Why I Started Using Motion as My Productivity Tool
I used Trello as my primary productivity tool for about 8 years, but I started to run into shortcomings, especially once my schedule cleared and I needed a better way to manage bigger chunks of time. I want to first preface this article by saying that different productivity tools have different advantages and Motion is just right for me in this season of life. When my time gets more constricted in the future, I will likely switch back to a simpler tool like Trello. For now, here are a few reasons why I switched and what I’ve gained in the process:
Tasks Vs. Projects
In Trello, you can only create Cards, Lists, and Boards. I’ve tried all of the different you can use these three items to categorize your to-do list. Sometimes I use Lists as a Project name with all the cards below it as Tasks. Other times, I’ve created Cards for projects and used the checklist feature for Tasks. Lastly, I’ve sometimes created multiple Trello boards for various projects to spread out across many Lists and Tasks per project. No matter how I tried to configure Trello, I still ran into shortcomings with:
How to prioritize across these different items
How to clearly see what is a task vs. a project
How to execute more and plan less. I’d often spend a lot of (what felt like) “productive” time just keeping my Trello board organized, moving things around, and finding new ways to stay organized within it’s framework. It felt good, but it wasn’t doing me any good.
Less Planning, More Executing
I knew Trello had stopped working for me when I kept wishing there was a way to more seamlessly put my tasks into a calendar or schedule. With Trello, I would sit down at my desk and start moving cards from “To Do” to “Done.” That might sound productive, and it can be, but there were also huge limitations to this process:
I found that Trello was mentally rewarding me for clearing as many cards as possible in a day. This hardwired me to get quicker, cheaper tasks done to just “clear my plate” and be able to see everything on my board more clearly. This left me with productively cheap days. For example, Trello might be better for listing out your errands and crossing them off a list, or admin work. But now that my schedule is clear for deeper work and more meaningful projects, I can no longer keep using it, as it might lead to mismanaging this crucial time in my life when I have enormous opportunities ahead of me and precious time to get there.
I don’t have children right now, or a full-time job, and in the somewhat near future, I likely will have children. This is such a crucial time in my life for productivity. The day is mine. I cannot afford to be using the wrong tool that takes me down the wrong path. I have to be ruthless in my systems and check myself constantly: Am I getting where I want to go?
Dedicated Schedules for Different Types of Tasks
Here’s another HUGE thing that was tripping me up with all of this freedom (and Trello was NOT helping me solve this problem):
WHEN to do all of the tasks.
This is life-changing for anyone with a flexible schedule without as many constraints:
If you get to decide your entire schedule, what’s stopping you from running a personal errand on Tuesday at 10am or doing deep work at the library on a Saturday at 9am? You could work at night, or you could work on the weekend. Similarly, you could do personal things like lunch with a friend on a Wednesday, or babysit your niece on a Friday.
There are absolutely no boundaries except for the ones you set.
With Motion, you can create various “Schedules.” For example, I have schedules called:
Weekdays
Weekend Days
Evenings
Morning Routine
When I create a new Task, I select which schedule the AI should schedule me for. For example, when I created a recurring task for “Walking Remy” (my dog), I selected “Morning Routine” which tells the AI to automatically place that on my calendar between the hours of 6-9am. Or let’s say I have to drop off a package at FedEx, I would select “Weekend Day.”
Before, I would see the task of “Drop off package at FedEx” and have a huge urge to just cross it off my list. I’d push away from my desk, drive to FedEx, drive back home, sit back down at my computer, thinking, “Thank god I don’t have to stare at that box or that annoying Trello card anymore.”
Now that I’m using Motion, I’m doing two things differently:
I put the package in my car so I don’t have to see it all week.
It’s already on my schedule to drop it off on Saturday (an appropriate day for errands!), and I follow the calendar that Motion has created for me for the day, which is full of meaningful deep work like actually writing my new book—and not running away from it with errands.
I’ve also started considering that when we do have children, my work days will change. My mom plans to babysit for us two days per week, and unless we hire any other weekday help, that means my work week goes down from Monday through Friday to perhaps Tuesday and Thursday. I can then schedule my tasks into those days. The ability to create these hyper-specific schedules is super cool. Perhaps you have a side hustle that you only work on Sundays. You could create a schedule called “Side Hustle” and set it for Sundays from 9-5pm. When you create a task for your side hustle, select that schedule and the AI will automatically place it on your calendar for Sundays.
Better System for Recurring Tasks and Putting it On Your Calendar
There are a lot of recurring tasks that were a huge pain to include on Trello:
Walking my dog
Working out
Updating a daily spreadsheet I use
Checking my emails
Most days, I would use Trello to create a List called “Monday” for example and then fill it up with my schedule in order:
Breakfast
Walk dog
Exercise
Shower / get dressed
Make tea
9am start work
{work tasks}
Lunch
{work tasks}
It helped me see a clear plan for the day, but all of that time I was spending on organization was time I could’ve spent executing.
Priority & Deadline Settings with Automation into My Schedule
Trello allows you to set deadlines and allows you to look at those deadlines on a calendar view, but it was never helpful to me. I would have to manually babysit those deadlines and move them around on my Trello board to prioritize them.
With Motion, I enter a desired deadline, and set the priority level, then it automatically places that task onto my calendar. I don’t have to do any thinking or planning about it. I just look at my calendar for the day and start flying.
Ability to Block Hours and Days
One of the huge perks of being in my position is the flexible schedule and I wouldn’t want to change it for the world. I don’t have any meetings on my calendar except for a few strategy sessions with peers. But there are many times my schedule changes last minute. For example, sometimes my dog needs to go to the vet ASAP, so I call and make a same-day appointment. With Motion, I can tell it “Block off from 12-2pm” today and it will automatically re-route my work into new spaces on my calendar within my set time of working from 9-5pm on Monday-Friday. That means that going to the vet creates a clear trade-off; it pushes my work back a bit. But now that Motion manages how it shifts my workload, I don’t have to think about it and reroute my Trello cards into new lists, etc. It’s done for me.
Similarly, there are days I take off to do fun things during the week. For example, malls and grocery stores tend to be busy on the weekends, so I’ll occasionally schedule that into my work week. It creates a more peaceful shopping experience for me and helps break up the week so I’m not only working every day.
I choose not to work like a dog because that’s a lot more fun! So if I let Motion schedule me for every single moment of my Mon-Fri 9-5pm then I’d just be working full-time but without the full-time income…that’s no fun. I like to enjoy the freedom I have by saying yes to impromptu dates with my sisters and their kids, pushing away from my computer on gorgeous summer days and going on a long exercise walk in the sun, or simply heading upstairs for a bubble bath at 3pm and calling it quits for the day.
Yes, we’re talking about productivity, but we’re also talking about our lifestyle and how productivity fits into that—not the other way around. That’s what aligns the most with my values. Motion helps me clearly see the trade-offs when I say yes to something else in my life versus sitting down for my work for those specific hours. I can now easily alter my schedule with last-minute plans and work around it.
Integrates With My Google Cal So I Can Work Around Events and Appointments
Events on my calendar can sometimes throw me off. For example, if I’m heading to a doctor’s appointment at 11am, I’ll struggle to decide which tasks I should focus on before then. I’ll often think, “Well that’s not enough time to get deep into creative mode on the book, so let me do these three quick tasks just to get stuff done.” But with Motion, it always prioritizes the deeper work because I’ve told it that it’s a high priority.
So when I have a doctor’s appointment, Motion shows it on my calendar and the tasks surrounding the event so I can still work around mid-week events. This has given me a much better structure, accountability, and expanded my possibility of what can get done in a day.
Putting More Tasks On My Daily Schedule Than I Previously Would Have Accomplished
With Trello, I had to manually decide, “How many tasks will I accomplish today?” But with Motion, every time I create a task, I have to estimate how long it will take me. It then places it on my calendar for that deliberate amount of time. The first time I set up Motion, I saw it was outlining my week with way more work than I previously thought possible because it was clearly following the structure I gave it. If there’s a task I’m dreading that takes 4 hours, it’s very doable if it’s broken down into different chunks throughout a few days (which Motion automatically does for you). You can set that Motion will give you 30-minute breaks every 2 hours, or whatever timeframe works for you. You can also grab a task and drag it elsewhere on your calendar or click the defer button to move it to a later date.
Are There Any Downfalls to Using Motion?
Yes.
1. It’s more complicated than a tool like Trello. It took me ~2 hours to learn, transfer my tasks, and get set up. I figure this “time tax” was well worth the time I will save over the next few years.
2. It’s created for larger teams and I’m working as an individual. I ignore some of the functionality and just keep plowing forward the way I want to use it.
3. It’s harder to see your to-do list as clearly. This is kind of a “con” but also a “pro.” I used to stare at my to-do list in Trello a lot. Now I just glance at my Motion calendar and it better propels me into action. That being said, I sometimes worry that a task will slip through the cracks because this organization is very different. But that hasn’t happened yet. I try to briefly glance at all of the tasks on my list occasionally (versus the calendar view) just to double check I’m moving everything forward that I want to. For example, if “scheduling our water filter installation” is tagged as “Blocked” because I’m waiting for a reply from the plumber, then it won’t show up on my calendar, but I can filter my tasks for “Blocked” and look if there’s anybody I need to follow-up with.
Watch How I’m Using Motion
Feel free to speed up the video and add closed captioning (CC).
How Much Does Motion Cost?
As an individual, Motion costs $34/month on the monthly plan or $228/year (which is $19/month if you break it down). It’s a 44% savings to pay annually so I decided to commit for the year. If I produce more deep work this year compared to last year because of Motion then it is well worth the $228/year versus sticking to a free tool like Trello.
Try Motion for Free for 7 Days
You can sign up here.
