{"id":118048,"date":"2023-11-25T14:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T18:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=118048"},"modified":"2023-11-28T15:34:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T19:34:34","slug":"benefits-of-kanban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-kanban\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 Benefits of Kanban + Why It’s Better Than a Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you experience a lot of setbacks while working? How could kanban benefit you? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Personal Kanban<\/em>, Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria argue that kanban offers advantages that other productivity systems<\/a> can’t. These benefits include transparency, prioritization, and adaptability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about the benefits of kanban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. It Reveals Patterns in Your Workflow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the benefits of kanban is that it reveals your habits and patterns in your workflow. A personal kanban board<\/a> houses all of your tasks, no matter the size, importance, or type<\/strong>. Once you start paying attention<\/a> to your patterns, it also shows you at a glance where your bottlenecks are, the tasks you\u2019re struggling with, the tasks you\u2019re procrastinating on, how much more you\u2019re able to take on, and many more insights into your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visual and kinesthetic nature of a kanban board makes the information on it more digestible than other planning tools. The physical movement of dragging a task along your workflow, and the mental exercise of putting all of your tasks in one single board helps you understand the life cycle of your work, your limitations, and your priorities. This gives you insight into ways you can improve your efficiency and effectiveness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One key insight you can glean from your work patterns is what good <\/em>work looks like for you. In Peak<\/em><\/a>, Anders Ericsson argues that the ability to recognize patterns where others see only random and formless data is a key part of forming good mental representations<\/a>. Mental representations<\/a> are templates that correspond to objects, ideas, or anything else that the brain might be thinking about<\/strong>. They show you how to do your task properly and correct yourself when you make mistakes. By learning to identify your work patterns, you help your brain come up with a template of what a productive week or a successful project looks like, for example.

To make sure you\u2019re spotting those patterns, be mindful when you transfer tasks from one section of your kanban to another. In The Bullet Journal Method<\/em><\/a>, Ryder Carroll argues that moving content from one part of your journal to another during daily, monthly, and yearly reviews encourages you to reflect on every entry you record, which helps you keep track of what you\u2019re doing and why you\u2019re doing it<\/a>. Personal kanban also offers these <\/strong>built-in reflection opportunities as you transfer a sticky note or card from one section to another.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. It Tells You the Truth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since everything is out in the open, it\u2019s impossible to hide from your kanban. It will make your limitations obvious because, for example, you\u2019ll quickly realize that you can only accomplish X number of tasks on a given day, week, or month. The authors advise that you lean into this and make sure that you limit how many tasks are in your \u201cDoing\u201d column to a number that you\u2019re confident you can accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Accepting your limitations and keeping your to-do column manageable doesn\u2019t mean lowering your expectations. In The One Thing<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Gary Keller<\/a> and Jay Papasan argue that doing too many things means missed deadlines, high stress, long hours, lackluster results, lost sleep, and missed time with family and friends. Success comes from doing a few things well\u2014subtracting rather than adding to your daily tasks<\/a>. To identify the tasks that will have more impact and lead to success, they recommend asking the focusing question<\/a>: \u201cWhat\u2019s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. It\u2019s Nudges You in the Right Direction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Personal kanban helps you see all of your options before deciding what to work on. Having all of your tasks in one place, from walking the dog to preparing for a meeting, helps you identify the right task to focus on <\/strong>now<\/em><\/strong>, making sure your energy is going where it will have the most impact. By forcing you to limit the tasks you\u2019re working on at any given time, you ensure you\u2019re focusing on priorities you can accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Four-Criteria Model: Decide How to Act in the Moment<\/strong>

You might need some guidance to make the most of the information your kanban gives you. Consider following the four-criteria model<\/a> David Allen outlines in Getting Things Done<\/em><\/a> <\/em>which can help you decide which item to tackle:

Context<\/strong>: Certain tasks require you to be at a certain location or to have access to a certain tool (for example, at the office or in front of a computer). 

Time available<\/strong>: Some tasks require an hour of focused attention, so if you just have a few minutes before your next appointment this isn\u2019t the time for that task. 

Energy available<\/strong>: Certain tasks require a lot of mental or physical energy, while others don\u2019t need much. Only tackle what you have the energy to take on. 

Priority<\/strong>: Some tasks naturally have a higher payoff than others, so prioritize those. After narrowing your options with the first three criteria, prioritize based on your intuition and judgment. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. It\u2019s Adaptable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Personal kanban can adapt to your personal needs in several ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n