[We use Trello to manage the many examples in Fundamentals of Picking. Even if you’re not interested in the course, here’s how you can use Trello to organize your practice.]
Two weeks ago, we talked about deliberate practice as it’s laid out in Kathy Sierra’s book Badass.
In it, she asks us to imagine having three posters on our wall, one for each skill level:
- Can’t Do,
- Can Do With Effort, and
- Mastered/Automatic.
What she’s really describing here is a variation on Kanban.
Kanban originated in Toyota’s famed lean production method, and is now the go-to method for software development teams.
It looks something like this:
Discrete tasks move from the queue (To Do) into production (Doing) and into the finished pile (Done).
Of course, they’re not limited to three categories:
And in an office, they’re usually done on giant white boards with post-it notes:
Remote teams—and nerds like me—use virtual kanban boards.
There are a bunch of them, but the one I like is Trello.
I use it for so so many things.
But how should YOU use Trello?
Here are five ideas.
1. Break a big practice to-do into component parts..
…complete with checklists for each card:
2. You could keep track of your progress in a course or book by trelloing each lesson…
…or even each example, like I do for the Fundamentals of Picking course:
3. You can keep track of what you need to learn for this week’s gig:
[I had country gig on Friday & a wedding on Saturday]
4. You can make individual “boards” for specific projects:
[this is from an Elton John tribute show]
5. Or share a board with your bandmates for songs you’re learning:
[the optimal number of songs to know? however many you have, plus 200!]
Plus it’s easy to add comments, links, charts, & recordings to a card.
[helps things not get lost in the chaos of your inbox]
For me, Trello is a key component to life as a professional musician. If organization & sanity are things you could use a little more of in your life, give it a try.
