Chalk it up to a decade with the nuns and my time as a Girl Scout (always be prepared!), but I obsess over details. Having my "stuff" in one bag or my proverbial ducks in a row is how I delude myself into thinking I can make sense of my universe. Still, I spend many sleepless nights worrying about that stray comma I didn't catch in time for today's deliverable, or that broken link that needs tending to before tomorrow's presentation.Yeah, I sweat the small stuff. Freud even has a word for me.Yes...that word.I however, prefer to see myself as "uber-organized."So when an aggressive December 29th client deadline threatened to Grinch my Christmas Eve and Day celebrations, I thought I had things covered. After all, my guest list is etched in stone, my menu is planned, and 90% of the gifts on my list were purchased by November.And they were wrapped.Yay, me.Then why - I asked myself - did I feel as if my combined personal and professional workflow was pulling me under?Considering the amount of vowels in my name, missing Christmas is not an option. Somehow the holiday and the client deadline had to peacefully co-exist.A quick glance at my Personal Kanban explained my anxiety. I was drowning in a maelstrom of projects that were not only contributing to my WIP but were competing with each other. With personal deadlines set for the 24th and 25th, and a client deadline set for the 29th, seasonal expectations became pressing obligations.This expectation-based WIP extended beyond normal everyday existential overhead. Emotions and expectations combined to create holiday stress. And despite the days nearing closer and closer to the 25th, those holiday task cards piling up were barely making it out of my backlog.Sure, I had those tasks on my Personal Kanban. But things got messy. How could I limit my WIP with tasks sharing deadlines and very few hours to complete them?With less than a week to go, I needed a dedicated board to track the particular workflow for tasks that "came due" on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I need a way to schedule out this process, visualize my progress at every step, and ensure even the tiniest subtask was not overlooked. Because who wants to have to improvise on Christmas morning with a ___ and a ___ because they forgot to do ___? Not me.On the shortest day of the year, my biggest enemy was time. I had a Christmas mission, and so I needed a (very) special "Do" Date-ban.With just the fridge, magnetic hooks, and some holiday note cards, I am now set for the next 3 days. I grouped tasks by their Type (Snowflake/Shopping, Tree/Preparation, Stocking/Cooking) and their Do/Due Date (the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th respectively). The Do/Due dates became my WIP. That let me easily batch projects such as make up guest bedroom, bake struffoli, and brave the line at the post office.So with each day leading up to Christmas Eve, I've given myself a WIP of 3 things for each day - 3 tasks of immediate "value," with itemized subtasks listed inside. Each morning I take the 3 cards off the fridge which correspond with that date, and that's my WIP.Being able to boil down a seemingly insurmountable number of tasks to 3 cards per day tames an otherwise overwhelming task load, and allows me to enjoy the holiday rather than sweat the small stuff.
