5 Trello Power-Ups I use to supercharge my project management

I've been using Trello for a long time. I use the project management tool to manage my article pitches to clients, my book-writing schedule, and even a massive stage production I'm preparing to launch.

Although Trello is a great product by itself, it also includes Power-Ups, which allow you to add even more features to the platform. There are Power-Ups for anything you can imagine, but I've narrowed the field down to five that I regularly use. 

Also: How to create a Kanban board in Trello for a much more organized life

Not everyone will use these add-ons, but I'm willing to bet that one (or more) of these Power-Ups will find its way into your Trello account.

Let's take a look at the Power-Ups I use.

Installing Power-Ups

Before I get into the list, let's address how you install Power-Ups. Open a Trello Board, click the Power-Ups icon (a small rocket near the top right), click Add Power-Ups, search for the Power-Up you want, and click Add. 

Also: How project management tools can boost your productivity

Some Power-Ups will require you to link an account to the service or create one, if necessary. Other Power-Ups need to be configured to function. Either way, Power-Ups are as easy to install as they are to use.

1. Google Drive

This one is fairly self-explanatory. With the Google Drive Power-Up, you can link files and folders from Google Drive to a Trello card, search your Drive account, view real-time previews of files, check details of files, and even turn a Trello board into a Google Slides presentation with a single click. 

Once you've added the Google Drive Power-Up, you'll find a new button in the card edit/creation popup that allows you to create and attach a file or a folder. This Power-Up is simple and effective, especially if you regularly use Google Drive and want to integrate the two services. 

Also: 5 Google Drive tips to help you prevent disasters

The Google Drive Power-Up is free to install and use.

2. Swimlanes by Blue Cat

This Power-Up isn't quite as easy to explain -- but once you get the hang of it, you'll see how useful it is. Swimlanes allow you to break a board into constituent parts and view them simultaneously. For example, you might have multiple users who work with a board and want to view each user's work in their own lane. When doing so, you'll see all cards assigned to each user and where each card is in the workflow. 

Also: How to turn your Google Tasks into a Kanban board with TasksBoard

This approach is so much easier than remembering when a member has been assigned to which card and it also makes it possible to see which members are behind, on track, or ahead. Swimlanes won't be as useful for smaller boards with one or two members, However, once those boards start growing, this Power-Up will become a must-have.

The Swimlanes by Blue Cat Power-Up is free to install and use.

3. Notes

For my stage production board, I need to take notes and use templates to make adding other notes easier. Yes, there is the Description field and the Activity comments in Trello, but certain boards and cards need much more than those fields offer. When that issue presents itself, I turn to the Notes Power-Up. 

The Notes Power-Up allows you to format your notes, add outlines, change the note icon, change the visibility, and use a built-in AI tool to help you compose your notes. This Power-Up also offers print functionality, automation, note linking, export, share, copy, move, lock, convert to template, version history, and more. The Notes Power-Up has become an essential addition to my Trello boards.

The Notes Power-Up can be used as a free trial for 14 days, after which you'll have to pay for the feature. The price uses a tiered system, so the more users you have, the cheaper it will be (per user). The basic price starts at $9/month, which includes two members. You can add more members at $3/per for the first 10 members. Read more about the pricing on the Trello plan matrix.

4. Smart Fields

Some of my boards are more artistic and don't include the fields I need by default. For example, I might want to add a quick date for filming a scene, so I can glance at the top of a card and know what's happening when. With Smart Fields, I can do that. 

Smart Fields isn't quite as flexible as other field options. However, the Power-Up presents the fields at the top of the card and displays the information from the field in the card description within the board (so you don't have to bother opening the card to view the data). Smart Fields also allows you to create formulas for cards that are similar to Excel formulas. It will take some time to understand how this feature works. But once you get the hang of it, you'll know why this Power-Up has become useful to me.

There is a free plan for Smart Fields, but you only get a single field. The Pro plan is $4.99/month for each board and allows multiple fields.

5. Slack

If you use Slack, you'll find this Power-Up is essential. The Slack Power-Up allows you to share cards to your team members, set up alerts to automatically notify Slack Channels for activity within a board, get reminders for cards in Slack, send a card as a direct message, and attach Slack conversations to cards. 

This Power-Up is essential for anyone who uses Slack and Trello and wants to make it easier to collaborate on boards and cards, while also having the power of Slack conversations as a one-two punch.

Also: This hidden Slack feature can power up your productivity

The Slack Power-Up is free to install and use.