Whiteboards are Drastically Underrated & Vastly Underutilized.
I’ve found whiteboards to be one of the most beneficial elements to running my business, keeping myself focused on high priority tasks, and creating healthy habits - but only if you set it up properly and use it daily.
I highly recommend getting a very large whiteboard, or multiple whiteboards, that you can display at eye level in an area where you work or pass by frequently. This subconsciously reminds you to keep your focus on whatever you write on your whiteboard.
A super affordable way to setup multiple whiteboards:
Most framed whiteboards are expensive, especially if you’re getting a large surface area or multiple boards. The most cost effective way to do this is to go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy raw “Marker Board”. It’s the exact same material just without the frame and you can get a large board cut by an employee for free into multiple smaller boards. If you go this route you’ll have a very hard time spending more than $35 total for the whiteboard and marker kits!
There are 4x8 ft boards available as well, typically for around $17 per sheet. I couldn’t find them online, but I’ve bought them multiple times and have also seen them plenty of times in the physical store.
I would also recommend getting these two market packs:
And that should be all you need to get started! Below are a variety of setups that I’m currently using or that I’ve used in the past to optimize the effectiveness of my whiteboards.
Daily Habit Tracking Section
Whether we realize it or not, our lives are mostly defined by our daily habits. Most people struggle to stay consistent enough to build or change their habits into healthy ones. I’ve been using some variation of structure like this as a daily checklist to ensure that my most important habits are being strengthened day by day. At the end of the week it gives you a great way to track how well or poorly you’ve done. I highly encourage anyone trying to build habits to try this system. Not only does it track what you’ve done, but it also keeps the items on your list at the forefront of your mind. It’s worked excellently for me.
In-Depth Daily Overview
This concept was derived from Tim Ferris (I believe it was in the 4 hour work week). This is for someone with plenty of whiteboard space and a bit of an obsession. I think this is the single most conducive setup for anyone who is genuinely dedicated to being productive and down to earth.
Daily overview would be a 7 day table like below:
Then the content within each day would look like this:
Additional Column Sorting
Dissecting by Goal Timeframes:
This can be useful for moving through a project by taking on smaller and more digestible tasks one at a time to move you toward the final outcome.
Dissecting by Category:
If you tend to juggle multiple projects at the same time it may be beneficial to sort by category.
Dissecting by Priority:
This principle is derived from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Book Notes & Quotes:
When I was reading consistently I would end up with a new column of quotes for each book.
