Layout examples

There are no right or wrong layouts – just the ones that work best for you, and there is are infinite possibilities for how you use the cards. Here are just a few examples of possible applications and typical layouts

Basic timeline plan.

Basic timeline plan sample layout

This is perhaps the most common usage – a timeline, in this case starting at the far left and running task by task to the far right. Tasks happen one after another, but some things need to happen at the same time – you can see these in the vertical columns. You may also have other mini-timelines running along at the same time – maybe a research project or somebody building a website: in this case we’ve shown two additional mini-timelines but the final layout is up to you. More on timelines >>

Tasks grouped by stages.

Plan layout grouping tasks by stages

Timelines are not the only way to create plans, often you want to group tasks into meaningful clusters. Here is an example where tasks have been grouped in stages. In this case we are not necessarily interested in the order in which each individual task is done, just identifying the items which fall into individual stages of the plan. You can create your own headers to suit your plan.

Timelines by person.

Timelines divided up according to people

You don’t have to have just one timeline. You may want to create parallel plans for yourself and your colleagues. These need not all start at the same point – for example Sarah needs to get some of her tasks completed before Bob and Lucy begin.

Sorting and grouping items

Sorting tasks by function

There are hundreds of ways that you can sort and group items in your plan. In this example we’ve built a business plan and then sorted the items under the various functions – here we have chosen finance, marketing, production and admin. Alternatively you could sort tasks by department or branch, by manager or by priority – the choice is yours – just write your own category cards and then sort your items. More on sorting and grouping >>