A year already since Trello was launched? It hardly seems possible. In celebration we thought we’d slice you off a hunk of stats about Trello for your enjoyment. Make a wish!

Let’s look at the numbers…

You guys have been busy.

You have created 14,581,962 cards. That doesn’t include the auto-generated welcome board cards. Those are actual cards you created. That’s like 40,000 cards a day. You have made 777,000 boards. You’ve made 717,337 accounts. We hit 500,000 in July, so it’s going even faster these days. Across all those accounts there have been 103,000 organizations made.

How many is that per minute? That’s…

• 640 actions per minute
• 80 new cards per minute
• 3.5 new boards per minute
• 2.6 signups per minute

The Trello Team Grew

In the last year we’ve added several new people to the team so we can continue development on several fronts. That lets us focus on new frontiers like mobile apps, and push forward on new features on the web. Yeah, and still fix bugs as fast as we can too. Like this, which just happened this morning:

The team loves to squash bugs lightning fast.

Features digest

In the last year we’ve added:

• A better iPhone app with push notifications
• An all-new Android app
• Card covers, images on the front of cards
• Drag and drop files uploads from your desktop
• Subscribe to cards, lists, boards to get notifications
• Ability to copy cards and boards
• A simple “my cards” page, so you can see all your cards across boards
• Desktop notifications
• Google Drive integration
• Better search
• Ability to edit comments
• And hundreds of bug fixes, little improvements, and speed and stability work.

If you’re curious about this sort of thing, one of our most popular blog posts is this one about Trello’s technology stack. See how we are able to quickly deploy fixes and new features.

And lastly, we’ve said it before, but it always bears repeating. Thanks to all of you who have been using Trello and telling your friends and workmates about it. It’s hard to express how gratifying it is for the team to watch people get real value out of a product they have spent many hours sweating and laboring over. It’s what it’s all about in the end–it makes work meaningful for all of us–so thanks again.

The contest is over! Thanks everyone who played. All the solutions can be found on this Trello Board

Let’s have a little fun. We have ten books and ten timers to give out in conjunction with our guest blog post on the Pomodoro Technique.

Here is how the contest works.

This Trello Pomodoro Contest board has ten “puzzles” hidden in it.

What’s a puzzle on this board?  Well, they can be hidden words, hidden questions, patterns, puns, obvious questions, word play, and so on. Lots of different kinds of things. Some of the puzzles require an answer to a question (perhaps on the back of a card), some are just patterns or other things that you could discover. The puzzles might be contained within a list, might span a list, might be on the back of cards, might be on the front…how is that for a set of very specific clues?

Keep in mind that there are ten official “puzzles”. You may find some pattern that we didn’t intend, but they don’t count.  They have to be on the list of highly secret official puzzles that only a handful of shady and untrustworthy people know about.

Once you find one, or think you find one, send an email to contest@trello.com, and let us know what you think the puzzle or pattern is. In some cases it is the answer to a question found on the board. We’ll email you back if you got the right one.

If you have a twitter account, let us know what yours is so we can mention you.

So, 1) find the pattern, hidden word, answer, etc., 2) send us an email, and 3) if you’re first, win a copy of Francesco Cirillo’s Pomodoro Technique book and a timer.

The first person to send us an email with the solution wins that puzzle, and it’s considered closed. (Also, a person can only win one puzzle, so even though you successfully found five of them and emailed us first, you’ll get credit for one and we’ll go to the next person who has not yet won something, just to spread the Pomodoro love around).

As the puzzles are discovered or solved, we’ll announce them on the Trello twitter account, and we’ll announce them on the Trello Pomodoro Answer Board.

If any of these prove to be too hard to solve, we’ll give out some hints along the way.

So go to the Trello Pomodoro Contest Board now, and see if you can find any of them.

Editor’s note: This guest post is by Francesco Cirillo, the creator of the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a short introduction to a relatively simple and yet powerful method for getting more work done with less stress.

For many of us, time is an enemy. The anxiety triggered by the “ticking clock” and looming deadlines leads to ineffective work and study behavior, which in turn elicits the tendency to procrastinate. Instead of supporting our efforts, the concept of time ends up decreasing our productivity.

The Pomodoro Technique turns this around. Instead of working against you, time is transformed into a valuable ally.

The technique itself is deceptively simple. However, its effectiveness is undeniable, as evidenced by the thousands of people around the world who are using it with great success, in a multitude of areas. Individually, within a team, at work, at home, or at school, there are practically endless ways in which the Pomodoro Technique can be applied.

The basic unit of work in the Pomodoro Technique can be split into five simple steps:

1.     Choose a task to be accomplished

2.     Set a timer to 25 minutes

3.     Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper

4.     Take a 5 minute break (this marks the completion of one “Pomodoro”)

5.     Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break

A “Pomodoro” is 25 minutes long, followed by a 3-5 minute break. Breaks are an essential component of the Pomodoro Technique. Although it may be tempting to skip taking a break when you feel that you are on a roll or making great progress, they are important to keeping your stamina up and reducing mental fatigue. Which ultimately will increase your productivity, not hinder it.

After the break is over, set the timer once again to 25 minutes and continue the activity at hand until it rings again. This process is continued, but taking a longer break (about 15-30 minutes) every four Pomodoros. Then, just keep on working, Pomodoro after Pomodoro, until the task at hand is finished.

Incremental Objectives

A series of incremental objectives lies at the heart of the Pomodoro Technique. It is an invaluable guide that will not only allow you to get the most out of the technique, but also provide a way for you to assess its effectiveness in a very short timeframe.

There are a total of six objectives: five defined by the technique and one open to personal areas of improvement.

Objective I: Find Out How Much Effort an Activity Requires

Objective II: Cut Down on Interruptions

Objective III: Estimate the Effort for Activities

Objective IV: Get the most out of each single Pomodoro

Objective V: Set a Timetable

Objective VI: Apply the technique to improve other areas

There is much that can be discovered about yourself through the process of reaching each objective one at a time. You can even learn how to make improvements at the end of every individual pomodoro!

Of course, this is all just the beginning! Truly mastering the Pomodoro Technique requires time and practice, but the rewards are great and certainly worthwhile. The full technique and six objectives are explained in detail in the Pomodoro Technique book.

Editor’s note: We’re having a contest where you can win a copy of Francesco’s book and a pomodoro timer. It’s going to start at 1:00 US Eastern Time. More details will be posted here and on Twitter before the contest.  HERE ARE THE CONTEST RULES

Isn’t getting things done the perpetual struggle? We’re always trying out new systems and new strategies, and always, always resolving to be better.  Well, Maria Popova, (watch her blog, she’s incredibly industrious) has some fascinating words on the to-do list, and how best to stay focused on your goals. At a minimum you’ll learn what the Zeigarnik effect is.