Getting physical with Productivity

Stronger Connection
Creating and updating tasks/the board is physical work. Sticking the notes onto the board and moving them around is certainly a lot more fun than ticking a checkbox or dragging something with your mouse. Physical interaction creates a stronger connection to your tasks. Also, research has shown physical notes (e.g. writing) result in more brain activity than typing. [2]
Omnipresence
This was a serious problem I had with task management software. It all required to either open a website or a software to see your tasks, which is a barrier and as a result I more often forgot to update task status digitally.
– my view from my standing table.
With the physical Kanban board in your work environment there is simply no barrier, it’s always there.
You can see current task states and manipulate them instantly. It also helps you to fully embrace your tasks internally and enables you to keep track of the big picture.
More Rewarding
Moving a task to the last column (done) feels great! And due to your board’s omnipresence seeing what you’ve already done motivates you to get even more tasks done.
Personalization
When you build your own Kanban board you have full control about how it should look like – that’s a point I really like. Make it awesome, put stickers on it, color it blue, draw a picture around it, whatever you like. As long as it’s something you can be proud of, something that just makes you feel good when you look at it.
A personalized board a friend of mine made. Guess what, she’s into music ;-)
I observed that the physical effort I put in building it has also motivated me to use it regularly and that was exactly the effect I wanted to achieve :-)
Conclusion
The physical Kanban board works great for me, I’ve reduced wasted time, and I’m more motivated to finish tasks. I observed those effects for myself but I’m in no way a scientist (at least in the field of psychology) so the effects probably were just subjective.
In the end we all have to find things that work for ourselves. If typical digital task management works for you nicely: great, continue! But if you’re in the same position as I was, I recommend giving alternative organization techniques a try. Even if it’s not the right thing for you, it certainly is a lot of fun. So if you decide to build a personalized physical board yourself, let me know I’d love to see it! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
References
[1] Waterglass -the productivity app for business owners and founders http://www.waterglass.co/
[2] The University of Stavanger. “Better learning through handwriting.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 January 2011.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110119095458.htm