Visualize Your Work (the precursor to prioritization)
It started out with a problem to solve (visualize my work and make sure I’m working on the right things). I decided I wanted to build a Kanban (a workflow management method designed to help you visualize your work, maximize efficiency and be agile). I set out to represent my work with color-coded post-it notes on a wall in my home office. Overall it works great, but there were some lessons, too.
Getting Started: I went online and found the extra awesome super sticky 3M post-its out of stock. It would take weeks to arrive. Plus they were twice as expensive as the generic brand. I am not a patient person. I decided to go with the cheap, fast route. They arrived in 3 days. The colors were fun, though the yellow and orange were annoyingly similar. I immediately started on my back log. I had an amazing visual of what I had to do. I was able to put them in order, and move them around. Success! Then I went down to lunch, came back, and saw my beautiful (cheap) stickies curling and falling off the wall. Is this scenario a fail? I was pretty annoyed.
Lessons: First thing I did was order the good 3M super sticky post-its. For one thing, I knew there is a lag time, and that these curling non stickies were going to ruin my kanban mojo. Next, I reflected on my board and how I used it, and tried to build some habits around using this system. I reframed my thinking of my “cheap stickies” to “check out my prototype.” I focused on how to put this prototype into action. I set time every morning to add work onto my board. I made sure to move the stickies based on the status (to do, doing, done). I started to notice and focus on important programs where I had little progress or backlog. I limited my work in progress, so I could focus on getting work to done. This made a huge impact in my productivity, my sense of command over my progress, and my overall happiness. Huge win!
Now what? I am not slowing down even though those cheap stickies aren’t built to last. In fact, I’m implementing my system and making improvements and adjustments. It’s something my kids use in their own way as well—visualizing their ever changing class schedules and “to-dos” using post-its. As a family it helps us get on the same page on the day, and give the kids autonomy and agency in getting their work done. I haven’t done a family meal Kanban board, but I’m tempted to do it sometimes. I’m also obsessively checking the tracking for my new 3M Post-it notes.
