The Surprise

You, dear reader, likely know well that I am always on the lookout for ways to make my life better to share with you. Sometimes ideas come in surprising ways.

Last week it was in a Kanban Trello board.

Kanban is a visual project management tool that originated from the Toyota Production System in the 1940s. The word "Kanban" means "visual signal" or "card" in Japanese. It was developed to improve manufacturing efficiency by visualizing workflows and managing the flow of materials through the production process.  The core principle is simple: visualize what you need to do, what you're doing, and what is done, allowing for better focus and organization. You add one task per card. There are three columns. You move one task card at a time from to do to doing to done. Sometimes you’ll have additional columns for backlog or parking lot (as in not a near term to do but maybe someday) and a Blocked (for items waiting on something from someone else before I can finish it),

But this story doesn’t start with the Kanban. It starts with one of my beloved Sunday wanderings with my sweetheart through a hiking trail, coffee shop, used bookstore. I joked at the irony as I bought a Marie Kondo book about decluttering.

Marie Kondo’s books are beautiful, her TV series fascinating, but the perfection is aspirational and not entirely realistic for my life.

I have a cousin who thinks Marie Kondo is not strict enough; which I laughed at and thought was so over the top when she said it. But I just had a glimmer of “Hmm. She might really be right”.

I like my house neat, but there are always piles of books and paper encroaching. Keeping them in check is a perennial battle.

I noticed in my office that I was making to do lists on paper, sometimes more than once per day. I was feeling overwhelmed with things to do and getting edgy.

As I journaled one morning, I observed that this was ridiculous. I know better.

So, I poured all those lists into a Kanban I had left languishing since March. And threw out all those papers, many of them with the same core set of things on them. I am so much calmer since. And more productive.

It reminded me of the tragic feeling I had as I cleaned out my uncle’s house after he died. My mother and I found hundreds of to do lists, often 20 years apart, with the same items on them.  

My own lists were only over 2 months, but I could see the mindset that led to frenzied list making which then amplified the feeling of being so behind. It sounds a bit dramatic and crazy, and my friend Alina will tell me I am oversharing again. Really, it was more of a “I have too much to do and need to get organized” frenetic vibe.

Just by putting together a kanban, my desk cleared and so did my mind.

Isn’t that poetic?

It was such a dramatic shift.

I began focusing on one thing a time.

I felt calmer too, knowing all the to do items are in one place. It completely shifted my mood and productivity.  Plus the Trello board is backed up in the cloud and a backup copy is sent to me weekly automatically, versus spilling my coffee or a fire in my office that would be the end of my lists.

I am kind of wondering now what impact I’d feel if I did my whole house. It is more than I’ll get done this weekend, but the idea is planted in my brain.

So, that’s my recommendation today- go make yourself a free kanban. I’m partial to Trello.com.

best wishes,

Rose