Have you ever thought of your life as a huge project?
If so, congratulations, you are part of a very select group of people with a strategic vision of life. If not yet, it’s probably time to consider wondering if you are satisfied with the achievements so far, or join this special elite.
Kanban boards are a classical tool that has been helping humanity plan and manage projects, since their very original and rudimentary version. Until today, they are used with paper sticky notes, which is valid, provided that they help professionals and students reach their goals.
Nevertheless, the world has evolved, and so have Kanban Boards. Today, you don’t need to struggle anymore with confusing material that ends up accumulating in your office or home drawers. You should choose something you are in daily touch with, instead. What goes to drawers, can only feed mold.
The modern version of Kanban boards is not something you have to fold 8 times to fit in a case or make copies to share among colleagues. You can get a virtual workspace and start building your personal and professional projects with an independent workboard for each of them. Furthermore, you can add friends and partners to collaborate with you. Isn’t that awesome?
Why think of a life plan?
It’s funny that many people never think of their lives as a project, but there is an explanation for that. We are used to planning and managing our housing, part of education, but we sometimes act randomly in our career and private lives. That is because we didn’t learn to have a long-term vision and work accordingly. Many countries’ governments choose not to include entrepreneurship disciplines in the educational grid. They prefer to form and future executors and employees, rather than future leaders. Despite the gradual change communities are promoting about this, the present generations are still missing this encouragement.
The fact is that, yes, your LIFE should be your big project! Of course, you can’t control everything. It’s not about removing emotion or making you waste time on management. It’s just the opposite: it’s about helping you make conscious choices, take the best advantage of your free will, and enjoy your time better. Making decisions “according to opportunities” without a plan might cost you much more than you imagine. Some opportunities look good, but they are just not aligned with our goals. When you don’t set a strong context, anything goes and anything fits. The consequence? Short-term gain, long-term frustration. We were all made to be happy, so be smart and join the elite of people who know what they want, and work for it in a very objective way.
Plan your life areas and career with GitScrum Board
Plan my life, are you kidding? Like I had time…
Well, time is the same for all of us. Responsibilities change. It’s a fact that we all have to manage our tasks and agenda, somehow. That we can’t skip. The idea here is to make you save time. Set information once in a lifetime, then make a few updates from time to time, and you’re done. Watch your step to see how committed you are to your own health, finance, and all living areas. In addition, reflect on realistic goals not to be overwhelmed, and you’ll be happy with little achievements.
Create a GitScrum Board for:
HEALTH: It’s your first life area to be managed since it’s essential to accomplish anything else. Even to take care of your family, you need to be well. Remember the airplane safety instructions? First, you fit the oxygen mask on yourself. Then, you help others. Control yearly reviews, appointments, exams, returns. You can also control dental care, mental health, skin treatments, fitness, nutritional and diet routines, and goals, or create separate boards for these themes. Never miss an important appointment or a doctor’s contact again, gather all in one place. You can also create a digital gallery for your exams with GitScrum Documents and get rid of tons of paper.
FAMILY: List weekly or monthly tasks that have to do with your children, parents, and other dependants. Facilitate your routine, automating your control with the easy GitScrum Board that lets you know what’s pending and what’s been done.
FINANCES: Plan and control your investments, acquisitions, and finance training. Create a finance workboard to manage your sources of income and set your financial objectives and purposes that will guide your investments.
EDUCATION: Create a yearly plan with all the training programs you intend to complete. Remember they must fit your goals, budget, availability, and study habits (are you fond of reading, listening to podcasts, watching videos?).
CAREER: Set some goals for your career, which you can commit to. If there is a huge goal (like getting a promotion or career transition), then split these goals into small tasks.
HOUSE / CAR: List maintenance tasks, repairs, renovations, and remodeling you wish to do in a year. This will help you get rid of boring tasks faster and move towards the pleasant ones, getting a sense of accomplishment.
You can do it all visually with GitScrum Board.
If it looks weird to plan all these areas, know it’s not. It will take you a 30-minute set-up, then save you uncountable hours later.
See all time you can save by managing your tasks:
- Know where information is, don’t waste time looking for agendas, contact lists, notepads;
- Avoid damage and interest, caused by forgotten and delayed tasks when you lose control, trust “intuitive memory” that ends up failing when you’re on a busy week;
- Seize the right opportunities, because you focus on your goals and priorities, unlike the ones who lack awareness;
- Accomplish more, faster – since you follow your plan and avoid distractions;
- Eliminate useless work, when you start tracking your work, time, and performance.
Use GitScrum Board and GitScrum Time Tracking to optimize your life.
Plan your Career With GitScrum Board (with Kanban boards)
Planning a career is a long project, but you’re sure also looking for quick improvements. So, whatever your career stage is (starter/junior, professional, senior), any plan must be based on time perspective and divisions – short-term, mid-term, and long-term. These 3 timeframe concepts could vary from one person to another, so here we will use only time references you can adapt as you wish.
SHORT-TERM (6 months – 1 year)
List the necessary tasks to make progress towards your short-term goals, splitting bigger goals into smaller tasks. Just remember to take your company’s and department into consideration. In case you’re looking for a promotion or a position switch, select relevant courses for the future area. Consider a coaching process or readings to develop soft skills (leadership, teamwork ability, collaboration, communication, attentiveness, productivity), too. Remember to communicate your plans and new abilities to your superiors, to ensure they will remember you when opportunities come. If you are an experienced professional, it’s recommendable that you let the company know your capabilities and progress as well, mainly the ones according to your plans.
MID-TERM (3 years)
For some professionals, it’s a business position or a salary range. For others, it’s an expertise level, because they see it comes first and brings the rest. There’s not an absolute standpoint, but since you can not predict many variables even in the mid-term, you can usually expect better rewards from investing in your expertise. So, here, you could set ambitious goals like getting a certification or a scarce set of capabilities, authoring a project to become an authority in your profession (book, blog, social media), and building a strong network to catch opportunities and knowledge.
LONG-TERM (5+ years)
What contribution do you want to leave to your company? And to society? What do they need you for? If you weren’t here, why would they miss you? After answering these questions, you will be able to define the kind of success cases you want to have in your career, and the next chapters your history must have. Be the screenwriter of your life, not a viewer!
Now you’re ready to join the elite who uses Kanban boards with GitScrum!