The Marble Jar Channel

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video, I'll show you how I use Todoist to manage my work in graduate school. I've been using two task management platforms in parallel to manage my work for grad school this semester.  I just did some videos recently on how to use Trello to manage school work in college/university and also high school.  This video is about Todoist.  Apologies in advance if you've already seen the other videos -- there will be a little duplication. Although I really like the versatility and richness of features from Trello, in the end, I've decided to use Todoist based on my requirements and needs.  I've actually started using it for all my task management, but in this video, I'll just talk about managing college work.    I'm in a part-time, partial distance learning program and am taking three classes this semester.  Because of this, my set up will be a little simpler than...

Hi, everyone.  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video, I'll show you how I helped my kids organize their high school work using Todoist. I'm a bit of an organizational system junkie, but obviously not everyone is.  I've been trying to find a system that works well for organizing tasks for each of my kids and they both have really different styles.  I started out using Trello with both of my kids -- you can see my video on that.  My son almost immediately found it too complicated and confusing to use.  Fair enough.  He really just wanted to use one of those super oversimplified homework apps, but after trying a couple out, I thought they were way too limited.  So, he's now using Todoist to manage school work, chores, and his college application process. Because we were looking for a simple system, this use of Todoist is fairly straightforward.  Simple is important though -- the more complicated you make thi...

Hi, everyone!  This is  Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video, I'll share how I've helped my kids set up Trello to organize their high school assignments and school work. I've been testing out 2 organization systems in parallel for my grad school work -- Trello and Todoist.  They are both great applications, but different.  Based on their preferences, one of my high schoolers is using Trello and the other is using Todoist.  In this video, I'll share how you can set Trello up to help you organize your high school assignments and work. I have a massive pet peeve about high school and the way assignments are given.  In middle school, assignments were given out day by day, but there was quite a bit of hand holding and some leeway to make sure students got things done.  In college, professors are required to give their students a syllabus at the beginning of the semester with the entire four months already entirely plann...

Hi, everyone.  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today’s video, I’ll explain how you can set up Trello to organize your tasks and projects for college or university. I’ve been testing out a bunch of project/task management systems and am currently using two systems in parallel to organize grad school — Trello and Todoist. Both of them are great, but different.  In this video, I'll tell you how I organize school with Trello.   Trello is a great app.  I have a couple of videos on Trello basics and how I use it if you are interested.  As I’ve said in other videos, Trello is incredibly versatile — sometimes it feels SO versatile that you don’t even quite know how to get started.  Which is why is it nice to hear how someone else uses it for a similar purpose so that you don’t have to start from scratch. So, I’m in grad school, for the second time, this time getting a masters in social work.  I’m in a part-time, pa...

Hi everyone! This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today’s video I’ll share the rule that I have for homecoming and other special occasion dresses. Fall is in the air and that means that means we will soon be kicking off the annual bickering about homecoming dress selection.   So I’ve talked ad nauseam to my daughter about clothing choices and the male gaze (I have a video on that if you’re interested), but in the end teenage girls want to look as “cute” as possible for homecoming and other dress up occasions. And that generally means that there is going to be some conflict between teenager and parents about their outfit choices. Unfortunately, looking “cute” many times means showing a little more body than I am generally comfortable with.   But that said, I was once a teenage girl, and I know it’s not gonna fly for me to make my daughter go to homecoming in something like this. She wants to fit in — I get it.  BUT there ARE some fairly scandalo...

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today’s video I’ll give my argument for why I think you should declare email bankruptcy. If you are watching this video, you probably don’t have just like 35 emails in your inbox, right?  My guess is you have hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands.  In fact, you probably have that many UNREAD emails.  So your email badge looks something like this? This probably feels a little overwhelming.  So, what are the drawbacks to having that many emails? You miss stuff.   It is hard to remember what you have responded to and what you haven’t gotten to yet if you don’t have that reminder in your inbox. And we all get so many emails per day that important emails just get pushed farther and farther down into your inbox.  So if you find that you have forgotten to put an event on your calendar or forgotten to respond to an important email, it may be time for a new system. ...

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video I'll give you another tip for taming your inbox -- creating a 2Read folder. My email inbox is the main way that information comes into my life.  I make a point to get to inbox zero at least once per day.  Does that mean that I handle everything that comes into my inbox right when I get it?  No -- it just means that I don't use my inbox as a to do list.  It's simply a staging ground.   In order to do this, I have some rules around managing my inbox.  I quickly make decisions on each email: Trash, File, Act, or Act Later.  I delete emails I don't need.  I file emails that don't contain an action for me, but that I might need later.  I act on emails that I can take care of in 2 minutes or less.  Anything that takes longer than 2 minutes gets put on my task list.   In order to do this efficiently, you get really motivated ...