random thoughts today . . .

i have been thinking all day today about how you work and what that does for you rather than just sitting there and working. what do i mean? well, when i come into the office and start working and don't really have a goal for the end of the day (or even in the next 10 min) i find myself air-drumming or watching tv more than actually working. even though i have my kanban in front of me (i'll explain a kanban in a second), i will stare blankly at it as if i'm watching lizard lick towing. but if i come into the office with that one specific goal (can be only one) i start on that and as i'm working new things come across and i start rocking those out, next thing i know it's 2:00pm and i haven't even eaten yet. why is that? i just get focused on working and get into the groove of the music i'm playing (glassjaw right now) and let it flow.

i know that sounds a little 'duh', but it really does help when i have a focused goal at the beginning of the day. one of the things that really helps me is using my kanban. a kanban is something that was developed somewhere in asia (i think - but that's not important) to help with the flow of work. it's a simple three column table you have in your office/cube (wherever you work) so you know what you have to do. the three columns are very simple: 'to-do', 'doing', 'done'. i used to use post-it notes with tasks written on them before i went completely digital. but if you have a whiteboard or open space in your office, you should try it. each time you think of a task or project that you have to do, write it down (or if you're digital, type it out), put it in the 'to-do' column, finish what you're currently working on, move your current task over to 'done', move your next task over to 'doing', and then start working again.

not only does this help you know specifially you have your plate, but it is also visible to everybody else in the office so when they walk over to you and you're nose deep in your compy they can look at your kanban and see exactly what you're doing - but we know there'll still be people that come over and inturrupt . . . jerks. by having this board up and in front of you and visible for everybody, you become more accountable for what you have to do, others will know what you're doing, and you'll be a little more organized throughout your day.

now, why would you not just throw away your finished tasks? good question. there is a sense of accomplishment with moving the task from 'doing' to 'done' (try it, you'll see) and even more, when you're finished for the day, you can look at your board and see what you've done for the day and it will help releave some of that pent-up stress you might have taken home with you.

so back to my original point, how you work is so much more important than actually just working. by having even that one goal (the thing you left in the 'doing' column over night) when you walk into the office and getting started, you'll get into your work quicker, knock it out sooner, and feel better at the end of the day.

i'm out. havik marketing