{"id":61282,"date":"2017-06-15T02:46:34","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T06:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?p=61282"},"modified":"2017-06-15T00:17:07","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T04:17:07","slug":"personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a wild, monkey brain: full of ideas,distractable, loving\u00a0to follow trails and jump from one idea to another. Like most of the creative people I know, I\u00a0try hard to manage my\u00a0unruly brain without reining it in too tightly, to find the perfect balance between honoring its natural flow and imposing the direction\u00a0it needs to make things happen. I used to think\u00a0I multi-task well. Increasingly, I’ve been realizing that multi-tasking can be tiring and counterproductive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve tried a number of different project management apps over the years, on the hunt both for myself and readers who face similar challenges. I’ve written about a number of them, including an odd, curiously effective clock face planner\u00a0I devised\u00a0that made me realize I do better with a visual system.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sally Schneider<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the apps and planning strategies have taught me something about how I work best. But most have me taking on too much at once, with linear lists of to-dos that can seem overwhelming as they accrue and become increasingly difficult to prioritize.
\nToo long a list of unfinished tasks is dispiriting!<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few days ago I came across an article about Personal Kanban,<\/a> a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy. It caught my attention right away for how simple it is, and how its core principles seem address just how my brain functions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kanban has\u00a0two rules:<\/h1>\n

1. Visualize your work.<\/span><\/h1>\n

If you’re able to see the whole scope of your work, you’ll be better able to figure out priorities.<\/span><\/h3>\n

2. Limit your “works-in-progress”<\/span><\/h1>\n

That is, limit the number of tasks you take on at one time. It allows for more peaceful, concentrated focus and avoids the burnout often caused by multitasking.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

Kanban builds these two principles into an elegant system of capturing and organizing tasks:<\/h1>\n

Tasks are filed under only 3 or 4 categories:<\/h1>\n

1. Backlog\/To-do<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ongoing list of tasks\u00a0to be done<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Today.<\/span><\/h3>\n

This one is optional, but I find helpful. These are the tasks out of my long list of to-dos that \u00a0I really want or need to get done today.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Doing\/In progress<\/span><\/h3>\n

What I am working on now, limited to three tasks at any one time. This is important. Working\u00a0on no more than a few tasks at a time creates real focus and more sustained energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Done.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Seeing a list of completed tasks give a tangible sense of accomplishment and flow, keeping me motivated<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Patrick Wied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally, a kanban<\/em> was composed of\u00a0a white board or a wall with post-its that could easily be moved around. Many people like this very elemental method since it is both visual and tangible. Physically writing your tasks down and rearranging them as needed that can be very effective and rewarding.\u00a0Patrick Wied\u0001\u0001\u0001\u0001\u0001<\/a>\u00a0described his experience on Medium<\/a>. The kanban he created out a of a big sheet of paper and sticky notes is above. \u00a0Several kanbans can be used if you have a variety of projects going on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alan Henry Lifehacker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since I have many projects going on at once and work on several devices, I find an app easier to manage. KanbanFlow u<\/a>ses the same\u00a0visual layout as a paper kanban, while being really intuitive and usable\u00a0right away. \u00a0This\u00a0blank “board” or project sheet is ready to fill with tasks and customize; I can easily capture a task by clicking on a plus sign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve been setting up\u00a0a board for each of the very complex projects I’m working on. I can copy a task on one board to another easily.<\/p>\n

KanbanFlow is\u00a0GREAT. I can see what I really want or need\u00a0to do in a day, reorder the tasks as necessary, even set a timer to only work on a task for 25 minutes (which the Pomodoro method<\/a> SWEARS is the sweet spot before you need a break). I can add dates to track of deadlines, sync it with my calendar, AND send it emails with a task that I\u00a0want to quickly input. And I can easily use it with collaborators on bigger projects. When clicked on, a task opens to reveal notes and other data.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The potential to customize the app to organize it the way I think is awesome and EASY to figure out, something many task management apps are not. And although I do wish the visuals were a little cooler, the utility of it for my peculiar brain outweighs minor aesthetic concerns.<\/p>\n

So far, I feel like the Kanban method\u00a0is freeing up my brain and energy by changing its habits and patterning. Visualizing my work and limiting how much I am taking on at any one time is powerful, and palpably calming my monkey brain down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vintage Printable<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":61285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[458,6549,5418],"tags":[10790,5900,10791,10792,10789,2175],"yoast_head":"\nPersonal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/vintage-monkey-print.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"808\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sally Schneider\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4\"},\"headline\":\"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\"},\"wordCount\":842,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"apps\",\"improvise\",\"KanbanFlow\",\"planners\",\"software\",\"task management\"],\"articleSection\":[\"creative process\",\"mindset\",\"productivity\/work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\",\"name\":\"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/\",\"name\":\"Improvised Life\",\"description\":\"a treasury of inspiring ideas\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Improvised Life\",\"alternateName\":\"IL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/logo-with-tagline-copy-rasterized-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/logo-with-tagline-copy-rasterized-1.jpg\",\"width\":456,\"height\":104,\"caption\":\"Improvised Life\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/improvised_life\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/signlaboratory\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/improvisedlife\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4\",\"name\":\"Sally Schneider\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b642ac4c69dbeadf84f5d2d477d9835?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b642ac4c69dbeadf84f5d2d477d9835?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sally Schneider\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/author\/g0llysally\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life","description":"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life","og_description":"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.","og_url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/","og_site_name":"Improvised Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife","article_published_time":"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":808,"url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/vintage-monkey-print.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sally Schneider","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@improvised_life","twitter_site":"@improvised_life","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sally Schneider","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/"},"author":{"name":"Sally Schneider","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4"},"headline":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain","datePublished":"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/"},"wordCount":842,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["apps","improvise","KanbanFlow","planners","software","task management"],"articleSection":["creative process","mindset","productivity\/work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/","url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/","name":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain - Improvised Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-15T06:46:34+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-15T04:17:07+00:00","description":"Personal Kanban, is a tool to visualize, organize and complete work in a way that maximizes, rather than depletes, energy and focus. It is simple and incredibly effective; its core principles address just how my unruly monkey brain functions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/06\/15\/personal-kanban-to-focus-your-unruly-creative-brain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Personal Kanban to Focus Your Unruly Creative Brain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/","name":"Improvised Life","description":"a treasury of inspiring ideas","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization","name":"Improvised Life","alternateName":"IL","url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/logo-with-tagline-copy-rasterized-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/logo-with-tagline-copy-rasterized-1.jpg","width":456,"height":104,"caption":"Improvised Life"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife","https:\/\/twitter.com\/improvised_life","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/signlaboratory\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/improvisedlife\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4","name":"Sally Schneider","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b642ac4c69dbeadf84f5d2d477d9835?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b642ac4c69dbeadf84f5d2d477d9835?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Sally Schneider"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/improvisedlife.com"],"url":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/author\/g0llysally\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}