Anchored Autofocus2

Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 13:05
Mark Forster in Articles, long list

Until a few days ago I was using simple scanning for my experiments with the long list, but in the last few days I’ve been using a modified version of Autofocus 2 (AF2) to give me a bit more flexibility. So far this has been working very well - but it’s early days yet. I’m describing it now for anyone who wants to try it out - but please bear in mind that it has not been properly tested.

There are two ways in which this is different from AF2: 

• There is no dismissal procedure
• After you have done a task, you may do the next active task on the list in either direction from the task you have just done. You continue to do this until you don’t want to do either of the adjacent tasks. Then you return to the end of the list, perform another scan and repeat the process. 

Example:

Email
Sharpen Pencils
Prepare Planning Meeting
Arrange Group Photo
Call John re Project X
Voicemail
Check Proofs
Submit Expenses
Order New Front Tyres
Buy 300 copies of Secrets of Productive People

From the end of the list scan back to the first task that feels ready to be worked on, and work on it. Re-enter if necessary.

Email
Sharpen Pencils
Prepare Planning Meeting
Arrange Group Photo
Call John re Project X
Voicemail
Check Proofs
Submit Expenses
Order New Front Tyres
Buy 300 copies of Secrets of Productive People
Flowers for J
Voicemail

 

You now have a choice of Call John, Check Proofs, or rescanning:

Email
Sharpen Pencils
Prepare Planning Meeting
Arrange Group Photo
Call John re Project X
Voicemail
Check Proofs
Submit Expenses
Order New Front Tyres
Buy 300 copies of Secrets of Productive People
Flowers for J
Check Bank Balance
Voicemail

You now have a choice of Arrange Group Photo, Check Proofs, or rescanning:

Email
Sharpen Pencils
Prepare Planning Meeting
Arrange Group Photo
Call John re Project X
Voicemail
Check Proofs
Submit Expenses
Order New Front Tyres
Buy 300 copies of Secrets of Productive People

Flowers for J
Check Bank Balance
Voicemail

You now have a choice of Prepare Planning Meeting, Check Proofs, or rescanning. You decide to re-scan:

Email
Sharpen Pencils
Prepare Planning Meeting
Arrange Group Photo
Call John re Project X
Voicemail
Check Proofs
Submit Expenses
Order New Front Tyres
Buy 300 copies of Secrets of Productive People

Flowers for J
Check Bank Balance
Voicemail
Email

Note that as you now are at the beginning of the list you only have one task to choose from - Sharpen Pencils - or rescan..

Article originally appeared on Get Everything Done (http://markforster.squarespace.com/).