I've only recently become aware of Kanban boards. Simply, they are a three column status board for projects. Each column has a heading:
- To do
- Doing
- Done
One of the easiest ways to set one up is with a white board and post-it notes - write the task on one of the post-it notes and moving it from one column to the next depending on the status of the task.
Sounds simple because it is simple.
What makes it work is that it's visible.
That sounds simple too, and it is, and it works.
Earlier this year, New Year in fact, I made a few declarations. I declared this year to be the YEAR OF THE SELFIE, and the YEAR OF MORNINGS and, not quite as loudly, the Year of Lunches. I blogged about my declarations; I wrote my declarations in my planner; I downloaded apps for taking daily selfies; downloaded Kindle books on the benefits of and techniques for rising early in the morning; I bookmarked a bunch of websites for making 'totable' lunches.
I took two selfies; woke up early once; and now my ex husband makes my lunch but that's not what I meant with declaring 2015 the Year of Lunches.
My poor old memory couldn't keep my declarations in the front of my brain where I could see them every day. The declarations were hidden from my view behind swipes and passcodes and tabbed planner pages. That lead me on a Google journey where I discovered Kanban boards.
I made one, stuck it to the back of my bedroom door, and set about moving my post its from to do to doing to done. It's working - not 100% of the declarations 100% of the time - but a hellova lot more than none!
My butt ugly really rather useful kanban board for one
Associated links
- Kanban boards (Wikipedia)
- Personal Kanban boards (smallfish.co.nz)
- Kanban board examples (Flickr)