personal kanban + gtd
TRANSCRIPT
1 Execute with a free mind…
As to the methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring the principles, is sure to have trouble!
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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About myself… 25+ years in the industry Agile/Lean practitioner (85%)
Development of SwiftKanban and SwiftALM products
Head of Professional Services Head of Products
Agile/Lean Student (15%) Organize the LimitedWIP Societies in
India
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A bit about yourself....
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These guys deserve an applause…
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25-50% of the people feel over-whelmed or burnt out!
- Harvard Business Review
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Some get tired...
http://media.bizj.us/view/img/2960741/howtooverloaded*xx2122-1194-0-111.jpg
http://blog.targethealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/20100708-4.jpg
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Some try different methods...Some ask for help...
http://homemakersdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Schedule-Overload-515x344.jpg
http://diyorganization.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/help-sign-man-buried-in-paper-picture-225x300.jpg
8https://selflovewarrior.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/change-begins-with-me.gif
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“Personal Kanban” fromJim Benson
Help comes knocking with...
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1st principle: Visualize your work!According to research using brain
imagery, visualization works because neurons in our brains, those
electrically excitable cells that transmit information, interpret
imagery as equivalent to a real-life action. When we visualize an act,
the brain generates an impulse that tells our neurons to "perform" the
movement.
Whether you're a student, businessperson, parent or spouse,
visualization will keep you tethered to your goal and increase your chances
of achieving it. The power of visualization is available to all people.
There are two types of visualization...
The first method is ”outcome visualization” and involves envisioning yourself achieving your goal. To do this, create a detailed mental image of the
desired outcome using all of your senses.
The second type of visualization is ”process visualization”. It involves envisioning each of the actions necessary to achieve the outcome you
want. Focus on completing each of the steps you need to achieve your goal, but not on the overall
goal itself.
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Work is no more an amorphous concept – it has a definite shape, a form and a storyline and a flow. This gives work coherence, which is powerful. The brain can then take this new coherence and based upon it make decisions. Prioritization becomes easier, tasks become less daunting.
Jim Benson
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2nd principle: Limit your WIP!
Multi-tasking is not an asset! STOP Starting; START Finishing
Hidden WIP!
http://agileprague.com/a-practical-introduction-to-kanban.htm
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People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time
"They're suckers for irrelevancy," "Everything distracts them."
The researchers are still studying whether chronic media multitaskers are born with an inability to concentrate or are damaging their cognitive control by willingly taking in so much at once. But they're convinced the minds of multitaskers are not working as well as they could.
"When they're in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they're not able to filter out what's not relevant to their current goal," ... “That failure to filter means they're slowed down by that irrelevant information."
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Why is it that between 25% and 50% of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.
The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to your productivity. In part, that’s a simple consequence of splitting your attention, so that you’re partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely fully engaged in any one. In part, it’s because when you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you’re increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.
But most insidiously, it’s because if you’re always doing something, you’re relentlessly
burning down your available reservoir of energy
over the course of every day, so you have less available with
every passing hour.
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I will add a 3rd dimension: Flow
Conversely, when the challenge is substantially higher than our skill, we become anxious. And when the two are relatively balanced, we find ourselves in a state of "flow," where we lose track of time and become fully absorbed in the activity. This is the state we're referring to when we say we're "in a groove" or "in the zone." While Csikszentmihalyi's research has shown a number of advantages to cultivating opportunities to experience flow, Lyubomirsky's work shows that more flow experiences result in greater happiness.
When we chart our mental state during activities that present us with a varying level of challenge relative to our skill we find that when our skill is substantially higher than the challenge being posed, we become bored.
http://www.edbatista.com/2010/09/happiness.html
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… with visualization, WIP and flow!
So, lets get going...
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My “ToDo” was on PostIts already...
That’s 50+ things to be
done on these lists!
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... what about my “stuff” on Outlook?
Add another 15 odd tasks!
Result: Important things are
waiting for 13 weeks!
19 I decided to make a fresh start...
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Step 1: I started with a simple board...
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Step 2: Identify my different work types...
Do I treat them same? Office work
Project work Corporate Stuff
Personal work Personal projects One-off tasks Some for the
family
They have different nature... One time Recurring
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Step 3: Plan for recurring tasks
Added a (swim) lane for
“Recurring Tasks”...
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Step 3: Lets make it a bit smarter...
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Step 3: On Nov 20...
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Step 3: Set the next due date...
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Lets go back to my work types... Do I treat them
same? Office work
Project work Corporate Stuff
Personal work Personal projects One off tasks Some for the
family
They have different nature... One time Recurring
Use colors to distinguish between the work types!
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Step 4: Card Types for my board...
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Projects: consider a “staged” process (Value Stream)
If you have work in projects going through repetitive stages, you can define them in a staged manner Staged based execution gives greater
control
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Adding a Value Stream for my projects...
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Some approaches... Block/Unblock Cards
Throughput based approach Focus on cards that you expect to complete
first
Task based approach
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Lets prioritize the Backlog...
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Moving ToDo(s) from PostIts to Board
I realized that about
30% of what I had
on my stickies are obsolete!
Time to start saying “NO”
So, periodically look at this lane and delete what
has become obsolete!
What we also see is that if tickets aren’t done within the month they’re put on the Personal Kanban, they probably won’t get done. You’re better off making a second board called “Things I might want to do some day”
– Jim Benson
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Having moved all my work to the Board…
Office work Project work Corporate Stuff
Personal work Personal projects One off tasks Some for the
family
One time Recurring
… STOP Starting; START Finishing
36 A few more ideas...
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Break the “Done” lane...
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Clean the “Done” lane end of week...
Reflect on all that you have been able to accomplish
http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Done-Column-Daily-Weekly-Review.png
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Flag your “Promises”! Important to stick to
commitments/specific deadlines! Flag them on the card with the Due Date
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Breaking out projects...
http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/blog/#sthash.dKrxXc7H.rlE7KYig.dpbs
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Applying 5S to Personal Kanban
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1S: Sort and clean Throw your junk cards away
If you have used (or still use) different ways of keeping track of your tasks, get rid of them
Do a spring clean, if it’s a task, put it in your Personal Kanban (the backlog, if it’s for later on), if it’s useless information, dump it
Trust your board; that should be your “go to” place
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2S: Straighten Bring things in order
Make everything “easily” accessible in an order A corner in your
room is a bad idea for a Personal Board!
Use an online tool… … with a mobile version!
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3S: Shine Keep your Personal Kanban tidy and in good
shape.
Look at it, everyday... Is still a representation of your work?
If tasks become obsolete, drop them.
Rearrange what’s left... reorder it... make it look good.
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4S: Standardize
Define for yourself a method/working pattern and stick to it
You want to be able to rely on the information your Personal Kanban gives you to make your decisions.
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5S: Sustain The most difficult part…
Sustain the effort
Keep things clean and tidy; stick with “your” system
Commit to what you are trying to achieve Without discipline, your method will
deteriorate over time and fall back into chaos
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… but the mind was still always overwhelmed, anxious!
Too many things to, too little time to do!
It was going OK….
48 Learning from GTD!The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men
- Capt. J.A.Hatfield
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GTD(Getting Things Done) A method from David Allen
GTD is a total work-life management system that transforms overwhelm into an integrated system of stress-free productivity.
- - gettingthingsdone.com
We choose some best practices that will make our Personal Kanban system, stronger and resilient Not the complete system
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The Paradox: Higher quality of life BUT we take more
than we can chew STRESS!
Work has no clear boundaries No edges creates work for all! Almost every project can be done better….
Leaving you feeling “wish I knew this!”
Problem: Infinite demand; finite resources!
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Today’s tools: inadequate & scattered
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Problem: Infinite demand; finite resources! There is one thing we can do, and
the happiest minds are those who can do this to the limit of their ability – we can be “completely” present. We can be all here. We can give…. our attention to the opportunity before us.
- Mark Van Daren
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Why things are on our mind?
This consistent, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy
- - Kerry Gleeson
Thought is useful when it motivates action and a hinderance when it substitutes for action
- - Bill Raeder
So, transform all the “stuff” in your mind into a clear inventory of actions, projects, usable information Keep nothing in your mind
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Step 1: Capture Get it out of you mind…do a “Mind
Sweep”
To an identified repository!
The repository you choose, must be with you, ALWAYS
Notepads, smartphone devices… for me, I had my “mobile” SwiftKanban always with me
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Step 2: Process the Item Identify if its actionable or not
Many of these would be related to a Project A series of tasks need to happen to get an
“outcome”; define the “outcome”
“Waiting For” – Person or a Date Make a note and RELAX!
2min rule!
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Defining a context… Defining a context helps you focus on
“what” you need to do when you are in that specific context
Recommended by GTD: Work OR Home Call OR @ Computer OR Errands OR
Agendas Waiting For
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Refactoring my “WIP”
Step 1: Split my “In Progress” by “context”
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Refactoring my Board, again…
•Moved Waiting for to a separate lane;
• In Waiting For, if something is waiting for an external event, it is blocked. No block if it just waiting for a date to finish but set that date so that you know when to do something about it and not look for it everyday…
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Refactoring my Board… the last one
01/05/202360
Moved Agenda items out of the WIP limits
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Here’s how it looks today…
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Benefits for the PK practitioners…
Boost your productivity to the next level…
Practice “mind sweep” Execute with a free mind Use mind to do stuff; not to remember stuff
By defining your context, you are ready to execute when you are in that context Don’t worry about anything else
Trust the system that its all in there You might initially miss some but with a
smartphone/mobile interface, “capture” online real time
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Benefits for GTD practitioners Visualization… see how much “stuff” you got to
do!
Work is no longer amorphous; it’s a card… You drag/drop from one lane to another as your
progress
Define WIP limits; if you are overwhelmed, reassess, de-prioritize what you can Recall: one of the greatest source of
dissatisfaction is not being able to meet commitments!
Flow: When work flows and you move cards to “Done”, experience a sense of accomplishment
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Let me finish by saying…
http://www.edbatista.com/2010/09/happiness.html
