I’ve got two little words for you that represent the best investment you can make in your business: Personal Kanban.
This simple but powerful tool turns the epic challenge of managing your schedule into an excellent opportunity to work smarter, not harder.
Managing your projects effectively (and efficiently) as a freelancer is crucial — your productivity directly affects your earnings. After all, why bother setting business goals if you don’t have a mechanism to bring them to fruition?
Plus, it’s the ultimate answer to how to get more done in a day by ditching disorganization, curing procrastination, and activating organization.
Let’s dive in.
How Personal Kanban Increased My Productivity
Before discovering Personal Kanban, I was a pro-level procrastinator.
I had unclear priorities and processes (or rather, none at all) and gave into distractions way too easily (hello, social media and shiny new things).
Without a distraction-free environment, I felt completely overwhelmed with everything there was to do. Instead of increasing my creativity, the clutter and messy work schedule sapped my motivation and productivity.
All the time.
And even though I felt busy, I wasn’t making any progress towards my goals (a business that could pay my bills).
My remarkable ability to procrastinate with the tricky tasks — mostly the essential and strategically significant stuff on my to-do list — was ruining everything. That is until my business coach introduced me to Personal Kanban. And then everything changed.
Finally, after months of feeling unorganized and unable to manage my work — I had found a system that stuck. And it’s so simple that I’m confident it can work for you as well.
What Is Personal Kanban and How Does It Work?
Personal Kanban is a visual project management system based on Toyota’s lean manufacturing methodology. It’s a simple system for getting things done that encompasses two core principles:
- Visualizing your work; and
- Limiting your work in progress
Grasping these two principles changed two things about how I worked:
- I became laser-focused; and
- I would finish things (I’m a natural “self-starter,” not a natural “finisher”)
According to Personal Kanban creator, Jim Benson:
“Visualizing work allows us to transform our conceptual and threatening workload into an actionable, context-sensitive flow. Limiting our work-in-progress helps us complete what we start and understand the value of our choices. Combined, these two simple acts encourage us to improve the way we work and the way we make choices to balance our personal, professional, and social lives.”
Personal Kanban is unique in that it’s designed to be a physical representation of your work.
All you need to get started is a board, a bunch of post-its, and your favorite sharpie. (Although there are some excellent digital Personal Kanban software tools, too, which we’ll discuss later in this article.)
Once your board is set up, you have a visual (in-your-face) reference point for your priorities and exactly what you should be focusing on first, such as finding enough of the right clients.
Then your Kanban productivity is all revved up and ready to go.
4 Reasons Why Personal Kanban Is Both Different and Better
While there are loads of helpful freelancing project management tools that can help you get your act together, I have a soft spot for using a physical Personal Kanban board. (You might also hear this referred to as a “Personal Scrum board.”)
Here are my top four reasons:
1. It’s Tactile
Personal Kanban is hands-on. This was critical for me.
Having failed many times with both digital to-do lists and project management apps, I found that I needed my most important tasks out in front of me — screaming at me to get them done. Not locked away in a program I will never look at again.
Plus, Personal Kanban — be it on a board or in a Kanban notebook — offers the visualization and tangibility that I crave. Being able to see your Kanban to-do list helps keep you focused, limits distractions, and forces you to get on with the jobs you’re supposed to be doing.
Visually mapping your work also reduces decision fatigue (“what should I do next?) and the never-ending mental loop of your to-do list, which often drains you of your energy without you knowing it.
2. It Helps You Map Your Projects With Ease
Personal Kanban trains you to think on a micro-level for your projects.
To use a Personal Kanban board effectively, you have to break your projects down into bite-sized, doable pieces. And the rule is that no task (or rather, Kanban post-it) should take more than 50-minutes to complete.
While it takes some getting used to, it’s a fantastic way to train your brain to think in smaller increments to make your work significantly more comfortable to start (and finish).
3. It Has Built-In Reflection Points
As solopreneurs and those who work freelance full time, we often focus only on the extensive list of things we still have to do rather than what we’ve already accomplished. We’re always looking forward.
But Personal Kanban is designed to force you to reflect. To take stock of where you’re at each week, evaluate the tasks you’ve done, and celebrate your wins. And only then, move on to what comes next.
Having your achievements right there in front of you is an invaluable and incredibly uplifting side-effect of using a visual task-tracking system.
4. It Forces You to Finish What You Start
With Kanban productivity, there is only one task to focus on at a time.
Sure, you might still have a mile-long to-do list, but it’s organized in a way that forces you to hone in on your most valuable task — your priority for the day. And when you have a clear vision of what you have to do right now, it’s easier to stay focused and on track with your plan.
Also, the act of “pulling” your Kanban post-it notes into the “done” column increases your momentum, makes you feel more confident in your work, and gives you the motivation to do it all over again!
How to Set Up Your Personal Kanban Board
Personal Kanban boards are divided into five sections.
Kanban post-it notes each represent one task. You pull those notes into the appropriate columns as you set up your board each week.
Here’s what my Personal Kanban board looks like:
Here’s what each section represents and how it factors into the system:
- Options: This is where all your ongoing tasks sit. It’s your Kanban to-do list. And at the beginning of your workweek, you can brain dump all the tasks inside your head, list them out and then take a good hard look at your options. Once you have a to-do list out of your head and onto your post-its, you pick your priorities and move them into the “ready” column. You don’t need to look at ANYTHING in this column again until your priorities are done or a new week begins.
- Ready: This is where your priorities (your must-dos) for the week go. These are the tasks that you want to get done, such as researching and selecting online accounting software. They will be a mix of important and urgent and are your focus for the next few days.
- Today: This is where the “one thing” you need to get done for the day goes. It’s your focus — the thing you absolutely must finish. Nothing else on your board gets done until this task is complete.
- Done: This is where every job you have completed for the week sits. It’s a wonderful feeling to move a task into the “done” column and increases your motivation to do it all over again. This is the section that you review at the end of your week (or the start of your next week), so you can re-prioritize and figure out what comes next.
- The Pen: This is a holding bay for unfinished tasks or works in progress. For the most part, this area should be empty. If you work on breaking your tasks down into manageable, doable chunks, work gets completed rather than put on hold.
The Secret Tweak that Will Change the Game for You (Just Like It Did for Me)
Understanding what kind of work will get you into a flow state, exercise your strengths, and help you thrive as a company of one is crucial. This is why I want to introduce you to a secret ingredient — the Kolbe A Index.
Kolbe is a simple (but mind-blowing) test for measuring the “why behind what you do. It’s designed to measure the conative part of your mind — meaning the actions you take that result from your natural instincts.
It’s far from just an average personality test. And when combined with Personal Kanban, it can be a complete game-changer for helping you focus your time, energy, and attention more effectively.
Not only does it give you insight into why some tasks are more comfortable for you than others (and why others you procrastinate on forever), it also highlights your natural strengths and shows you how to exercise them daily.
Check out the Kolbe A Index to deepen your self-awareness and start playing to your advantage.
Personal Kanban Apps and Software
Unlike me, you might be more of a digitally inclined person. If so, you’re in luck — there is a ton of helpful Personal Kanban software out there.
Here are some of the top Personal Kanban apps, all of which have free starter versions:
1. Trello: The OG digital Kanban
If Kanban boards seem familiar to you and you’re not sure why and you’re a Trello user, now you understand: Trello is the app that helped popularize Kanban.
It all starts with easy-to-use Kanban boards, cards (tasks), and lists. Add as much detail as you want — attach files, assign due dates, and color code for organization — and voilà! You’ve kicked Personal Kanban productivity into high gear.
2. Asana: Project management with an excellent Kanban view
Asana is a powerful freelancer tool with a super user-friendly interface for project management.
While there are several standard layouts (i.e., lists, Gantt charts), the Personal Kanban view makes it simple to plot out projects and workflows, see progress, and spot blockers.
3. Miro: Your virtual whiteboard for easy Kanban collaboration
Miro is a powerful, intuitive whiteboard app that supports all kinds of online visual collaboration, including video, chat, presentation, and sharing.
Its Kanban customizable template is easy to use, with a flexible structure, time-saving shortcuts, and powerful cards. Miro is especially inviting for creative types and teams.
4. MeisterTask: All you need to master Kanban productivity
MeisterTask helps you digitize workflows, presenting your Kanban boards in a user-friendly, at-a-glance format.
Save time by utilizing preset workflows, customized automated workflows, and recurring tasks. And the built-in time tracking helps optimize your productivity when it comes to both invoicing and making better decisions.
5. Kanban Tool: Seamless time tracking so you know where your time goes
The simple Kanban Tool interface packs a powerful punch with loads of customizable fields for cards, color-coding, “power-ups” for a calendar view, checklists, emojis (always fun ????), and more.
But it’s the detailed analytics that helps your business improve and grow by giving you invaluable insight into the time you spend on each task
6. Zoho Projects: Handy, easy-to-use Kanban tool
Zoho Projects is a cloud-based task management tool with an intuitive Kanban board view.
Organize your tasks into a workflow, use the dependency view to plan the schedule, and quickly check tasks off in list view. The visual icons make the task cards easy to take in and digest quickly.
How to Get Started with Personal Kanban
If you’re unhappy with your progress and productivity levels, then it might be time for a system refresh.
If you want to simplify your projects, focus your work, and skyrocket your effectiveness as a solo operator — I suggest you give Personal Kanban a try. Not only will it make you more efficient in your business, but it will also have a surprising effect on your optimism, confidence, and overall zest for the work that you do.
If that sounds good to you, then here are three things to help get you started:
- Perform the “50-minute Focus Finder” (aka a brain dump) — to get every task, errand, or job-to-be-done out of your head and down onto paper
- Watch this video series (delivered by my business coach) — to help you set up your Personal Kanban system from scratch
- Read the Personal Kanban book — to get your own feel for how it works and why it’s so great (this one’s optional, but if you’re a “high fact-finder” like me, you’ll like it).
Now all you need is a board, some post-it notes, a sharpie, and your to-do list. So get crackin’!
Want more freelance tips for how to run your business better? Sign up for the Unemployable newsletter.