Find Your Way of Getting Things Done

Could Kanban method work for you?

Everyday Kanban lays down the basics of Kanban method, which is the base of Trello’s way of doing things.

Kanban is all about flow and finishing things before sending them to the next stage. It also encourages acts of leadership at all levels. Everyone needs to be fostering a mindset of continual improvement to reach the optimal performance.

Starting is easy: you start with what you do. There is not a certain setup. You can overlay kanban properties on top of your existing workflow without disrupting your current process. Kanban respects your current process, roles, responsibilities and titles. Things that work are worth preserving. Since the change is small, the emotional resistance to change is avoidable.

The core properties are to visualise the workflow, limit work-in-progress and manage the flow.

The most common way to visualise your work is to use cards or post-it notes placed in different columns on a wall or a board. You can categorise and color-code the cards in any way you want and use as many boards as you need to. There is not one right solution: if it works for you, it’s good.

Work-In-Progress at each state in the workflow has to be limited and the new work is “pulled” into the next step only when there’s available capacity. These constraints might seem harsh, but they will quickly illuminate problem areas in your workflow so you know what to fix. Make sure the process policies are explicit. The process needs to be explicitly and succinctly defined, published and socialised. How do things work? How is work actually done? Define what it means the work being “done” so it’s ready to move to the next step in the process.

To create positive change, you have to change the right things. Look at your current workflow, analyse problem areas where the flow stalls and then define and implement changes. Then, repeat this process to see what effects your changes had. This process is always evolving and improving. The crucial part of kanban are regular feedback loops. This could be responses from people, analysing the metrics, getting team members’ comments, customer reviews and so on. Feedback is anything that gives you input on how your process is working.

Prioritise until it hurts

“Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.” (Greg McKeown)

Everyone gets the same 24 hours to use every day. What matters is how you use those hours. The only way to effectively, productively, get more done is to prioritise your tasks. You have to have a clear idea of what you are working on, what is the most important thing and what can wait. There are plenty of ways to do this and everyone has their preferred method. Feel free to mix and match the elements the way you like to create the best solution for you.

There are plenty of ways you can use to create a more doable to-do list by prioritising and categorising your tasks. It might help to focus on just one week at a time: what tasks you have to get done during the week? Write them down but work on them in your own time. You can accomplish just one task on Monday and knock out five tasks on Wednesday, as long as they get done.

If you want to group your tasks, you could categorise them based on the time of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) or your location (work, home, school). You could also give each day of the week a “themed to-do list”. For example, if there are some tasks you absolutely hate, you could group them, do them on Monday and not worry about them for the rest of the week. Batching together similar tasks might help you to be more productive. These batches can include things like reading or answering your email, looking for specific facts or information, finding great images to use in your presentation, etc.

Remember to give each task a priority. For example, you can use numbers or color labels. In her article, Avani Mehta gives a few more ideas for parameters to use when prioritising your tasks. Some examples she gives are: urgent and important, a huge benefit to completion, large consequences for a delay, high on irritation/nagging, estimated time to complete the task, and so on.

All your tasks have to support valuable progress towards a recognised goal and you have to be the most appropriate person for the job. When it’s on your list, it’s a commitment. Before signing up to do it, ask yourself why you are doing the task. How will the task support your projects, your roles, and the goals you have set for yourself? Is it the best use of your time right now? Do you have to do it right now? What happens if you don’t do it (now or ever)? You might notice a need to delegate actively — that’s good!

You can also try to put timings against each task. Over time you’ll learn to see how much time each kind of task will take, making prioritising tasks even more easy. This way you can schedule your work more easily so others know when you are working and not to bother you then. Remember to be realistic, though. Lists can bring order to chaos but your time is limited and you need to have some free time as well. If you notice yourself struggling to get all your tasks done, you have to keep prioritising even more.

Do you like math and calculating things? Then you might want to check out the Pareto principle. Pareto principle is a mathematical law, which says that in most situations 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In his article, Geoffrey James shows how you can use this principle to manage your time more effectively:

• When you make a to-do list, prioritise each item by the amount of effort required (1–10) and the potential positive results (1–10).
• Then, divide the amount of effort by the potential results to get a “priority” ranking. Do the items with the lowest resulting priority number first. Here’s an example:
• Task 1: Write a report on trip meeting — Effort = 10, Result = 2, Priority = 5
• Task 2: Prepare presentation for marketing — Effort = 4, Result = 4, Priority = 1
• Task 3: Call current customer about referral — Effort = 1, Result = 10, Priority = 0.1

So, you do the task 3 first, then 2 and then 1.

This method ensues that the 20% of your effort that really makes a difference always gets done first.

I also used these articles as a source for this section:

Six Clever Tricks for Better To-Do List by Ali Luke

3 better ways to organize your todo list by Lily Herman

There’s no one right way to do things

You and your ways of doing things are unique. Luckily the world is full of apps and methods to help you get things done in the way that works for you.

Take some time to think about your workflow and habits. What devices do you use? What kind of features would help you to be more productive? What’s your budget? When you think you have found the right method for yourself, stick to it for at least a month. If it still doesn’t work, try something else, but don’t jump from one app to another on weekly basis. If you find a method that feels quick and intuitive to use, you just might want to stick with it. Using a task management app will help you find your tasks wherever you are but it’s not for everyone. You can as well use an Excel sheet, plain text file, pen and paper or post-it notes.

Zapier is an app that helps you integrate with other task management tools. They also keep a blog full of articles about productivity and task management. Here they introduce some strategies to manage your tasks.

The “grocery list” method

This method is probably the most simple one. The idea is to simply list your tasks and to-dos on a list. Some apps let you add due dates, reminders or some simple color coding but there are no small details to check off. The pros include letting you to see the big picture of your tasks but if you like to break projects down to smaller tasks or delegate things to others, this method might not be for you.

Example tools

• Wunderlist is simple and free task app with powerful features. It works on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad and the web. Wunderlist joined Microsoft in summer 2015, but there seem to be no immediate changes caused by this move.
• Clear is beautiful and dead-simple task-app specially designed for Mac, iPhone and iPad. You can create reminders, themes and multiple lists. Clear offers a free trial of 14 days.
• Teux-Deux focuses on the task you have for the day or week. Simply drop in the tasks you plan to do and if you can’t get all done in one day, the remaining tasks will be automatically rolled over to the next day’s list. Teux-Deux has a dedicated iPhone app. It costs 2–3 dollars a month but offers a free trial of 30 days.

Example of this method on Trello

Getting things done (GTD)

This method was invented by David Allen and it’s one of the most popular productivity methods. The basic idea of GTD is to get everything out of your head and into the app, organised in lists, tagged (or categorised) and with any data to that task attached. An important part is to review your tasks every week to track your projects. Due dates, reminders, categories and priorities are all essential parts of this methodology. A learning curve of some GTD apps might be steep for some but many find the method useful once you get started.

Example tools

• Omnifocus might be the grandmother of all GTD apps. It’s a very powerful tool full of features. It offers context, project and flagged views for you task, as well as recurring tasks, reminders, location awareness, etc. It’s one of the few apps with a review view that gives you look back over your projects. Omnifocus is a Mac app for mobile and desktop. The basic version costs 40 dollars but you can try it out for two weeks for free.
• 2Do is a very versatile app packed full of features. You can use the app as a simple grocery list app or for a full-size GTD system. 2Do gives you categories, tagging system, location awareness, syncing and notifications. The app is for Mac, iOS and Android.
• Todoist is very beautiful, very popular task app with millions of users and it works with almost every device you could think of using. You can see your upcoming tasks (and subtasks!) for the day and the next 7 days. Todoist also has a feature called Karma, which is a visual tracking system for your activities. The basic version of Todoist is free but for $23/year you get features like labels, comments and reminders.

Example of this method on Trello

Source

I would like to recommend Michael Schurpf’s great article about this subject to anyone interested in using Trello in GTD way.

The Kanban Method

This method, in its purist form, takes post-it notes, a cork board and labels and organises tasks by progression. To start, split the board to three sections: to-do, doing and done. Write tasks on color-coded post-it notes and stick them in their respective step of progression. You can add as much or as little detail to each task as you want. Kanban works great for both personal task management and for teams. Starting is easy and the flexibility of kanban allows you to tweak it to your own needs and wants.

Example tools

• Trello is my personal favourite when it comes to kanban apps. I use it everyday and can recommend it from the bottom of my heart. Trello is flexible, beautiful and intuitive kanban tool to use. When you first sign up, you are met with a welcome board guiding you through the features and functionalities of the app. The app is available on web and for iPhone, iPad, Android and Kindle Fire. The free version is suitable for most but with $5/month of $45/year you get extra perks. There are also Business Class and Enterprise plans for bigger teams.
• Leankit gives you all the power to make the app work for you. It has built-in collaboration features and provides visual tracking of the process and projects, allowing you to see and print out reports of the metrics you care about. Leankit has dedicated apps for both iOS and Android. Pricing starts at $12/user/month but you get a free 30 day trial.
• Kanban Flow has a built-in support for Pomodoro technique where you work in spurts of 25 minutes. The app logs your use of the app so you can see details and reports about your productivity over time. The app is free but you’ll need the premium version for file attachment ability, calendar view, data export/import and to see charts and statistics of your work. The premium version costs $5/user/month.

Example of this method on Trello

The Text Editor Method

This method gives you total freedom when it comes to managing your tasks. You’ll be able to put them in a list, mark them with the symbols or numbers you see fit and be free of the visual distractions. If you already have a preferred text editor, you can use it. You can create a single-line tasks, arrange them as you want, delete them at the end of the day when you’re done, whatever you like. While this method can be too barebones for some to use every day, sometimes you just want to jot things down quickly and be done with them once they are completed.

Example tools

• The memo app on your phone. Scan through the apps on your phone. I bet there a some sort of memo app that was preinstalled. You might have never used it, not even opened it, but know you just might find it to meet your needs.
• Momentum is a browser extention currently for Chrome only. It replaces your regular new tab with a beautiful photo, an inspirational quote and a small task list with maximum of 5 tasks. Every time you open a new tab, you are able to see your tasks for the day.
• data:text/html, <html contenteditable> If you don’t want to open a writing software just to list your tasks, you can as well use your browser. Open a new tab and copy and paste the bolded section to the address bar. It will open a blank page, for you to fill with text — in this case, you tasks. Super easy!
• Honorable mention to FMList.io which helps you to create a new tab for each of your tasks. You can even tag it as “work”, “personal” or “urgent”. Once the task is done, you get the lovely feeling of accomplishment when you can close the tab and be done with it!

The rows, columns and sheets method

Spreadsheets offer quick, flexible way of managing projects and tasks, both for teams and individuals. You make different sheets for different projects or different kinds of tasks. You can color-code the tasks and add as much detail to them as you want. The web is full of free templates you can download to start using this method right away. The cons include the lack of many features other task management apps include, like remainders or the ability to attach files.

Example tools

• Google Sheets is free, flexible and works everywhere you are (with Chrome Browser you can use Sheets offline, too!). If you are working on a team, sharing the Sheet with your team members allows you to color code every member of the team.
• Microsoft Excel is probably the best known spreadsheet tool and it’s still a good choice. Windows computers often come with desktop version of Excel pre-installed but you can also use it online for free.
• Calc by Libreoffice & Calc by Open Office are both great, powerful and free desktop Excel tools. They have all the features you need for the everyday use of spreadsheets. Both are supported by a community of active users so support, tips and tricks are easily available.

Good, old & offline: pen and paper

When using a notebook, a post-it note or an index card, you’re completely disconnected from the internet and its distractions. You can draw, doodle and color your notes to your heart’s content. There are plenty of methods to digitize your notes by scanning them and backing them up to the cloud. Many smartphones nowadays have so good a camera that you can scan your notes with a smartphone app. Moleskine even made a special notebook with Evernote, which helps you to backup your notes to Evernote account more easily. Digitizing your notes will also help you to share them with others and reference back to them wherever you are.

Example tools

• Field Notes is well-known brand that is loved by many and made in the USA. Field Notes come in a variety of sizes and styles, with ruled, graph or plain pages. You can order them in batches of your choose, so you’ll always have a right notebook for the right notes.
• Whitelines take a different approach when it comes to designing their notebook papers. Instead of black, solid lines that they find distracting, they use — you guessed it — white lines. They also state that the light grey background of the pages is easier for your eyes than bright white color.
• Leuchtturm1917 has a long history and it’s one of the best known notebook brands in the world. Their notebooks come in all different shapes and sizes for all kinds of uses. They put a lot of effort in making even the smallest details just right. Yet their prices are quite affordable when compared to other premium notebooks.
• Honorable mention to Rite in the Rain for situations where it’s crucial the notebook stands the rain, mud and other challenges by nature (or if you just want to jot down your shower thoughts in… you know, shower). These, as all the other notebooks mentioned, come in all kinds of formats, sizes and styles.

The string-around-the-finger method

Change something in your physical environment that will remind you of something you need to do. These could include rearranging app icons, changing the wallpaper or putting a post-it note in the center of your computer. As a long-time solution, this probably isn’t a sustainable one, but might be fun to try out sometime. Just make sure you remember why you did the change in the first place!

Example tools

• Index cards work great when you need something to be “in your face”. They come in packs of dozens or hundreds of cards so you’ll have plenty of them ready to use however you like. Blank cards give you the freedom to doodle whatever you want in them, draw on them or add colors.
• Post-it notes are similar to index cards in their use, except that you won’t need a tape or blu-tack to stick them to the surface. They also come in all kinds of bright colors, which might help you better remember what you were supposed to do or just brighten up your workspace.
• A mascot, like a small stuffed animal or a snow globe on your desk might also remind you of something you need to do on a regular basis. You could change the mascot’s place from one side of the table to another to remind you of your task. This is a pretty clear visual clue for you, especially if you otherwise leave the mascot alone.

The Eisenhower Method

Dwight Eisenhower was the American general (and later the president of USA) who invaded France occupied by the Germans in the Second World War. He commanded two million solders, so he probably knew something about prioritising things. In his own words:

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”.

With Eisenhower method you can learn to see what action you should or should not do, based on the importance and urgency of the tasks.

With every item on your to-do list, you should ask these two questions: “is this task urgent” and “is this task important”. Depending on the answers, put the task into the correct quadrant:

• Not urgent and not important. The task is not important if it doesn’t help you in any way to progress towards your goals. It’s not urgent if it doesn’t matter when it’s done.
• Urgent and not important. These tasks are urgent so you can’t schedule them. (Often they are “in your face”.) Deal with these as soon as possible. For example, ask people not to disturb you and if they do, tell them to speak shortly but do listen to them. They already have your attention.
• Urgent and important. Tasks you have to do. They put you forward but are often unscheduled, unplanned or unwanted. When you’ve dealt with the task, try to make sure it never happens again or make preparations for the future.
• Not urgent and important. These tasks involve doing actual work to get towards your goal. Because these tasks don’t scream for your attention, they’re often neglected in favour of more urgent matters.

Example of this method on Trello

Your goal is to spend at least 80% of your time in the “Not urgent and important” quadrant. The other 20% should be divided between “urgent and important” and “urgent and not important”.

Remember to sort and process all the incoming stuff, like papers and emails. Digitise your paper stuff so you know what and when to do those tasks.

Whatever method you decide, it’s important that you revise your lists on regular basis. Come back to them, see if there are goals you no longer want to achieve or things you should expand on. Update, prune, re-shuffle, add and remove tasks as necessary.

I also used these articles as a source for this section:

The Eisenhower Method by Fluent Time Management

Practicing simplified GTD by Gina Trapani

What to do when you have too many tasks

If you have a backlog of tasks lurking around the corner, the 1–3–5 rule might help you out: on any given day, assume that you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things and five small things. What tasks would you feel more sense of accomplishment if you accomplished them today? Focus on those first. The five small things can be those really little tasks that pop into your head at random times, like clearing your desk at home or cutting your nails. This listing method is flexible. You can leave blank spots in case something comes up later on the day.

Psychologically speaking there are two major pitfalls that keep us from doing the things we intend to do:

1. we don’t get specific enough about what exactly needs to happen — the specific action we need to take to reach our goals and
2. we miss opportunities to take action (we are too busy or simply forget)

The answer lies in if-then planning. This way you decide in advance what you will do and when and where to do it. The rule is:

if (or when) _____ occurs, then I will _____ .

This kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity for taking action when it arises. But beware: negation if-then plans won’t work. Negation means spelling out the actions you won’t be taking in the future. This way you keep the focus on suppressed behavior but when you constantly monitor it, you actually strengthen it. (This is called thought suppression. If I tell you not to think about a white rabbit, it’s pretty much everything you are able to think about right now.)

Make sure the tasks get done every day. Check things off as you finish them and add new tasks as they pop up. Use the night before to plan your workday ahead. List the most important tasks you want to complete. This way you know immediately where to start. If something is left undone by the end of the day, add it to the top of the next day’s list. If there are tasks that you never get done, that cause you anxiety and concern, notice them. Why are you avoiding those tasks? Try to make a new to-do for each item that addresses the “cringe” rather than the actual tasks. Deflate the cringe-y task by replacing it with a more active, manageable and unintimidating one.

If you want to get a running start, consider trying out the Pomodoro technique. Work intensely on a specific task for 25 minutes each with 5 minute breaks between. After two sessions (an hour) keep a longer break. This method teaches you to estimate the amount of time required to complete given tasks and stay focused. There are plenty of Pomodoro timers on the web.

Tim Challies suggests you to have a weekly review to set new plans into motion, to restart projects that are stalling and to course-correct plans that are drifting. You can also take a block of time to get your inbox to zero, tidy up your physical workplace, review your calendar for the next 30 days, review all your projects, notes, deadlines and priorities.

Ask “why” to beat procrastination

Psychology Today offers a trick of influencing yourself with a why-do list. The system will help you keep fresh in mind your reasons of doing these things, your motivation. This is how you do this, in three easy steps:

1. Pick one thing from your current to-do list that you have not done, but would still like to.
2. Ask yourself why you want to do this. More specifically, ask these two questions: “Why might I take the next step on ____ ?” (Yes, you need to jot down your answers. The reasons should be timely, compelling and personal.) & “Why are these reasons important to me?” (The key word being me.) The more times you ask yourself this question, the deeper and more personal the reasons get.
3. Asking and answering these questions help you rehearse the positive reasons for doing your stubborn to-do list item. You may end up with more personal and motivating reasons. These could be wanting to be more connected with your community, feeling a sense of belonging, pride or that you want to make time to have fun every once in awhile.

Other sources I used

Back to Basics: How to Simplify Your To-Do List and Make It Useful Again by Whitson Gordon

Six Clever Tricks for Better To-Do List by Ali Luke

The Amazing History of the To-Do List — And How to Make One That Actually Works by Belle Beth Cooper

Building a smarter to-do list part 1 & part 2 by Merlin Mann