January 2019

There were 23 posts published in January 2019 (this is page 3 of 3).

How I am getting back to work

Today is my first day back on the job at Collins Aerospace. Like many people do after a vacation, I spent a while trying to remember what I was doing before my Christmas vacation (read some emails, looked at the group chat, checked my engineering notebook, looked at an old task list). Finally, I decided to restart my Personal Kanban board by looking at the Post-it notes from last year, throwing away most of what was on the board, then capturing every current task I could think of on a new Post-it note and adding it to the backlog section of the board (titled “Ready”, meaning “ready to be worked on”).

Next, I did a preliminary ordering of tasks in the “Ready” column, then I selected two tasks to add to the “Doing” column. This would be my “work-in-progress” items. The book Personal Kanban recommends limiting how many items you are working at a given time (see also Personal Kanban 101 and my introduction to Personal Kanban). This helps to focus effort on getting tasks completed. When I create a Post-it note, I write the task description and the date I am creating on the note. I include the date so I can see how long it takes to do a task. If I look at the end of the week and a task I created at the beginning of the week is still in the “Ready” column, I might consider moving it up in priority.

I like to define tasks so that I can get them done in half a day or less. It’s also ok if a task only takes five or ten minutes. Another strategy I use is to mix up shorter and longer tasks. Using this technique, I feel I like I am getting more done.  When I don’t write tasks down, I start to feel anxious and unorganized. When that happens, I try to review what is on the board, see if I need to add any tasks, then get back to one of the tasks in the “Doing” column. If I have an interruption, I may create a new task to provide a next action or closure to that interruption, then resume the task I was working on prior to the interruption. I try to defer working on the interruption task until I complete my prior task. In that way, I can make more progress on the work I have already defined for myself.

When I complete a task, I move it over to the Done area of the kanban board. I also stack all of the tasks that I complete during the day. This also helps to provide a feeling of accomplishment as the stack grows. During the day, as I think of more tasks, I create a new Post-it note and add it to the Ready column. Sometimes, I will rearrange my backlog order based on an external stimulus (someone needs something NOW). The important thing for me is to capture tasks as I think about them, and not keep them in my head (similar to the GTD step of collecting tasks/information). If a task reaches a sticking point, I move it to the “Waiting” area of the board, and make a note of what is needed for this task to be resumed.

The Personal Kanban technique has been a great tool for me to keep up with my job. I like the ease of a physical system, but many people like using tools like Kanbanchi or Trello to be able to access tasks from wherever they might be. Regardless of the tool, the Personal Kanban system is a powerful way to get a better handle on your work. Give it a try!

 

2018: My year in review

Looking back over my posts, this has been my most prolific year in blogging (posted something in every month except August!). At the start of the year, I was trying to post a link a day, and managed to get into early February before dropping off. In March, I did a first-ever podcast to look at how my feed would capture the enclosure, as Pocket Casts (my phone podcast client) seemed to be having problems with picking up podcasts that were part of blogs (like Scripting News). April and May each had a link post, but June showed more activity (a Pocket Casts bug report, some links, a blog conversation with John Philpin about the micro.blog service, and getting my Technician ham radio license). July brought a return to link posts, and I began to start responding to other posts trying to use the Webmention protocol. In September, I got interested in Federated Wiki again, had a phone call with Ward Cunningham and wrote a post or two on that topic, as well as some links. October had 3 posts, but a key one was a link to an item by Seth Godin encouraging the reader to do something every day that builds an asset for you. I decided to rededicate myself to posting something daily, whether it be just a link or something more substantial. This lead to 18 posts in November and 27 posts in December! In November, I began to get more involved with users of the micro.blog service, particularly John Philpin and Ron Chester, who I met while I was using the 1999 blog tool from Dave Winer some years ago. I did a few more podcasts, and started work on a new book (listen to podcast episode 2 for more information on that!). I have also been working with Ron Chester to set up a river of news for Bob Dylan sites, and helping with setting up some WordPress blogs for Bob Dylan writing and ham radio writing. I also wrote up instructions to help others set up rivers of news for their areas of interest. The most exciting event for me in December was to see one of my posts (Is there a RSS revival going on?) appear in Stephen Downes’ OLDaily newsletter – wow!

With this increase in posting, I am getting more and more in the habit of posting. If it is getting near the end of the day with no post, I work to at least find a link that I want to save on my blog. I have enjoyed playing with IndieWeb technologies like Webmention, and starting my “In The Car” podcast has been fun. I have even told John Philpin that I would love to be a guest on his new podcast – whoa! Finally, I have enjoyed reading and interacting with fellow bloggers on micro.blog, have had a taste of community, and I like it! I am looking forward to many great posts to come. Here’s to a great year in 2019 and a post a day!