Has anyone else tried using a kanban board to manage the things they would normally forget to do? Specifically moving physical sticky notes through columns as you start and complete tasks.

I’m a software engineer professionally, and it occurred to me that this organization method is natural to me for work, so maybe it would also work for life tasks.

So far, I’ve gotten like 100x more tasks done than I normally do, but maybe it’s a short term thing. Need more time to tell.

Systems like this work great for me right up until I forget to use them.

Yeah, it's worth a shot. The physical aspect of it should make it stickier, but like everything it might get unused eventually.

I slop coded a todo list with obnoxious alerts at work and was able to track my work for 2 whole weeks before I never used it again.

Yes! I’ve used Trello to great effect. Doesn’t work too well on the phone screen, but I’m not complaining too much about a free program.

You know what - that's a good idea. The general group of task tracking methods is what works best for me already, and this one makes sense.

Still miss the time I had a mind map software for my tasks which also had a "progress-ready" rather than just a ready icon. It was a circle filling in quarters, until it was full and became a checkmark. I like my tasks structured hierarchically, with the option to always break down any task or subtask further, and that was the best of both worlds.

With Kanban and tickets, my only worry is that creating subtasks in something like Jira does not display as nicely as it does in a mind map.

Not naggy enough for me to remember to check it. LOL

What's a kanban board?

They’re great for project work. Less so for daily routines (nobody wants to set them up every day).

I’ve done it with Post-It notes on a wall and every time I used it everything went soooo smoothly.

Are you the kind of person that needs an electric zap mechanism installed on your smartwatch calendar daily to-do list?

Kanban is a system the Japanese made up. You have tickets (things to do) in lanes (to do, in progress, done, etc.). Move the tickets along as you work on them.

I haven’t really created subtasks yet. Keeping it simple, and using sticky notes that I can physically move.

I think this is mostly working because I’m using physical sticky notes. You should try that and compare to trello.

Yeah I think the main reason this is working is because I’m using sticky notes.

Just imagine a to-do list board.

You have items in the to-do column, in progress column and then finished column.

I think it was originated in Japan and was popularised in manufacturing but then gained even more adoption in the software world.

It's a very simple concept and seems unnecessary but it can help at times and can hack your brain a bit to get work done. Many people combine it with the Pomodoro technique where you block off uninterrupted work for 25 minutes or so and then giving yourself a 5 or 10 minute break to check emails or phone and then going back.

When I was unemployed and wanted to skill up. I did a weekly targeted kanban board. I put things like read a 2 chapters, go for a walk, watch a video ... apply for a job, and I'd would reset and review it at the end of the week.

It definitely couldn't hurt...well it would hurt, but....

lol

The other danger is my cats running off with the sticky notes lol. Downside of using sticky notes over software

I know this is a bit old, but I just came across your post this morning.

I've been using Wekan for a long time with a tiny bit of automation. Here's how I have it set up.

Everything starts on the Big To-Do List, getting sorted by priority. For things I want done today, I move them to the Do Today list. I have a rule set up to move cards put in that list to the Do Today board.

This is the board I have up on my PC all the time. It's designed to have zero distractions. The only things on here are what I intend to get done today or what's been started but paused that I intend to do in the next few days. If anything looks like it's not going to get done, it immediately go to The Future which sends it to the Inbox of the Big To-Do List. To keep things decluttered, completed things also get moved to Completed on the Big To-Do List.

That's an awesome system! If I did something digital, this seems great. But I also think the fact that sticky notes are so simple makes it very appealing. I like that they're in the physical word and that they aren't attached to a device that is designed to distract me.

Perfectly valid. To each their own preferences.