After a few days last week trying out Autofocus again with some revised rules, I’m back on a no-list system. After four days the Revised Autofocus didn’t seem quite so successful as it did after the first couple of days.
A few observations:
1) The fact that I had a long list didn’t mean that I actually got anything more done than with a no-list system.
2) In fact I think I did less important stuff because I got led into doing unnecessary things just because they were on the list.
3) After four days I had 76 tasks on my list. This meant that at the end of the test however much I had done, I still had the feeling that I had failed to do 76 things!
4) Contrast that with a no-list system, which at the end of each day gives you a list of things which you have done. You might have one or two tasks you are conscious you didn’t get round to, but it’s easy to put that right the following day.
5) It basically comes down to a choice of a system which accentuates what you have done, or one which accentuates what you haven’t done.