My PEP Badge Tracker: An easier way to track your PEP Badge Progress

Are you excited to start earning your PEP Badges?
I know I am.

Are you daunted by the idea of keeping track of over 200 different Sand Badge Bits (BB's)?
Yikes. Me too. Not to mention Straw, Wood, and Iron.

That's why I created My PEP Badge Tracker. I needed a way to track my own progress with the PEP Badges. I love it so much, I want to share it with you.

For just 25 cents a badge, "My PEP Badge Tracker" is yours. ($22).


For an indeterminate amount of time, My PEP Badge Tracker will now cost:
$11 !!!


Have a quick look:

(Trello - Your Journey is Underway!)


(Workflowy - Your Journey is Underway!)


So... What is it?

It's all the Sand PEP Badge Details, entered into two powerful To-Do / Project Management apps: Trello and Workflowy. They're Powerful, Popular, and (P)FREE.

As an extra bonus, I made a simple PDF with hyperlinks for all you ultra-minimalists out there.

Trello and Workflowy, I've found, are awesome tools to keep track of hundreds or thousands of "Things-I-Gotta-Do." (That's a li'l technical project management jargon for y'all). They are my favorite systems.

I've also created a default workflow for you. It will help you prioritize and focus on the badges you are currently pursuing. (You can change this if you wish)

Ready to Buy it Now?



Have a closer look:
"My PEP Badge Tracker" in Trello:

(Trello - Your Journey has just Begun)


(Trello - Your Journey is Underway!)


(Trello - The Details of a Badge)


(Trello - A Badge Almost Complete!)

Have another look:
"My PEP Badge Tracker" in Workflowy:

(Workflowy - Your Journey has just Begun)


(Workflowy - Your Journey is Underway!)


(Workflowy - The Details of a Badge)


(Workflowy - A Badge Almost Complete!)

Have one last look:
"My PEP Badge Tracker" in PDF:

(PDF - The Hyperlinks take you to Permies!)

Ok. What's in 'em?

Every Badge is a Big To-Do Item.

Every BB is listed within its Badge as a checklist item that can be checked off.

Every BB has the link to the thread where you go get info about it, and get the BB certified.

Every Badge has a link back to the Badge Wiki, where you go get the Badge certified

A default Workflow for your Badges, progressing from:

     - Badges to Start!
     - Badge Begun, Work on BB's!
     - Just... One... More... BB!
     - BB's Complete, Apply for Badge!
     - Badge Received! Start Another!

Tags for Badge Levels, as well as tags for feasibility, (ex. "I can do this at home now"" or "I'll have to go to Wheaton Labs to do this!")

All Sand Badges are in, as are all Sand Badge BB's

As Straw, Wood, and Iron Badges are finalized, those will be added, too, and I will get updates to you periodically.

Cool. What's the quick How-To?

In either Trello or Workflowy, a badge you're pursuing will move through the workflow.

You do this by clicking and dragging on the badge to put it in the correct category (ex. "Gardening" badge into "Badge Begun, Work on BB's!")

As you finish BB's, you check them off the list.

You also copy the links to your certified BB's into the cards, so you have them all in one place when it's time to certify the badge.

Both tools and the workflow help you zoom to prioritize which badges you'll pursue, and to focus on your work in progress.

Both systems have the same tags. In both systems, tags let you filter things, to further focus on what's going on, or what comes next.

The Workflow, the Names of the Workflow, and the Tags are completely customizable. It's just text. You want to change the name? Type in a new name. It's that easy.

Both Trello and Workflowy have gorgeous mobile apps.

See also:

What's a Trello? https://trello.com/tour

Workflow-What? https://workflowy.com/

For just 25 cents a badge, "My PEP Badge Tracker" is yours.

HALP! Do you need help with My PEP Badge Tracker? Spot a problem that needs a-fixin'? Use these platform-specific support threads.

Trello. Also includes some basic "How do I Trello?" links: https://permies.com/t/119152/HALP-PEP-Badge-Tracker-Trello

Workflowy. Also includes some basic "How do I Workflowy?" links: https://permies.com/t/119153/HALP-PEP-Badge-Tracker-Workflowy

PDF. A PDF is nigh-unfuckupable, but here's a thread for it anyways. Also, it's a good place to post general issues with the tracker: https://permies.com/t/119150/HALP-PEP-Badge-Tracker-PDF

A few notes:

I didn't make Trello. Or Workflowy. I definitely didn't make PEP. I just took these tools that I already use everyday so I could track my PEP Badge progress. Now I'm sharing it, so you can, too. If neither Trello nor Workflowy nor PEP is the right tool for you, that's ok.

I'm also not affiliated in any way with Trello or Workflowy. I don't make money by your signing up to use Trello or Workflowy.

Do you have a favorite (free) To-Do or Project Management app you'd like me to add to the choices for My PEP Badge Tracker? Say so, in a comment below!

I'm impressed!

Erica Colmenares wrote:I'm impressed!

Thank you Erica!
I built it for me; but if there's something you'd like to see it do that might entice you into buying, let me know.

Ding a ling a ling!!


For the next 22 hours (that's one hour for each sand badge), My PEP Badge Tracker will cost:
$2 !!!


Startiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing Now.

I went and shared this as a Tiny Ad in today's dailyish!

I'm now a proud owner. We're travelling,  but once I get home, I'll figure it out.  <3

:D Wow! Thank you so much, Nicole!

Thank you Mike for the flags and pie!

Thank you, Erica, welcome to the club!
Trello and Workflowy are powerful tools, but I've deliberately limited what's going on to try to make it an easier beginning.

Once you're in your preferred tool, let me know if it's not doing something you want it to. The answer is usually "yes."

It's a great thing to make available, you earned the pie and flags

I'm not sure if the tool does this, but one point in time to track may be once you've submitted it but you're still waiting for it to be approved.

Thank you, Mike. And thanks, too, for the suggestion. I'll take it.

They both now have a separate step for a badge that's been submitted, but awaiting approval. Now you can set your 24-hr reminder clock in Trello if the badge isn't approved by then

FYI: in both tools, making that kind of change is as simple as two mouse-clicks and typing the name of that header. No coding required! (no part of either of the tools required coding on my part)

Okay, okay.
Break it up, move along, nuthin' to see here.
This silliness has gone on Quite long enough.

The temporary insanity is now over, and the price is back to normal. Sorry if you missed out on the fun.

But who knows? Maybe it'll return the next time there's a PEP Badge event at Wheaton Labs? Or some other PEP-related fun is going on?

If you "watch" the thread, I bet you'll even be the first to hear about it.

A PEP Badge Jamboree, you say?! Hooray!

With NINE separate events, you say? Hooray!

That calls for a RIDICULOUS DISCOUNT! Hooray!

Only $9 for My PEP badge tracker through the entire PEP Badge Jamboreee (Sept 14 - Oct 13)!

PEP Badge Jamboree Details: https://permies.com/wiki/118704/permaculture-projects/September-October-Homestead-Skills-Jamboree

After writing out 4 sand badge requirements I came across the PEP tracker, what a great idea. Maybe there should be a techno badge for learning how to use trello, post pictures of completed units and how to edit a 2 minute video to show completion of badges. I am now a proud owner of the PEP tracker and my first ever post on permies

Thank you, Dawn!

I really hope that the PEP Badge tracker does what you need it to. Let me know if there's some function you'd like to see!


(also, the PEP Badge Jamboree Discount is now closed). See y'all next time!

Lee,  I am using the "hide the completed BB "  feature to hide the BBs I am Not working on to finish the badge.  In a big list of 8 to 16 items to choose from I pick the 4 I want to work on and hide the rest that way I am not fighting through BBs that will not be applied to the badge. Otherwise the tracker is easy to use and a good one stop location for all BBs.

Thanks, Dawn! I'm going to add your trick to the support threads for Trello and Workflowy so other folks might find it and benefit, as well.

You know what's awesome? PEP Planners.
You know what else is awesome? PEP Trackers.

The only thing more awesome? Half-off a PEP Badge Tracker


For an indeterminate amount of time, My PEP Badge Tracker will now cost:
$11 !!!

This is cool, and will contribute to how I do things.

Thank you!

El Rowlatt wrote:This is cool, and will contribute to how I do things.

Thank you!

I hope so, El! Let me know if you have any questions once you dig into things.

and so is this only for sand badges or all badge types?

Hi Michael,
It's currently just sand badges, but across all 22 aspects. I'm waiting until the sand and wood level badges are fully solidified before I begin to add the higher level badges.

When I have updates, I'll message the people who've bought the tracker, to help them get the new info. So far I've done one round of updates to just the sand badges.

Thanks for doing this Ash!  I got your tracker as a reward from the latest kickstarter for the greenhouse and just started using it today.  I can see where this will be quite handy for keeping track of things.  I've only done a few BBs so far and already was feeling like I was going to get lost with tracking them!  This is a nice solution.

Thank you, David! I'm so glad to hear it's working for you.

Let me know if you discover there's something you want the tracker to do for you. I'm keen to keep improving it.

Happy PEP-ing!

Ash Jackson wrote:Thank you, David! I'm so glad to hear it's working for you.

Let me know if you discover there's something you want the tracker to do for you. I'm keen to keep improving it.

Happy PEP-ing!

The one thing I did discover is that since it basically just has the sand badges at this point and I have done a couple BBs which are farther along into straw and wood (in the metalworking area) I wanted a way to record the links to the ones I did so I didn't forget.  I just made an extra card for myself to record these on.  Not a big deal, but it might be handy for others if you had card premade for catch all recording of BBs done beyond the sand badge level since I suspect it will be a while before the whole PEP thing gets fully fleshed out.

Hi David,
You're 100% correct. It's hard to track the higher level BB's until they're written and finalized.

I'm hoping the last final touches for Straw, Wood, and Iron are published soon. Once that is done, I plan to start rolling out updates for the PEP badge tracker, one level at a time.

Wow. Thanks.  I have downloaded the pdf version and it looks great. Look forward to trying it out.

All the Trackers are now up to date with the current version of PEP/SKIP at the Sand level.

Now that Straw is stable, and most of the BB pages have been created, Straw will be coming soon.


...a little birdie told me that when Straw badges are in, the promotional price will probably end...

I'm finding this extremely useful! Thank you for making this amazing tracker!

Thanks, B! I'm glad the tool is working for you, too!

Name's Bloom. & yes, it really is. I'm using the Trello version & really like the aesthetic.

Ash Jackson, I love what you've done here.  I'm pretty new to permies and PEP, but I'm loving the concept.  I've known of Trello, just never used it so I'm not sure if it can even do what I'm thinking.  

As I look at all the BBs, like many I'm sure, I'm overwhelmed by how many there are.  My thought process is to break down the badges into individual BBs and schedule them out.  My thought is to categorize the individual BBs like you can label the badges in Trello.  This way I can queue up and sort BBs regardless of what badge they are in.  Can I do this in Trello without remaking the entire thing?  My initial thought was https://airtable.com/.  It allows the user to link fields in tables like a database and then create a Kanban off of that data.  You mentioned if for us to reply if we wanted to see another free option.  I would love to see AirTable as an option.  Thoughts?

Sorry, I must not be awake yet.  It didn't even occur to me to see if I could export the data from Trello to AirTable.  I'll look at migrating the data myself.  

Thanks, Joel!

I love airtable! I use it for some of my more intense database work. Go for it!

I firmly believe that the right tool is the one you are most comfortable with.

Any update on an airtable version?