Kanban has really helped me keep the Monday sense of urgency all week long. I feel very focused on Monday because people tend to schedule meetings, things get kicked off, there are clear next steps; you're usually not bringing the previous week's baggage into the new week. By Wednesday more things are in-flight, blocked, ramping up, ramping down; there's more mental baggage; it's harder to have mental clarity around what needs to be done and what I should prioritize.

Putting those things into kanban helps me get all of that juggling out of my head and onto a board where I don't have to be mentally burdened by it. It becomes easier to focus on what's at the top of my queue -- if something gets blocked I have a place to park it, and if I'm blocking someone I've got an appropriately-prioritized place in the backlog to park it until I can help. It also helps me limit the amount of "Work In Progress" so I can turn my full focus onto whatever my top priority is at that moment.