Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Sharing My To-Do List Method ~ A Version of the Kanban System

My To-Do List ~ It Works

In December I had Sarra Cannon here as a guest blogger, talking about Tips For Success In 2019 As An Indie Author.  Earlier in the year, I'd been to her site and learned about her modified Kanban system.

I've modified the system even more.

You need to make a system work for you, and so I'm showing you in a very personal way what works for me.

Basically, a Kanban board is what you see below.  

A board with 3 columns listed To Do, In Progress and Finished
To Do, In Progress and Finished. 

I don't have room in my office to place such a board, nor would I enjoy seeing such an in-my-face board, (I think it would be TOO much pressure 😉) so I decided to make a desk-sized book.
a 1/2 sheet of paper bound with rings and decorated with stickers
The basic idea behind a Kanban is that you list each To-Do item on paper coded by color to the type of task, and put it on the To Do column.  Move it to the Doing column and then Done column
Showing how my list (neatly) looks on my book.

I use the same idea, but leave out the Doing. I use colored adhesive notes so I instantly know what I'm looking at. 
The notes get put on a day page and not in any particular order unless I have a deadline.  I place other not so immediate To-Do's on subsequent pages, after all, there are other things I want to do, not must do, like play the piano or sew or.... :)

As I said above, I don't have an In Progress or Doing List. My note stays on the page or gets moved to the next day if not completed. Most of the time, I can complete the task and when I do, I write in INK that completed task on my page and throw away the To-Do note.

This way, I can easily write notes as the project/job/task pops into my head and stick it on a page. Now I rarely forget to get something done!  How awesome is that? Very!! 

And I get to see the progress I've made and how the day was used for those must-do tasks.

A completed day and now the page is decorated with stickers
I was using one page for each weekday and one for a combined Saturday/Sunday, but I realized some days only get a few things accomplished. (I do write down what kept me from doing what I needed to do😄) And some days just don't have that much listed. So I start a new day if I can on the same page. 
Now I often use several days on a page unless I'm VERY busy.
A couple of important things to note. I learned from Sarra to have a quarterly list in the back of my book where I can place items I know I want to do, but can't focus on during this quarter.  It's a GREAT help because once it is listed, it's out of my brain and I won't forget it.
Where I write my ideas for the next quarter
Second, I love scrapbooking and planners, so I've combined that love in this book. It makes me happy to decorate it after the day has finished, it's like my treat.
The cover to my 2018 book
So a year and a half has passed since I started this. And it's working like a dream. Now, I've pulled out all the 2018 pages and started a new book. 

I use Create 365 Happy Planner 1/2 sheets (white for me, available at Michaels), their medium-sized rings, and I cut the tabs off their "dashboards" to make the cover and back. I believe these are all "classic" size. I'm going to put links below the post in case you're interested. (yes I'm an Amazon affiliate, so receive a small commission, but there is no extra charge to you)

The new cover 2019 for my book
I buy stickers and washi tape. I created my own "day" stickers, which I print on clear labels and cut with my Cameo. But you can buy day-of-the-week stickers.  Basically, I have fun which makes the entire TO-DO thing a bit easier. 

Next week, I'll write a post on my Action Book. A new and better way to keep my yearly resolution goals in front of me.

Let me know if you have questions about how I created my To-Do List using a modified Kanban system.

~See you later, 
L.A.




10 comments:

  1. Hmmm. This is something to consider. I have to-do lists and scratch off the done items. However, such lists don't help when I misplace them! Plus, they have no visual appeal. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Gretchen, I used to scratch off items, but then add to the list and it became unwieldy and unusable. This way if I need to add something, easy peasy, I use the color coded post=it. Thanks for visiting.
      ~L

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  2. Leslie, thanks for sharing your helpful idea. So easy and uncomplicated. Works for me. Love it. Cheers

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    1. Marilyn, I hope it helps. Any notebook will do, just get post-it's and you're on your way. It can be as decorated as you want, or not at all. It's all about what works for you, so it will be used. Thanks for visiting.
      ~L

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  3. Leslie, I love your system of organization. And it's so pretty :) You make to-do lists fun!! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Audra,
      Pretty is important, after all I look at it every day. I hope you can make something like this work for you. Washi tape and stickers are our friends. Thanks for visiting.
      ~L

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  4. I love your system! This works like my planner, only I like the mobility of moving the sticky notes.

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    1. Hi Karen,
      EXACTLY. The flexiblity is amazing. And adding a page for things you want to tackle but not now, takes the pressure of you, or at least it does for me. It's posted for next quarter and out of my brain. Thanks for visiting.
      ~L

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  5. BTW, this is not a calendar, it's a list of things you need or WANT to accomplish. Somethings are going to be multi-day, so I just move the post=it to the next day.
    Hugs to all,
    ~L

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  6. Leslie, this is terrific. I love post-it notes and this is a perfect use of them.If you have to move a task you don't have to write it down twice, just move the post-it. It sounds a bit like the Bullet Journal guy's methods. Thanks for sharing.

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