If you are unfamiliar with what a Kanban Board is a quick google search should lead you down a nice rabbit hole. The short definition: A way to see and prioritize goals. There are many different ways they can be arranged and modified to work for you. I’m a visual learner, so I’m hopeful that this approach may work for me and my writing.
My board, an old white board, is sectioned into 6 blocks. Three TO DO, three, DOING, and three DONE. Each row represents a goal I want to achieve this quarter. Each week, I look at the TO DO sections of all three goals I want to work on, and I move the tasks down to the To Do section. As I do a task, I move it to the Done area. I use three different super stick (very important to get the super sticky Post-its or you get post its that fall off in a few hours. Ask me how I know that…)
The theory is that it will create less anxiety about the projects you want to work on because you’ve laid out all your tasks in advance, and structured a way to complete them. I’m still working on the ‘tasks’ part for the next three months but I wanted to see how they looked on the board.
To some, it may seem silly to waste time writing all these tasks on a board. Just jot them down in a planner like a normal person. Well, I’m doing that too. This is just a tool to help me visually see that I AM working towards my goal. The motivation to move that post it to the Done pile is strong … so, for now, it’s working.
So far, I’m digging it, but it’s only been a few days with it, so time will tell. I know quite a few authors who use this method to keep themselves on track so I remain hopeful.
I’ll be posting about my progress (or lack thereof) on my Facebook group, Write All the Words, Danielle, if ya wanna join me!
Do any of you use a Kanban board for your tasks? I’d love to hear your take on them.
Danielle Bannister, Author 