school; QU Women in Film, my brain usually feels like a web browser with fifty tabs open and music playing from an unknown source. I realized pretty quickly that relying on willpower and a collection of sticky notes wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I learned about a legitimate project management system to help me work smarter, not harder and immediately used it to my advantage.

I explored a few options to see what fit my workflow best. Basecamp and Asana are popular workplace staples, but they felt a bit too formal for my day-to-day routine. As a highly visual person staring at endless text lists is the worst thing on planet Earth. I needed a system that felt adaptable and visual, which led me straight to Trello and the amazing Kanban system.

Originating at Toyota to streamline manufacturing operations, Kanban uses visual cards to track work through different stages, typically broken down into “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done.” It perfectly mimics the Agile mindset of taking things in short, manageable increments rather than trying to conquer a massive project whole.

Setting up my Trello workspace actually felt like applying Design Thinking to my own schedule. I had to empathize with my future, stressed-out self and design a solution that actually made sense in practice, not just in theory. I started by breaking down my most intimidating assignments into tiny cards. For the podcast, I set up a clear pipeline with lists for “Ideas,” “Pre-Production,” “Recording,” and “Post-Production.” I can attach scripts directly to the cards, assign due dates, and add checklists for the minor details so nothing falls through the cracks.

The results have completely changed the way I complete my “To Do” list. When I sit down to work now, I don’t waste twenty minutes figuring out where to start or who I need to follow up with. I just open my board, grab a card from the “To Do” column, and get to work. It naturally limits my work-in-progress so I don’t overwhelm myself by multitasking. It also gets me into that “deep focus” state immediately. Plus, dragging a completed card into the “Done” column is ridiculously satisfying. If you’re struggling to keep your creative projects on track, stop relying on your memory and give a visual system a try.