Lenten Challenge 2020
Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 16:29 LESS THAN A DAY TO GO!
Challenge ends 11.59 pm 9 April. Don’t fall out within sight of the finish!
But please let us know if you do fall out (Comment Section on this thread is no longer closed)
———————————————————————————
We intend to run our traditional Lenten Challenge this year.
The idea is to commit yourself to using the same time management method every day for the whole of Lent without changing to a different method.
This year Lent runs from Wednesday 26 February to Thursday 9 April (both inclusive).
If you wish, you may leave out non-working days if you do not normally use a time management method at home. You should be consistent about this though.
This is not intended to imply any religious affiliation or purpose whatsoever.
Last year a good proportion of people completed the challenge. Let’s make it 100% this year. I myself intend to use Reverse AF2, which is basically the same as Simple Scanning except that you scan from the beginning of the list each time.
You can sign in for the Challenge any time before the start of Lent (your local time) in the comments to this post (or email me). All you need to give is your screen name and the system you intend to use. You can use your own system if you like. You can change the system you’re going to use right up to the start of the Challenge. If you change it after the start of the Challenge you’ve failed!
ADDITIONAL NOTE:
The whole point of the Challenge is that it is an exercise in consistency, i.e. sticking to the same thing for a set period of time. So to play fairly you should get your system in as good shape as possible before the start of the Challenge, but then keep further modifications until the Challenge is over (or you’ve pulled out, whichever is first).
ENTRIES SO FAR:
1. vegheadjones - sorted list with 3T timeboxing
2. avrum - own system
3. Mike Brown - Simple Scanning
4. foleymeister - Simple Scanning
5. Taran - FFVP (modified)
6. Athaban - 5T
7. Ian - Simple Scanning
8. Seraphim - DIT with TOC Thinking Processes
9. MrDone - Real Autofocus
10. Myself - No system (which means I lose if I use any TM system at all)
11. Will - Simple Scanning
12. tomcal - Serial No-List with MS To Do
13. Ville - Reverse AF2 + Simple Scanning
14. Colin - DIT
15. Sathya - Dreams/ Self dialogue in the morning; Trello - for task management
16. Jens - ‘Entry by Doing’ No-List
17. Laby - Reverse AF2 (last 3 pages only)
18. Brenda - AF4
19. diweon - GTD + AF + 2T (with timer)
20. Alan Baljeu - Own system (Well Structured Day)
21. Nia - ASEM
22. Sitkeys - Ultimate Time Management System
23. darth pinata - Own system (LL-WL-DL)
24. Lauren - Simple Scanning
25. Cricket - Own system
26. Caibre65 - FV
27. Lisa F - ASEM
28. Shamil - Halving and AF2
29. Cameron - Simple Scanning + SWEETs
30. Tesshu - DIT + Dreams
31. Fintan - DIT
32. Adam T - Simple Scanning
33. Erin - Spinning Plates
34. Carmen - UTMS
35. Ian O - One-day FVP
36. Christopher - Simple Scanning (digital)
37. Eugenia - Simple Scanning
Reader Comments (85)
I am excited to play along.
Last year I used, and succeeded with "the Bounce." The Bounce is fun low maintenance way to do work. I love it, but I had some problems, in particular I bit off more than I can chew when it came to work, started a lot of things, and did not always complete work early enough. Everything always got done in time, but I would always wonder if I didn't bounce through a long list, would I get more important things done more quickly.
So I changed. Since 1/1 I have been following "3T with timeboxing and backlog." Each day is a blank sheet where I add to a grid three tasks that come up from my head. In general, I work on each for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, incrementally until it is completed (at least for now) or I hit 25 minutes. After 25 minutes it goes back to 5 minutes. This is what I mean by timeboxing.
I do have a list where I capture everything and one of my "Ts" on many days is to go through the list, doing tasks, moving to project pages (that get hit with 3T when I think of that project), or letting them sit.
It's been working extremely well, so this will be my Lentan system: 3T with timeboxing and backlog
My Own System (No Title)
Tools: Notability (iPad and Mac)
Workflow: A daily journal that captures 4 things:
1. ACTIONS: Tasks for ongoing projects, promises made to others and myself, etc. Each action receives a ⚠️ to indicate "attention". When action is taken, the time, along with a short note is added in open/closed brackets i.e. (9.40 AM - I did this and this thing)
2. PREDICTIONS: Make a prediction, see if I'm right. All predictions receive this icon 🧙🏼♂️. The goal is to regulate my anxiety which should increase my ability to make more accurate predictions.
3. QUESTIONS TO PONDER: Questions receives this icon ❓
4. UPDATES: Capture any progress on ongoing projects. Always begins with time and location: 9.48 AM @ home
At the end of the week, I read through my daily entries and write a brief weekly summary of what is finished/unfinished. At the end of the year (on December 31), I re-read my weekly summaries and craft an annual narrative about highs/lows.
I use emoticons for workflow (⚠️, 🧙🏼♂️,❓) and major projects (Podcast;🎙 Book: 📖 Health:👨⚕️ Learning Family Systems Theory: 🧠). These graphics add a bit of flair to my journal, while providing a visual map of what I worked on on a given day. It also allows me to search for certain projects and workflows in Notability.
Here's an example: https://ibb.co/p4yRhg1
I also keep a memo book in my back pocket for notes on the go, errand lists, panic lists, etc.
I also use a little worksheet I picked up somewhere on the web to help me plan my week with 3 most important tasks to accomplish (MITs), and then below that for each day, the current initiative and the 3 MITs for that day. It helps provide a horizon for the week.
And I track work done in Evernote daily logs.
There are helper tools all around the edges but the heart of this Lenten challenge will be using SS.
I plan to use the Simple Scanning method with a notebook and fountain pen(s) for the entire Lenten duration.
The only caveat is that I need an online location to keep track of a huge number of reference urls for potential articles (I'm a part-time blogger). For that I'll be using Things 3, but ONLY as a reference system to keep track of potential links, not for actions.
I've been a fan of FVP for a while- it's the only thing that kept me afloat at my last job.
My current job requires a lot less planning, but I have more moving pieces in my personal life, and I have recently been using FFVP to get things done rather than ignoring them.
I'm still making tweaks to my system, but this is what has been working for me well lately, and what I plan to use during this challenge:
FFVP, but with a few modifications.
1. If a task has information, due date, or other context, add that info in parentheses after the task.
2. If a task is unactionable because you're waiting on something- can't be done until a certain date, need info from another person, need another task to be done first, etc, put that info in brackets, then dismiss the task using a highlighter.
3. Put a task on the list to "review dismissed items" and do that task at least once per week.
4. Upon review, any items that will be actionable in the next week are crossed off and entered at the end of the list. Any items that are no longer relevant are deleted.
5. If any dismissed items remain, add "review dismissed items" again.
Going to use "Simple Scanning".
Am using "Real Autofocus?" from the link below :
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/19/real-autofocus.html
My method;
Everything goes in the journal.
When completed I colour the whole line in with a different crayon each time. My journal is very colourful.
I have an app on my phone with a large bright digital stop watch in minutes and seconds.
I start this for each task. The purpose is not to beat the clock but to be aware of how long tasks are taking and more importantly when I feel like quitting I always try and add a few extra minutes or seconds of work before I go onto a new task. It is a bit like running a marathon, towards the end you are just aiming to make it from telegraph pole to telegraph pole.
There is no anxiety starting tasks and a great deal of satisfaction pushing yourself to completion.
At the end of each line I write down how much each task took and what I have noticed is I don’t quit as easily and spend more time on individual tasks.
<< The purpose is not to beat the clock but to be aware of how long tasks are taking and more importantly when I feel like quitting I always try and add a few extra minutes or seconds of work before I go onto a new task. >>
I like that idea. It reminds me of Mark's "most important" article, where he just pauses to monitor how good he is feeling several times per day. The common element is the idea of just observing what is happening, rather than trying to prescribe or change what is happening. The observation by itself can trigger the improvement without any conscious effort. I've been using the same idea with measuring my weight, and with seeing how many miles I walk in a week.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/25/the-most-important-thing-ive-ever-written.html
Does family therapy recognize the value and purpose of the inertia of the status quo? Or does it see inertia as inherent desire for security and comfort? I'm asking because I'm wondering if there is anything I can glean from it that can be used in organizational change. And in any case, it's always fascinating to me how different fields can be dealing with problems that have so many deep similarities.
I was doing the same thing with Serial No-List, whenever I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed, and found that the TOC conflict discovery & resolution process was even more helpful than anything I was doing with Serial No-List itself. So my experiment has been to see if the TOC approach can be applied to other systems just as well. DIT was always one of my favorites, so I decided to use it as the basis for my experimenting. It's nice to get back to the methodical nature and sense of closure at the end of the day that DIT always seems to provide. DIT also gives very clear signals when the conflict process needs to be applied. It's also been helpful to do the conflict process pre-emptively, as a kind of weekly review. It helps create more clarity on my real goals, and sharpens my focus.
<< Does family therapy recognize the value and purpose of the inertia...>>
I can't speak to all the different branches of family therapy. However I practice from a Family Systems model. There are a number of Systems thinkers who are consultants, and not therapists. Some resources:
John Engels: https://www.leadershipcoachinginc.com/leadership-coaching-inc-blog
Dr. Roberta Gilbert: https://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Leadership-Thinking-Systems-Difference/dp/0976345528/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Roberta+gilbert&qid=1581209988&sr=8-5
p.s. The passage/interview in that screen-capture is from my upcoming book with the late Dr. David Freeman.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/19/real-autofocus.html
Can you update in the main blog post ?
Trello - for task management
I've been a fan of FVP for a while- it's the only thing that kept me afloat at my last job.
My current job requires a lot less planning, but I have more moving pieces in my personal life, and I have recently been using FFVP to get things done rather than ignoring them.
I'm still making tweaks to my system, but this is what has been working for me well lately, and what I plan to use during this challenge:
FFVP, but with a few modifications.
1. If a task has information, due date, or other context, add that info in parentheses after the task.
2. If a task is unactionable because you're waiting on something- can't be done until a certain date, need info from another person, need another task to be done first, etc, put that info in brackets, then dismiss the task using a highlighter.
3. Put a task on the list to "review dismissed items" and do that task at least once per week.
4. Upon review, any items that will be actionable in the next week are crossed off and entered at the end of the list. Any items that are no longer relevant are deleted.
5. If any dismissed items remain, add "review dismissed items" again.>>
Adding the following modifications:
6. Errands tasks may be done in the order that makes most sense: for example, If my bulleted errands read:
*Buy groceries
*Do laundry at laundromat
*Drop package at post office
It makes no sense to do them in that order and let my groceries languish in the car for two hours while I do laundry, and I don't feel like rewriting them in another list.
7. Items that are place-specific (mostly work) or responding to messages from other people *may* be done without referencing the list, as I usually reference the list for the first time when I get home from work. There are only a few items on the list at any time that this applies to.
One tweak: I'm going to revisit only the three last pages, not the whole list (if it is longer than three pages)
In order to increase my chances this time I'll use a psychological trick: My personal starting day is tomorrow.
<< I'm going to revisit only the three last pages >>
If I were to do that with my current list it would mean that some essential stuff would get missed out. If I tried to avoid that by re-writing these tasks at the end of the list then I would have to start another page and yet more essential tasks would be missed out.
I see your point.
I change to untweaked Reverse AF2.
And I want to - and thus have to - develop something that comes near to your superhuman scanning speed!
<< something that comes near to your superhuman scanning speed! >>
It's a great mistake to scan slowly. Go fast and stop when something stands out.
I've got a page of 26 unactioned tasks here. Let's see how long it takes me to scan it...
13 seconds.
That's the speed you want to go at.
Thank you very much!
I'll give it a try.
I will be using a system that is an amalgam of GTD + AF.
For high-resistance tasks, I will implement deadline effect (2T w/ timer).
Thanks for drawing my attention back to the Ultimate Time Management System, which I'd totally forgotten about. I can't remember why I didn't continue with it, but it sounds really good.
Mark, this is very interesting. I love AF4 and recommend it often to my staff. It works particularly well for those who have difficulty starting particular tasks, and difficulty making sure that all important tasks get acted on, not just the "loudest" ones.
But I need to refresh myself of the difference between AF4 and UTMS.
The main difference is that tasks remain on the "Old List" until they are completed, instead of being moved to the New List once some work has been done on them.
I'm also using the Procrastination Buster http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2007/8/1/procrastination-buster.html to process tasks in the Old List - which is proving remarkably effective.
I am doing my best to get a DIT routine established, not always completing my will-do list as yet, but working on applying the system, hence within the terms of the challenge I think?
First time posting, but long time lurker. First, my thanks to Mark: your books and this site are a treasure trove. Thanks also to all the usual posters: it's always an interesting read, even when I do not agree or when it does not apply to my particular circumstances.
I am signing up for the Lenten challenge; I need to work on consistency, and this seems a good way to do it. I will be using my own, unnamed, system. It uses several DIT ideas, but also has a long list. In short, I basically have a long list, a (mostly) closed weekly list and a closed daily list. If a name is needed, then LL-WL-DL will do (as in long list - weekly list - daily list).
"Time Surfing" is a book I learned about from the forums here, which emphasizes monotasking and trusting your intuition. Technically it recommends using no lists at all, but I think I can get the same effect from leaning into the "standing out" of tasks on the list. By writing down what I'm doing as I start it, I hope to increase the intentionality of what I'm doing, and notice what I'm *not* doing, to discourage multitasking.
I'm planning to hold more tightly to noting what I'm doing than to putting everything on the long lists. If something comes up, I'll just note down that I'm about to do it and go do it. I have a tendancy to cling to systems as things that tell me what to do instead of supports for my intuition, so I want my list to feel like it's there for me when I need it to suggest ideas, but that I'm free to follow whatever feels right to do now.
Important for me too, I'm committing to not change the implementation either. I'll be doing it in the notetaking program Bear, using a single note for each day, and treating days as pages. I'll run the pages like bullet journal pages, mixing notes, links, tasks, etc. The tasks can be marked with checkboxes and checked off, and the notes can be filtered so you only see the "active pages" with undone tasks, so it's a pretty nice medium. It has the "ubiquitous capture" advantage of digital without getting all complex like task management software.
Weekly (Monday morning or sooner) prepare week spread with list of appointments and things that have to be done this week. Review earlier pages and move tasks forward as appropriate.
Every morning list key things for the day. Review everything from week spread onward. Move things as appropriate. Can do later in the day if I have a morning appointment, and skip if I decide the night before that I don't intend to do any work that day -- max 2 days/week. (Weekends sometimes need more structure than weekdays.)
New(ish): Once daily (usually morning) write what I actually did yesterday, anything I want to watch for trends, and, optionally, some reflection. I've tried before, but only keep it up for a few days.
Also, 30 minutes housework and 30 minutes deskwork each day that doesn't have an appointment or major errands.
I’ll be using AF1 for the Lenten Challenge.
I can see how simple scanning would be awesome if you can spend mere second finding the next task. One reason it hasn’t yet gelled for me is the time it takes to scan. I often resist writing things down because I don’t want to add more items that require more time to scan through.
Please note I've amended my choice to AF1/FV combination.
I hope everyone will give feedback at the end of the challenge and give reasons why they succeeded or not.
Best of luck to all
Thanks
Mark R
<< 26 items in 13 seconds!? At a clip of a half second per item, I can barely read the item much less tap into it standing out. I’m probably closer to 1 to 1.5 seconds per item. >>
Yes, but...
If someone presented me with a list of 100 items which I'd never seen before and told me to read through them then I would certainly have to do it quite slowly. But that is not the case here.
1. All the tasks have been written out in my own handwriting which means that I have had to consider each individual task for the time it takes to write it. (One of the reasons I prefer handwritten lists to typed ones).
2. I always build up lists gradually rather than try to write every task out right from the beginning.
3. I would already have repeatedly scanned every item on the list so they would be quite familiar to me.
So to use your illustration it's more like going in to a familiar room and scanning for the colour red when every item in the room has been recently placed there by you.
switching to AF2 when necessary.
AF2
only on current and yesterday days entries
till nothing stands out...,
switch back to Halving.
Please put me down for:
Task diary à la DIT combined with Dreams practices - vision, dialoguing, present reality
Thanks
Ian
Noticed already with applying DIT:
- sense of lightness after the day, as it is clear the day's work is done, and outstanding items are clearly scheduled so I can relax knowing they are scheduled for attention
- 2/3 of email backlog cleared
- major projects running, and more confident that will be done as intended
Also, aiming to stop wasting time on social media!
Using excel I have a list sorted by priorities. I will use time boxing as described in the first comment to work off of 3 tasks, then refill when 2 are done.