Title: Personal Productivity: Execute with a free mind

1. Execute with a free mind…1
As to the methods, there may be a million
and then some, but principles are few. The
man who grasps principles can successfully
select his own methods. The man who tries
methods, ignoring the principles, is sure to
have trouble!
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. About myself…
 25+ years in the industry
 Agile/Lean practitioner (85%)
 Development of SwiftKanban and SwiftALM products
 Head of Professional Services
 Head of Products
 Agile/Lean Student (15%)
 Organize the LimitedWIP Societies in India
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3. A bit about yourself....
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4. These guys deserve an applause…
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5. 5
25-50% of the people feel over-whelmed or burnt out!
- Harvard Business Review

6. Some get tired...
http://media.bizj.us/view/img/2960741/howtooverloaded*xx2122-1194-0-111.jpg
http://blog.targethealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/20100708-4.jpg
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7. Some try different methods...
Some ask for help...
http://homemakersdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Schedule-Overload-515x344.jpg
http://diyorganization.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/help-sign-man-buried-in-paper-picture-225x300.jpg
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8. 8
https://selflovewarrior.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/change-begins-with-me.gif

9. “Personal Kanban” from
Jim Benson
Help comes knocking with...9

10. 1st principle: Visualize your work!
According to research using brain imagery,
visualization works because neurons in our
brains, those electrically excitable cells that
transmit information, interpret imagery as
equivalent to a real-life action. When we
visualize an act, the brain generates an
impulse that tells our neurons to "perform" the
movement.
Whether you're a student, businessperson,
parent or spouse, visualization will keep you
tethered to your goal and increase your
chances of achieving it. The power of
visualization is available to all people.There are two types of visualization...
The first method is ”outcome visualization” and involves
envisioning yourself achieving your goal. To do this, create a
detailed mental image of the desired outcome using all of your
senses.
The second type of visualization is ”process visualization”. It
involves envisioning each of the actions necessary to achieve the
outcome you want. Focus on completing each of the steps you
need to achieve your goal, but not on the overall goal itself.
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11. Work is no more an amorphous concept – it has a definite shape, a form
and a storyline and a flow. This gives work coherence, which is powerful.
The brain can then take this new coherence and based upon it make
decisions. Prioritization becomes easier, tasks become less daunting.
Jim Benson
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12. 2nd principle: Limit your WIP!
 Multi-tasking is not an asset!
 STOP Starting; START Finishing
 Hidden WIP!
http://agileprague.com/a-practical-introduction-to-kanban.htm
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13. People who are regularly bombarded with several
streams of electronic information do not pay
attention, control their memory or switch from one
job to another as well as those who prefer to
complete one task at a time
"They're suckers for irrelevancy,"
"Everything distracts them."
The researchers are still studying whether
chronic media multitaskers are born with an
inability to concentrate or are damaging
their cognitive control by willingly taking in
so much at once. But they're convinced the
minds of multitaskers are not working as
well as they could.
"When they're in situations where there
are multiple sources of information
coming from the external world or
emerging out of memory, they're not
able to filter out what's not relevant to
their current goal," ... “That failure to
filter means they're slowed down by
that irrelevant information."
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14. Why is it that between 25% and 50% of
people report feeling overwhelmed or
burned out at work?
It’s not just the number of hours we’re
working, but also the fact that we spend
too many continuous hours juggling too
many things at the same time.
The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to
your productivity. In part, that’s a simple
consequence of splitting your attention, so that you’re
partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely
fully engaged in any one. In part, it’s because when
you switch away from a primary task to do
something else, you’re increasing the time it takes
to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.
But most insidiously, it’s because if you’re
always doing something, you’re
relentlessly burning down your
available reservoir of energy over the
course of every day, so you have less
available with every passing hour.
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15. I will add a 3rd dimension: Flow
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Conversely, when the challenge is substantially higher than our skill, we become
anxious. And when the two are relatively balanced, we find ourselves in a state of
"flow," where we lose track of time and become fully absorbed in the activity. This
is the state we're referring to when we say we're "in a groove" or "in the
zone." While Csikszentmihalyi's research has shown a number of advantages to
cultivating opportunities to experience flow, Lyubomirsky's work shows that more
flow experiences result in greater happiness.
When we chart our mental state during activities that
present us with a varying level of challenge relative to our
skill we find that when our skill is substantially higher than
the challenge being posed, we become bored. http://www.edbatista.com/2010/09/happiness.html

16. … with visualization, WIP and flow!
So, lets get going...16

17. My “ToDo” was on PostIts already...
That’s 50+ things
to be done on
these lists!
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18. ... what about my “stuff” on Outlook?
Add another 15
odd tasks!
Result: Important
things are waiting
for 13 weeks!
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19. I decided to make a fresh start...19

20. Step 1: I started with a simple board...
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21. Step 2: Identify my different work types...
 Do I treat them same?
 Office work
 Project work
 Corporate Stuff
 Personal work
 Personal projects
 One-off tasks
 Some for the family
 They have different
nature...
 One time
 Recurring
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22. Step 3: Plan for recurring tasks
Added a (swim) lane
for “Recurring Tasks”...
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23. Step 3: Lets make it a bit smarter...
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24. Step 3: On Nov 20...
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25. Step 3: Set the next due date...
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26. Lets go back to my work types...
 Do I treat them same?
 Office work
 Project work
 Corporate Stuff
 Personal work
 Personal projects
 One off tasks
 Some for the family
 They have different
nature...
 One time
 Recurring
Use colors to distinguish between the work types!
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27. Step 4: Card Types for my board...
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28. Projects: consider a “staged” process
(Value Stream)
 If you have work in projects going through
repetitive stages, you can define them in a staged
manner
 Staged based execution gives greater control
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29. Adding a Value Stream for my projects...
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30. Some approaches...
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 Block/Unblock Cards
 Throughput based approach
 Focus on cards that you expect to complete first
 Task based approach

31. Lets prioritize the Backlog...
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32. Moving ToDo(s) from PostIts to Board
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I realized that
about 30% of
what I had on
my stickies are
obsolete!
Time to start saying
“NO”
So, periodically look
at this lane and
delete what has
become obsolete!
What we also see is that if tickets
aren’t done within the month they’re
put on the Personal Kanban, they
probably won’t get done. You’re
better off making a second board
called “Things I might want to do some
day”
– Jim Benson

33. Having moved all my work to the Board…
 Office work
 Project work
 Corporate Stuff
 Personal work
 Personal projects
 One off tasks
 Some for the family
 One time
 Recurring
… STOP Starting; START Finishing
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34. A few more ideas...36

35. Break the “Done” lane...
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36. Clean the “Done” lane end of week...
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 Reflect on all that you have been able to
accomplish
http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Done-Column-Daily-Weekly-Review.png

37. Flag your “Promises”!
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 Important to stick to commitments/specific
deadlines!
 Flag them on the card with the Due Date

38. Breaking out projects...
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http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/blog/#sthash.dKrxXc7H.rlE7KYig.dpbs

39. Applying 5S to Personal Kanban
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40. 1S: Sort and clean
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 Throw your junk cards away
 If you have used (or still use) different ways of keeping
track of your tasks, get rid of them
 Do a spring clean, if it’s a task, put it in your Personal
Kanban (the backlog, if it’s for later on), if it’s useless
information, dump it
 Trust your board; that should be your “go to” place

41. 2S: Straighten
 Bring things in order
 Make everything
“easily” accessible in
an order
 A corner in your room
is a bad idea for a
Personal Board!
 Use an online tool…
… with a mobile
version!
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42. 3S: Shine
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 Keep your Personal Kanban tidy and in good shape.
 Look at it, everyday...
 Is still a representation of your work?
 If tasks become obsolete, drop them.
 Rearrange what’s left... reorder it... make it look good.

43. 4S: Standardize
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 Define for yourself a method/working pattern and
stick to it
 You want to be able to rely on the information your
Personal Kanban gives you to make your decisions.

44. 5S: Sustain
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 The most difficult part…
 Sustain the effort
 Keep things clean and tidy; stick with “your” system
 Commit to what you are trying to achieve
 Without discipline, your method will deteriorate
over time and fall back into chaos

45. … but the mind was still always
overwhelmed, anxious!
Too many things to, too little time to do!
It was going OK….47

46. Learning from GTD!48
The art of resting the mind and the power
of dismissing from it all care and worry is
probably one of the secrets of our great
men
- Capt. J.A.Hatfield

47. GTD(Getting Things Done)
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 A method from David Allen
 GTD is a total work-life management system that
transforms overwhelm into an integrated system of
stress-free productivity.
- - gettingthingsdone.com
 We choose some best practices that will make our
Personal Kanban system, stronger and resilient
 Not the complete system

48. 50
 The Paradox:
 Higher quality of life BUT we take more than we can
chew  STRESS!
 Work has no clear boundaries
 No edges creates work for all!
 Almost every project can be done better….
 Leaving you feeling “wish I knew this!”
Problem: Infinite demand; finite resources!

49. Today’s tools: inadequate & scattered
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50. Problem: Infinite demand; finite resources!
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 There is one thing we can do, and the happiest
minds are those who can do this to the limit of
their ability – we can be “completely” present.
We can be all here. We can give…. our
attention to the opportunity before us.
- Mark Van Daren

51. Why things are on our mind?
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 This consistent, unproductive preoccupation with all the
things we have to do is the single largest consumer of
time and energy
- - Kerry Gleeson
 Thought is useful when it motivates action and a
hinderance when it substitutes for action
- - Bill Raeder
 So, transform all the “stuff” in your mind into a clear
inventory of actions, projects, usable information
 Keep nothing in your mind

52. Step 1: Capture
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 Get it out of you mind…do a “Mind Sweep”
 To an identified repository!
 The repository you choose, must be with you,
ALWAYS
 Notepads, smartphone devices… for me, I had my “mobile”
SwiftKanban always with me

53. Step 2: Process the Item
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 Identify if its actionable or not
 Many of these would be related to a Project
 A series of tasks need to happen to get an “outcome”;
define the “outcome”
 “Waiting For” – Person or a Date
 Make a note and RELAX!
 2min rule!

54. Defining a context…
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 Defining a context helps you focus on “what” you
need to do when you are in that specific context
 Recommended by GTD:
 Work OR Home
 Call OR @ Computer OR Errands OR Agendas
 Waiting For

55. Refactoring my “WIP”
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 Step 1: Split my “In Progress” by “context”

56. Refactoring my Board, again…
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• Moved Waiting for to a separate lane;
• In Waiting For, if something is waiting for an
external event, it is blocked. No block if it just
waiting for a date to finish but set that date
so that you know when to do something about
it and not look for it everyday…

57. Refactoring my Board… the last one
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14-09-201660
Moved Agenda items
out of the WIP limits

58. Here’s how it looks today…
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59. Benefits for the PK practitioners…
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 Boost your productivity to the next level…
 Practice “mind sweep”  Execute with a free mind
 Use mind to do stuff; not to remember stuff
 By defining your context, you are ready to execute
when you are in that context
 Don’t worry about anything else
 Trust the system that its all in there
 You might initially miss some but with a smartphone/mobile
interface, “capture” online real time

60. Benefits for GTD practitioners
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 Visualization… see how much “stuff” you got to do!
 Work is no longer amorphous; it’s a card…
 You drag/drop from one lane to another as your progress
 Define WIP limits; if you are overwhelmed, reassess, de-
prioritize what you can
 Recall: one of the greatest source of dissatisfaction is not
being able to meet commitments!
 Flow: When work flows and you move cards to “Done”,
experience a sense of accomplishment

61. Let me finish by saying…
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http://www.edbatista.com/2010/09/happiness.html

62. Thank you….
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 Reach me at:
 @sudiptal
 slahiri@digite.com
 sudiptalahiri.wordpress.com