The Lenten Challenge Starts

We’re off! Or least those on the same or earlier time zones as me are. The rest of the world will have to wait for a few hours.

I made a last minute decision to use FVP rather than anything else. I may live to regret that, but I can’t change it until the end of the challenge. So if it doesn’t work out, I’m stuck with it.

This is the original FVP, not the fast version.

Good luck to everyone who is taking part, whether they’ve announced the fact or not.

Comments

[tomcal]

I too, decided yesterday to go with FVP for my Lenten challenge. I'm also committing to the tools I am going to use (I change these way too often to be effective). I'm going to use Remember the Milk for my FVP list, Evernote for project plans and notes (linked to RTM and SkedPal) and SkedPal to be sure that I work on those projects that I've been putting off for too long. Michael Gerber once wrote that one of the biggest problems small business owners have is that the boss doesn't have one! I'm using SkedPal as my boss. He's relentless and never stops looking over my shoulder. I use it to schedule my daily and weekly routines, appointments, projects and time to work on my FVP list twice a day.

Good luck to all!

[Frank]

I've been giving some thought as to what would be my "desert island system", assuming I was confined to a time-management desert island for 40 days and there was no chance of changing it, no matter what. I would have to agree with you, Mark - it's FVP.

So, despite my non-religious nature, I'll stick my neck out and give this 40 day challenge a try - with FVP.

[james220]

Yes. I decided to go with Final Version, not "Perfected", because FVP causes extreme procrastination with me. I don't know. Maybe I was doing something wrong...

[Mark Forster]

I'll draw a list up sometime tomorrow of everyone who has volunteered for this so it's easier to keep track.

I must try and think of a prize for everyone who finishes, preferably one that doesn't cost me anything. Any ideas?

[Griffin]

I've joined the challenge with the bounce system - only with one small variation: instead of "bouncing back" when reaching one end of the list I regard the list as a closed loop: when scanning downwards after the last item I switch to the first page with open tasks and when scanning upwards beyond the first unactioned task of the first open page I continue with the last task on the newest page.

Regarding your idea of a prize for everyone who finishes: how about an ebook in PDF-format with the collected instructions for all your different productivity systems from your blog (just copy&paste from your blogposts) - from the first AF with all different approaches until Fast FVP, Flexible Autofocus and the Bounce? I think everyone would love this and be highly motivated to finish the Lenten Challenge.

[Seraphim]

DIT with Theory of Constraints

[Leon]

I'm in by the way. I'm using a variation on the Bounce method whereby I select which direction I want to go in next (a lot of my related tasks cluster together so it flows well). I have also included item dismissal by simply closing out pages in the usual AF way but without bothering to highlight i.e. just leaving the dismissed items unmarked.

[jens]

tomcal:
could you please share your setup and how you process FVP with RTM?
Thanks

[Christian G.]

I'm in as well with my own system (naturally strongly incluenced by Mark).
It is an iOS-app based system: I select exactly five tasks which have do be done next. One has to be the first of the list and at least one has to have a due date after today. One exception: Shortly before leaving the office and before going to bed I select the tasks which absolutely have to be done before.
Only after finishing these selected tasks I am allowed to pick five new tasks.

[tomcal]

jens,

Using FVP with Remember the Milk RTM - I have one of my lists named "FVP" in RTM. All start out as No Priority (Grey). They are sorted oldest to newest. Clicking on the first (oldest) task in the list, I change the priority to 2 (Blue). I've reserved the highest priority (Red) for Bills to Pay. Then, I go down my list, FVP style, saying, "But, first" and then click and change the priority of that task if I want to do if before the previously highlighted task. I continue down the list in that manner and after reaching the end, start working my way up the list, only looking at the "Blue" tasks. I tried viewing only the Blue tasks using a Smart List filter but I found that I was losing my place in the list.

When I complete a task, if there is more to do on it, I duplicate it before checking it off as done. That adds a copy of the task to the bottom of my list, including any notes I have for it. I then follow FVP rules to see if there is anything that meets the "But, first" criteria, measuring the previously highlighted task against everything below the task I just completed.

Does that help?

I populate the FVP list in RTM from many different sources (Siri, Alexa, Drafts, Evernote using the reminder feature, email, etc.). Everything ends up in one long FVP list.

[jens]

tomcal thanks a lot. jens that help. i give it a try.