I’m a list maker. I love compiling new to do lists, organizing my diary and there is nothing compared to the feeling of crossing something off my list. I even get a little glow from flicking back through my pages in my diary and see all the work, meetings or things I have done. Quite sad really I know. But what all of these lists and diary-keeping isn’t really doing is getting me to do all those things on my list, I’ll get through a fair bit of them, but I generally fail to achieve list nirvana and cross everything off. Recently I’ve gone to the next level and embraced digital organizers. I’ve played around with Microsoft Project in the past but found it to be too big, too detailed and just too much to use easily. Also, at home my computers are all Macbooks so that meant no MS Project. I looked around for something I could use on all of my devices and settled on Trello – its capacity for you to build lots of project boards is great, its free (very important) and I can use it on my laptops, work computers, ipad and even my phone. So over the last few weeks I’ve been busily building my lists, getting organized and generally playing around in Trello. So, here is the big question – has it made me more organized? Well, I wonder. The constant consulting of my boards and lists is keeping everything in my mind, and I think this has made me get through it all. Its something I keep looking at, annotating and therefore maintaining a focus on the things I wanted to get done. I think this is the secret of digital organizers, they keep you focused on the things you would like to get done, give you opportunities to make annotations or re-configure your lists if you cannot do something by the time you set, or if you encounter a hurdle or something you need to adjust. They give you a sense of being in control of the crazy mayhem that at times, is your life. When it all gets too overwhelming, you breathe, you make a new board on Trello and the visage of control is achieved. In essence, I think these types of tools make you a better person. I’m certainly feeling that way. Of course there is a catch to all of this organization – you have to log on – you have to actually consult your Trello. The alarms, reminders or other notifications you set up wont work unless you log in. So if you want to avoid facing the list of tasks NOT done, then you don’t log on. Easy. Default back to being a messy, disorganized version of yourself. What we need is an automatic log in when you turn on your device…..that way you cannot hide or avoid your Trello……..