---
name: personal-wip-limits
description: "Cap your work-in-progress so things finish — the personal WIP limit (3 active outcomes, defended), the finish-before-start rule with its exceptions named, the parking lot for the overflow, and the throughput evidence that converts the skeptic. Use when asked I have twelve things half-done, why does nothing ever finish, set a WIP limit for my work, or I start everything and complete nothing. Produces the active-list cap, the parking protocol, the start-gate, and the two-week throughput experiment."
---

# Personal WIP Limits Skill

Twelve half-done things is not twelve things in progress — it's twelve contexts paying switch-tax ([context-switch-budget](../context-switch-budget/SKILL.md) arithmetic), twelve stale re-entries, and a finish rate near zero, because starting is cheap and finishing is expensive and unlimited WIP always buys the cheap thing. The limit — three active outcomes, hard — forces the trade unlimited-WIP hides: *starting the new means parking something*, said out loud. Everything else supports the cap: the parking lot (where the other nine wait, honorably), the start-gate (the new enters only when something finishes or gets consciously demoted), and the two-week experiment that converts the internal skeptic with their own throughput data.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The active three** — chosen from the current pile ([task-triage-matrix](../task-triage-matrix/SKILL.md) verdicts feed this), each with its next action and finish line
- **The parking lot** — the demoted work, parked with a one-line state note so re-entry is cheap when its turn comes
- **The start-gate** — the rule at the door: finish, park-consciously, or decline ([saying-no-kindly](../saying-no-kindly/SKILL.md) handles the outward face)
- **The throughput experiment** — two weeks at WIP-3, finishes counted, vs. the historical baseline

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The full in-progress pile** — everything started-and-unfinished, honestly (the count is the diagnosis; most people find 8–15)
- **The finish lines** — per item, what done means ([delegation-brief](../delegation-brief/SKILL.md) done-test grain); half the pile usually has no finish line, which is *why* it can't finish
- **The involuntary WIP** — the boss-assigned and the blocked-on-others; the cap counts what the user controls, and the blocked get their own lane (waiting ≠ active)
- **The historical finish rate** — roughly, what actually completed in the last month (the baseline the experiment beats)

## Framework: The Limit Rules

1. **Three active, by outcome not task:** the cap counts *outcomes in progress* ("the vendor decision," not its seven subtasks) — three is the level where each gets real weekly momentum ([weekly-review-ritual](../weekly-review-ritual/SKILL.md) big-three alignment is intentional: they're the same three). Four is the compromise that becomes seven by Friday.
2. **Parking is honorable, and stated:** demotion to the lot is a *decision*, made out loud ("the newsletter redesign parks until the audit ships") with a one-line state note ("drafts in folder X, blocked on nothing, next: pick template") — so parked work re-enters cheaply instead of restarting from archaeology. The lot is reviewed at the weekly; it is not a graveyard with better PR ([task-triage-matrix](../task-triage-matrix/SKILL.md) someday-file logic).
3. **The start-gate forces the trade:** every new commitment faces the question *"which of the three does this displace?"* — finish one first (the default answer), park one consciously, or decline the new. The gate converts scope creep from ambient to visible; the displacement question is the entire mechanism.
4. **Blocked isn't active:** work waiting on others moves to the waiting lane with its chase date ([follow-up-chaser](../follow-up-chaser/SKILL.md) owns the cadence) — it doesn't occupy a WIP slot, but it doesn't vanish either. The slot opens; the chase continues.
5. **The experiment converts the skeptic:** two weeks at WIP-3, finishes counted against the baseline — the standard result (more completions, not fewer, despite "doing less") is the counterintuitive evidence that makes the limit stick. The [decision-journal](../decision-journal/SKILL.md) pre-registration applies: predict the finish count before, review after.

## Output Format

# WIP Limit: [name] — active cap: 3

## The Active Three
| Outcome | Finish line | Next action |
|---|---|---|

## The Parking Lot
[Each: the one-line state note · reviewed at the weekly · the conscious-demotion statements made]

## The Lanes
[Waiting-on-others: item × chase date · the involuntary (boss-assigned) noted honestly]

## The Start-Gate + Experiment
[The displacement question, posted · the two-week finish-count vs. baseline: predicted [N], actual [ ]]

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Active items are outcomes with finish lines, capped at three
- [ ] Every parked item has its state note and demotion was said aloud
- [ ] Blocked work lives in the waiting lane with chase dates, not in slots
- [ ] The start-gate question is installed at the door
- [ ] The experiment has a predicted number and a review date

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not cap tasks instead of outcomes — thirty subtasks of one outcome is one slot, not thirty
- [ ] Do not park silently — unconscious demotion is just the old drift wearing a system's badge
- [ ] Do not let blocked work squat in active slots — waiting is a lane, not a job
- [ ] Do not negotiate the cap upward mid-crunch — the crunch is the argument *for* the cap
- [ ] Do not skip the experiment — the limit survives on its own throughput evidence or not at all

## Example Trigger Phrases

- "I have twelve things half-done."
- "Why does nothing ever finish?"
- "Set a WIP limit for my work."
- "I start everything and complete nothing."