Hacking time &

Manage Flow

AHOY!

I am Derek SalmonOrganisation addict and Kanban lovers

� Simple project management

� Create a workflow

� Improve productivity

� Reduce time loss and stress

� More free time and innovation

Goals

Your Todo list Now

1. Visualise work aka Kanban

2. Manage todo list with GTD

3. Timeboxing and optimisation with Pomodoro

4. Use the Flow, Spike design and manage urgence

5. How to use these methods

“How to improve your

productivity, work better, have more time for quality and fun.

1.

Visualise Work

The post-it, the board and the Kanban

Kanban

A project management tool to organise them all

Without strict rules

Post-it for every tasks

� Determine all your tasks� Note them on a post-it/card

○ Title○ Description○ Others important informations (deadline, ID)

� Separate tasks between current, next, etc.� Put them on a board to see all your tasks� Avoid to overload your board first

Tip: You can use both and connect post-it with ID but it takes time

Chose the right tool

Online

� Perfect for remote team� Data are easy to collect� Backup

White Board

� Best option for beginner� Flexible� More visual� Perfect for meeting

Segment your workflow

� How your workflow is divided ?

○ Detect the different steps of your process

○ The different categories of work

○ The different size of work (story point like 0,1,2,3,5… or S,M,L)

○ A column = a step

Do you feel the power of the

organisation?

Organise your tasks V1

Urgent / Important

These tasks are the more valuable for your customers

Tasks to plan

You will have to do them but they don’t produce a value for your customers now

Do you really need to do that?

Forget them

“Create value for your customer first.

Kanban principles

VisualiseSee all your work

Limit work in progressToo much tasks reduce your productivity

Manage flowAvoid tasks switching

Make policies explicitSee the type of each items

Use feedbacksAnalyse the quality of your flow

Improve and evolveYour flow and products

“And nothing more

Psychology ad

Visualise work� Make it more understable� More easy to share� …. It’s more fun too

Kanban example

BacklogFor later

TodoNext important task

In progressWe are working on it

TestingTest the quality of the product

DeploymentWe release the feature

DoneYeah, it’s done

Trello is

your friend

Stop

starting,

start

finishing

2.

Personal Todo list with GTD

Manage priority and avoid disturbing

Organise your tasks V2

� Collect all your tasks (great you have do it in part one)

� Determine the goal of the task, describe it and add useful informations (done too)

� Organise

○ Is it actionable?■ No

● Useless: go to trash● Useful later: archive, notes

Organise your tasks V2

� Organise

○ Is it actionable?■ Yes

● Less than 2 minutes: do it now● You can't do it: delegate● Several task: it’s a project, planned it, divide it (Kanban)

Organise your tasks V2

� Review your performance○ Fixed a moment to think about it

� Engage○ Do the next most important task

Organise your tasks V2

Know your task

Reminder

� Post-it� Whiteboard� Application

Clear goal

� What is the value, the reward� Now the needs� The specificity

� Help to divide project

Psychology ad

Small task create instant/fast reward

� Good for motivation� Good for concentration

3.

Timeboxing

Pomodoro and concentration

Pomodoro

Break5 minutes

Focus25 minutes

Focus25 minutes

The goal

� Know the time for each task with a unique metric (a pomodori)

� Help to focus

� Help to break tasks and create instant reward

� Flexible, you can use variation ○ 30/5○ 45/10

How to use it

� Find a tool○ Online timer○ Kitchen timer

� Track and see your performance

� Use other tool during pomodoro○ No emails○ Block social media (use an application)○ Phone in silent mode

� Report the number of pomodori in your Kanban ○ Dot on a post-it

� Make a bigger break after 4 pomodori

� Don’t rush to finish! Begin another pomodori○ You can do half pomodori

� It must help to focus without stress

How to use it

� After a day of pomodoro○ Review your performance

� If pomodoro doesn’t suite you○ Try to set up regular review of your work○ Try to have regular breaks

■ Stand up : good for health■ Go outside the office for true break

How to use it

Psychology ad

Brain runs fast but on short distance (thanks Gimli)

� Short break increase productivity

� Help to see problems

4.

Personal Flow and Urgence

“A flow is a mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity

Source: Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996), Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Creativity is particular

� When your find inspiration or the flow

○ Break the pomodoro■ Increase timer■ Don’t use it anymore

○ But keep a reminder, an alarm which fixed a limit■ Avoid to going too far

Spike design

� Design is difficult to segment○ Need to be coherent○ Need to connect different features

� When design needs important evolution = spike design○ Freeze the kanban flow and answer to the design problem○ Manage the others services

■ Code review, improvement■ Fedex Day■ Improve tools

Urgence is particular

� Specific item in your list

� A specific line in your Kanban○ Don’t follow the same flow○ Use a particular response

� It could be another specific task (maintenance, critical bug)

“Don’t make too much exceptions

on your workflow

5.

How to use

A whiteboard, post-its, kitchen timer and some metrics

“No true method

No exact principles

“Adapt it to your

workflow/method/team/behavior

Make it fun please �

Step by step

Implement TryTest

&Review

Final

example

thanks!

Any questions?

You can find me at� contact@dereksalmon.me� @drksalmon or Linkedin� www.dereksalmon.me

Credits

� Agile and Kanban community○ Linkedin / Twitter / Quora / Reddit

� Books to go deeper○ Kanban in action by Joakim Sunden and Marcus Hammarberg○ Getting Things Done by David Allen○ The 4-hours a week by Tim Ferriss○ Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi○ Pomodoro technique illustrated by Francesco Cirillo and Noteberg○ Rework by David Heinemeier Hansson

� Presentation� Base on template by SlidesCarnival� Photographs by Unsplash