Painless Productivity: The Whiteboard System
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Whiteboard Fun
- Sheila's Desktop White Board
Okay, it's not a White Board at all! It's a Word doc that's set up like the white board in the video below. Edit it every week, pin it up where you can see it constantly, and see what happens to your productivity! - Whiteboard Friday
Weekly videos from the gang at SEOMOZ ... this one on creating great online content. - Whiteboards as Wallpaper
Dry Erase wallcovering materials in a variety of styles - Whiteboards at Wikipedia
Wikipedia weighs in on whiteboards.
Are you ready to learn an utterly simple, step-by-step technology for taking charge of your days ... and thus your online success?
Well, stay tuned for My In-Your-Face, Idiot-Proof, Practically Painless, Stay-on-Track-Every-Day-and-Get-Results, White Board Productivity System.
Let me tell you how this system came into being.... I am a terrific planner and goal-setter. Yet year after year, I've created detailed, beautifully formatted plans that then disappear into a file folder or the bottom of a pile on my desktop.
And, all too often, I have spent my days doing everything except What Matters Most.
Out of my frustration, I invented a new system years ago for keeping myself on track -- every day -- in a way that is simultaneously "in my face" and yet painless.
I can go for months "forgetting" to use this system, but whenever I return to it, my productivity skyrockets!
How You Can Get Started
1. Buy the largest white board you have room for (ours are 4'x3').
Or use 3M's Post-It® Self-Stick Easel Pads. (Imagine a white board that comes on saran wrap, which makes it cling to the wall with static electricity ... wonderful stuff!) And get a box of colored Dry Erase pens.
2. Give your board a title that has some "juice" for you. Right now, mine is called "Command Central."
3. Divide your board into 6 equal boxes.
4. In Box 1 write "Vision" or "Game Plan 2008" and list your top 3 (or 5 or 10) goals for the entire year. (Or just the next 90 days. Whatever works for you.)
5. In Box 2, write "This Month." Then list your goals for the month. Naturally, you'll draw from your annual goals when deciding what to work on this month.
6. Box 3 is headed "This Week." In setting your goals for the current week, you'll take a look back to "This Month" and decide which of your monthly goals to focus on over the next 7 days.
7. I think you know what's next.... Box 4, "Today!" is where the rubber meets the road. As you plan your priority activities for the day, you'll be completely in alignment with your priorities for the week, month, and year.
8. Box 5 is for important phone numbers, motivational sayings, a calendar, inspiring photos -- whatever you like, to support your vision.
9. For the truly dedicated, here's the KILLER SECRET for making this thing work.... your Daily Score Card.
In Box 6, draw a score card with two rows. Write the days of the week in the top row.
Now, at the end of each day, look back at your priorities for the day, evaluate your progress, and score yourself, between 1 and 10.
This Killer Secret is so simple you'll be tempted not to bother with it.... But the score card -- in which you track your own results and compete with yourself -- is unbelievably powerful!
Why? Because knowing all day that you're going to be scoring yourself at the end of the day creates a laser focus on What Matters Most.
Or, if you don't like the Score Card idea, maybe you'll call this box "This Week's Wins."
The key point is that you are keeping your eye -- and your focus -- on the Big Picture (your vision for the year), the medium picture (this month and this week) and Today (where you make the vision real).
Although I still use other daily planning tools, like David Seah's wonderful "Emergent Task Planner," the White Board System -- with its color and messiness -- appeals to the kid in me!
No whiteboard? No problem!
Use Word or Notepad to record your Vision, This Month, and This Week goals ... and post the page where you'll see it daily.
To make it easy, here's a version of the White Board planner for you in MS Word format. I call it the Desktop White Board.
You can download and edit it every week. Just be sure to keep it in your visual field all the time ... perhaps pinned to the wall behind your monitor.
Now I'd love to hear about your favorite productivity tool.
And if you'd like to see an example of the Painless Productivity system, here's a video I made for you...
Painless Productivity: The Movie!
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Comments
Wow, have you done systems like this in the past? It sounds great but I just wonder
a) where I'd put the whiteboard (wallspace is a premium--I think I'd have to get rid of my bulletin board.
b) would I really do it?
How did you get yourself to be accountable?
Hi Lisa,
I first did this 8 or 9 years ago and it worked better than any other system I'd tried (and I am always experimenting).
But then I'd "forget" for a few months (or years). However, each time I rediscover this system, it gives me a productivity lift ... which makes me WANT to stay with it.
One of my favorite productivity books says that Right Brain People:
(a) NEED systems that are playful and fun
(b) Will INEVITABLY lose interest in them after a while and go looking for a new "toy"
(c) and that's just fine. In other words, "Be who you are."
Which is a long way to answer your question about accountability ... The fun of playing with colors and being able to erase things and inspirational photos make it a pleasure to use for long periods of time. And when it isn't fun any more, you just find another system to play with!
As for the wall space, I know what you mean! And actually, for the "in-your-face" factor, using just a plain piece of paper -- within sight of your monitor -- can work even better.
* In Word > Page Setup, change the orientation from Portrait to Landscape (sideways).
* Create a table with 3 boxes on top (Vision, This Month, and This Week) and 3 boxes on the bottom (Today!, Inspiration, My "Wins" This Week)
* If you don't want to reprint this page every single day, then don't use the Today box. Use some other system for your Daily To Do list.
* Use a Copy Board to prop your sheet up just to the right or left of your monitor. Then throughout your work day, you'll be looking hundreds of times at your big picture goals.
If you do try it for a week or so, come on back and let me know what you think! Cheers, Sheila
Great system, Sheila. (And a great hub, you've even made a video for it?!)
Thanks, Sandra. Yes, I want to create some multi-media products this year ... so the more practice I get with making videos, the better!
Hey, Bob
I was so excited at seeing your comment yesterday (first comment on my first-ever Hub) that I neglected to thank you for it.
Yes, feeling overwhelmed is pretty much a Fact of Life for most of us, isn't it? So many inputs, so much stimulus....
Sheila, you convinced me to get a whiteboard for myself: I can't wait to see how it will help me. My deslk is full of notes on little pieces of paper that get lost all the time.
Cool, Adriana!
And here's another option for you...
Let's say that all the little notes are working for you in one way -- by capturing quick thoughts and tasks that you don't have time for at the moment.
You still do want to capture those thoughts ... but just not have them all over your desk, "nagging" at you and cluttering your mind.
So maybe you could set aside a small section of your Board that keeps them safe and out of your mind, but not lost.
I buy Post-It notes in a rainbow of colours and then just stick them to a corner of the White board. So they're out of sight until I'm ready to spend a little time on cleaning up admin tasks.
It would be fun if you'd give us an update after you've had a chance to tweak your own system.
Best,
Sheila
Thanks Sheila that's a great idea I am always lousing my to do list and going off track, I am sure this will help me a lot.
I will come back and let you know how it's going.
John
Super, John! I look forward to "seeing" you again.
Hi Sheila,
I need to organize my to do list too. I'm always getting off track. I think your system is fabulous. Thanks for putting this up, even making a video of it. I'm a fan!
Thanks Mschanl!
I seem to remember hearing that airplanes are off track 90% of the time. So most of the journey is spent getting back on course.
Best of luck with your course corrections!
Sheila
Love the video Sheila! I like your simple do-able system. Looks like I'm going to have to take the whiteboard back out of the closet again, and put my goals out there where I can see them every day. Thank you.
Smile.
I know what you mean, Cindy. Mine's been in and out of the closet a lot too!
Video is a nice touch, Sheila! You've got a great "radio" voice.
Maybe I'll try the peel 'n' stick dry erase paper for fun. You're absolutely right -- if it isn't fun, I'll lose interest and stop doing it! A big ol' white board just won't work in my messy office right now. I don't have even a square inch of available wall space. But I could stick some dry erase paper on my laser printer. :-)
-Liz, who is hoping to organize the chaos some day!
Thanks for your nice comments, Liz!
And what a great idea to use your laser printer as a "wall". I'm eyeing the side of my printer now.....
-- Sheila, who knows she will die with her "To List" undone
Sheila,
Perfect timing for me. Swamped and willing to do something about it.
I am always lost trying to keep a mess of stuff in my head and always losing it. I now have the white board (right next to my desk) with 6 sections like you suggested!
THanks for a very clear obvious system.
Hey Jason,
Love your comment: "Swamped and willing to do something about it."
And then you did!
Congrats ... Sheila
I think most people experience this problem to varying degrees, and your solution is well designed and presented, Sheila. I've been a student of Hobbs, Covey and Allen over the years, but I have yet to find the system that "feels natural" to me. Maybe it's not supposed to feel natural? Perhaps I'm just more of a "Letting Things Slide" than GTD gal? Actually, I could probably write a "Seven Habits of Highly Distracted People" book! ;-) I look forward to you sharing similar tips with us in the future.
Oh man, where can I buy that book?! ;-)
On a similar theme, one of my most-often-revisited books is by Ann McGee-Cooper: "Time Management for Unmanageable People."
Very useful hub! I have a whiteboard on the wall above my computer, but I don't use it to this extent, this is great!
Great Idea and great hub. This sure beats my leave-it- on- the- desk- to -get- in -the- way- so- it -gets- done -non system. Thanks
Thanks, Escape!
Yeah, when you have your annual and this month goals in a place where they are in your visual field all day, they seem to "get to you" in an effortless way.
No need to write the goals on 3x5 cards and remember to look at them 3 times a day. (Although some folks do great with a system like this.)
But with your up-to-date vision posted in a place where you are always seeing it, you're just lazily -- subliminally -- taking it in.
TKoppel ... Oh, so you've tried that system too?! ;-)
Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila
Hi Sheila
You have convinced me to resurrect my white board and try again! I put one up ages ago and filled it ith aspirational goals and then forgot about it and went back to being rubbish at time management!
I will give your system a try and see if it works for me.
Well done with your first hub-it's great and I have given it a thumbs up.
Graham Kidson
Thanks, Graham! It would be great to hear what tweaks you make to the system and how it works for you.
You sound British ("being rubbish at time management"). I spent a couple of great years in Cambridge during my younger days. Having watched a travel show on Britain this weekend, I'm in the early stages of planning a new visit. I'll have to put a photo up on my white board!
Cheers,
Sheila
Excellent post Sheila. Considering that my mind tends to go in several different directions at once, including making u-turns, I can use a system like this.
I read on a blog post a while back that a cheap alternative to premade white boards is to use solid white tileboard (also called Melamine tile wall panel) and comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets at your local big box hardware store.
Rob
Great tip, Rob! I had not heard of that product before.
Thanks for contributing....
Sheila
I'm a right brain person and thanks to your great hub page I just found my "new toy"! lol! Thanks.
LOL! Right brainers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your logic!
How fabulously simple, fun, and effective! Thanks, Sheila. I was always known for unbelievable productivity, so I couldn't understand why my multi-tasking wasn't working for me now. Your great video (with engaging personality and voice) was the clincher. I can be my "old self" again! Now I'm another one who's going to pull that white board back out of the closet!
~ Margaret
Thanks Sheila
I'm going to give the word document a try
Good on ya, Margaret. One of the sayings I have on my magnetic board is "Be Who You R."
Cheers,
Sheila
Hello Sheila,that was good.You have given me a food for thought.Iam going to use your method.it is 100% effective at reminding someone what to accomplish in a record time.
thank you very much once agaIN
Ssentamu Daniel
What a great idea! I keep buying new planners thinking they will get me organized. This is simple and the rating system is a great motivational tool. I can't wait to try it at work!
Terrific hub! I love the Desktop Whiteboard, too. :)
Sheila, why do I feel so guilty after having read this Hub? It's probably because I've needed to apply a system like this to my own life for years. It has been bookmarked and I'll be reading it again tonight or tomorrow.
Thank you for spending your time to not only put together a BEAUTIFUL Hub, but to also give us (me) something so useful. I'm going to keep my eye out for you.
You did it? Congratulations Sheila - for both the site and the win.
John McLaughlin, Day Trader - Consultant / Coach
Sheila, Really fun and well done. Congratulations
Sheila,
Awesome hub page! This is actually a system I can realistically see myself using! Thank you so much!
Arthur
It's good system, I am going to try it now,
Thanks for the tips, Sheila. I used similar method years ago at work when I was overwhelmed with many projects, all in different stages. I listed everything on the board (just a single line per), included dates, names, and status. Boss (and I) always knew where things were, and everyone else did, too. Seems too simple, but it makes a big diff just keeping everything out in open view. Workers all felt more accountable, so seemed to focus better and git 'er done.
Bob says:
2 years ago
What a great system. Finally an easy to understand and do-able solution to being overwhelmed and dis-organized.
Great work!