Kanban - What It Is and How to Use It to Increase Productivity

Kanban boards are a great way to track your progress throughout the day. You can simply use sticky notes to list everything in just three categories other than using tools.

• To-Do
• In Progress
• Done

Dividing your tasks into these three categories will help you visualize how much work you have done and how much work is remaining. As a result, you can focus on the to-do items easily. You can also adjust the list by prioritizing tasks depending on the urgency. Let’s talk more about this.

What Is Personal Kanban?

The idea of Kanban came to light in 2011 when Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry published their book, ‘Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life.’ Kanban has the same principles as manufacturing. But you can apply those principles on an individual level to make yourself more productive.

How Does Personal Kanban Work?

A personal Kanban is based on two basic things. The first one is to visualize your workload at any given time to have better planning. This can be done by organizing tasks based on their priority or importance.

Once you have all the tasks in front of you, you can re-organize them if required. You can also add or remove tasks depending on the situation. Once a task is completed, it can be moved to the Done category, which relieves the workload.

Another fundamental principle of the Kanban board is to limit the number of tasks you focus on. It can reduce our efficiency as the human brain is designed for single tasks. We often indulge ourselves in several tasks at the same time.

How to Use a Personal Kanban?

Getting started with a personal Kanban board is pretty straightforward. You will just need a whiteboard and a marker or some sticky notes. You can divide the board into three columns, each representing one of the above categories.

1. You can either write tasks directly on the board or use sticky notes. Follow these tips to get the most out of your personal Kanban.
2. Don’t add large tasks on the board. Break tasks into smaller sections and write those sections to get them done quicker.
3. Use separate boards for home or office tasks. Mixing these two might make things complicated.
4. Don’t set a goal that might make you overwhelmed. Keep it simple to achieve the goal within the estimated time. This will boost your confidence and inspire you to complete other tasks efficiently.
5. Don’t add too many tasks to the to-do list simultaneously. Start with a few tasks. Once you get used to the process, increase the number of tasks.

Try Kanban with TimeCaptis

If you're still writing your to-do lists down on paper, it might be time to try TimeCaptis, the leading to-do management app. TimeCaptis is available on Android and iOS platforms, apart from the Web, so you and your team will be able to access and manage your Kanban from anywhere. The To-Do feature in TimeCaptis helps you implement Kanban and lets you plan out your projects from inception to completion, and the Team feature allows you to share your projects with multiple people.