How to Handle Re-entered Tasks in No-List Systems

Perhaps the thing I’ve found most difficult to get right in designing the best possible no list system is the question of how long to hang on to re-entered tasks.

My answers have at various times included the following:

1. Have no re-entered tasks at all.
2. Re-enter a task only if there is current work still outstanding on it.
3. Re-enter a task if you expect it to be needed again the same day.
4. Re-enter all tasks regardless of whether they are going to be used again.

I’ve chopped and changed systems to fit one or other of these, but none have proved entirely satisfactory. At one extreme, a lot of tasks are started but don’t get worked on to completion. At the other, there’s a long tail of re-entered tasks to plough through.

And what does one do about open-ended tasks like reading books? Reading a stated number of chapters or reading for a set time are too rigid for my liking.

How to handle these re-entered tasks is a really important question because, you will recall, my intention is not to do anything but to do everything!

I had a flash of light recently about this. If, I asked myself, a task can only get onto the list by being done, then perhaps it should only be able to get off the list by not being done.

So I’ve added the following rules to the May 9 System:

1. Whenever a task on the list has been worked on it must be re-entered, whether or not it is going to be needed again.
2. There is no compulsion to work on any re-entered task.
3. When you come to a re-entered task and for any reason do not work on it, that task is deleted.

These rules involve a little bit more re-writing than before, but they seem to have solved the problem. The question of how long to keep a task on the list now boils down to the simple principle: “Work on a task and it’s on the list; don’t work on a task and it’s off the list”.  

Comments

[Michael B.]

Will:

"Would you allow an open dot for the current task, filled in when you finish working on it?"

No, I've used that in the past and never found it to be a satisfying solution. I think I may have something though. I need to test it out for the rest of the day and will report back.

[Michael B.]

Mark:

Thanks for posting that sketch. Your earlier blog post from weeks ago referenced a "Rotating List" and I had wondered what one looked like.

[Dan H]

I've been using the same method as Seraphim and Michael B (what ubi called DorD), but with one difference: when you cycle back through the list, and do or delete each task in turn, you stop before the last task, and then write a new task. In looking through ubi’s example, I think that not stopping before the last task in the cycle may be what causes the divergence between DorD and DoubleEntry.

I myself am not having a problem (yet) keeping track of my place on the list (for the initial reason Michael B gave), but I’ll be interested to see what he is testing to keep better track.

[Mark Forster]

Dan H

<< I think that not stopping before the last task in the cycle may be what causes the divergence between DorD and DoubleEntry. >>

Yes, that was my conclusion too.

[Michael B.]

This approach to using Mark's May 9 System should produce the following benefits:

• It's easier to remember what your current task is than mine and Seraphim's previous approach

• It uses only a single dot to mark tasks as done

• Reduces the amount of rewrites while also allowing all tasks to remain on the list until undone per Mark's new May 9 System rules

Example:

You decide to write the report as your first task, so you write:

Write Report

You work on the report as long as you want, then stop and dot the task. Now you write Email:

• Write Report
Email

You work on email as long as you want, then stop and dot the task:

• Write Report
• Email

Now here is a very important rule–before you can enter a new task, you must take action on every active task above the last dotted task. You move up the list, in order, doing or deleting tasks. If you do a task, cross it out and rewrite it at the end of the list. If you don't do a task, cross it out and move up to the next task.

Remember: A task gets on the list—and stays on the list—by doing it. And a task gets off the list by not doing it.

In this case there is only one task above the last dotted task: Write Report. So you work on Write Report as long as you want, then stop, cross out the task, and rewrite it at the end of the list:

–Write Report–
• Email
Write Report

Since there are no active tasks above the last dotted task, you can now enter a new task. You write Calendar:

–Write Report–
• Email
Write Report
Calendar

You check your calendar, then stop and dot the task:

–Write Report–
• Email
Write Report
• Calendar

In accordance with the rules, you now do or delete all the active tasks above the last dotted task. In this case you do Write Report, then cross it out and rewrite it at the end of the list:

–Write Report–
• Email
–Write Report–
• Calendar
Write Report

You then move up the list above the last dotted task and do Email:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
• Calendar
Write Report
Email

Since there are no more active tasks above the last dotted task, you can now enter a new task. You write Watch Movie:

-Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
• Calendar
Write Report
Email
Watch Movie

You watch about half the movie and decide you need to take a break from it. So you dot the task:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
• Calendar
Write Report
Email
• Watch Movie

You now do or delete all the active tasks above the last dotted task. In this case you do Email, then cross it out and rewrite it at the end of the list:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
• Calendar
Write Report
–Email–
• Watch Movie
Email

You then move up the list above the dot and do Write Report:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
• Calendar
–Write Report–
–Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
Write Report

You continue up the list and do Calendar:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
Write Report
Calendar

Since there are no more active tasks above the last dotted task, you can now enter a new task. You write Blog Post:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
Write Report
Calendar
Blog Post

You write a first draft of the blog post, then stop and dot the task:

–Write Report–
-Email–
-Write Report–
-Calendar–
-Write Report–
-Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
Write Report
Calendar
• Blog Post

You now do or delete all the active tasks above the last dot. In this case you do Calendar, then cross it out and rewrite it at the end of the list:

–Write Report–
-Email–
-Write-Report–
-Calendar–
–Write Report–
-Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
Write Report
-Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar

You then move up the list above the dot and come to the first active task, Write Report. Because you finished it the last time you worked on it, you do not do this task and instead cross it out:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
• Watch Movie
Email
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar

You now do Email:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
• Watch Movie
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar
Email

Continuing up the list you come to Watch Movie. You finish the movie and rewrite Watch Movie at the end of the list (because a task gets on the list—and stays on the list—by being done).

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
–Watch Movie–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar
Email
Watch Movie

Since there are no more active tasks above the last dotted task, you can now enter a new task. You write Walk:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
–Watch Movie–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar
Email
Watch Movie
Walk

You go on a Walk, then return and dot the task as done:

–Write Report–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
–Write Report–
–Email–
–Watch Movie–
–Email–
–Write Report–
–Calendar–
• Blog Post
Calendar
Email
Watch Movie
• Walk

You now do or delete all the active tasks above the last dot. In this case you:

1. Delete Watch Movie by crossing it out as it's already done.
2. Then, do or delete Email.
3. Then do or delete Calendar.
4. Then do or delete Blog Post.
5. Then you can write a new task.

[Michael B.]

An alternative approach involves two changes to the above:

1. Instead of doing the tasks above the last dotted task bottom to top, do them top down until you reach the last dotted task.

2. When you reach the last dotted task, do it and rewrite it at the bottom of the list, or delete it. The list is now free of dotted tasks so you can add a new task.

In short:

Dotted task on the list? Complete a pass down the list from the top.

No more dotted tasks on the list? You can now add a new task and do it immediately, dotting it when you stop.

[Dan H]

Michael B.:

Thank you for this, and for such a worked through example.

While I was able to keep track of my place on the list with the earlier approach, it felt strange not to mark a task after working on it. So I prefer this new approach. (I also wonder if not marking a task after working on it is why it's possible to lose one's place.)

I also prefer working up the list rather than down the list, so I liked seeing that in the example.

Finally, I think I now know better what Mark meant, in his earlier comment, by the contradiction in the conditions you wanted. I take it that you weren't able to find an approach, consistent with your other conditions, that eliminated rewriting.

[Michael B.]

I'm nearly finished testing and experimenting with all the current "No List" systems. One variation that's proven nice is to make a couple simple changes to the system Seraphim and I mentioned earlier in this thread, which is essentially a modified May 10th system with the June 7th rule additions:

Entry Phase
1. Write a new task down. Use no markings or dots. Your current task during Entry Phase is always the last task on the list.
2. Work on the task as long as you want. When done for now, leave the task in place.
3. Repeat from 1 until ready for a follow up.

Follow Up Phase
4. When ready for a follow up, draw a line at the end of the list.
5. Cycle back to the top of the list.
6. Go through each item from the beginning and either dot the task and work on it, or cross it out.
7. If you dot a task and work on it, cross it out and rewrite it at the end of the list.
8. When you reach the line at the end of the list return to the Entry Phase.

[Michael B.]

The variation posted above should solve the problem of knowing where you are in the list at all times, while also limiting rewrites in a way that feels smooth and simple to use.

[Michael B.]

One potential question is "How do I know when it's best to enter the follow up phase?"

Answers might include:

1. When you feel like it.
2. When the paper you're using for the list is full.
3. Every hour, or half hour.
4. When you hesitate as to what needs doing next.
5. When you glance at your list and see a previously written task that needs doing again.

For me, the best answers are 2, 4, and 5. And the best answer is 4.