Get Everything Done

Everyone will have their own answer to this question. This is my answer for me and is not intended to disrupt anyone who has already found a method which suits them well.

I have spent most of the lockdown comparing the different dynamics of the most popular systems which have been promulgated on this website or in my books. I haven’t made any attempt to compare them with methods published elsewhere.

The first question I asked myself was “Which is best, No List, Day List, Long List or no time management system at all?

The vast majority of people in the world get on perfectly well without any time management system at all or with perhaps a few reminders at best. So the next question I had to ask myself was “Would I get on better with no system at all?”. In my case that is not a difficult question to answer. Long experience has taught me that without some form of system I very quickly descend into chaos. In fact that’s why I started investigating time management systems in the first place. For me, any system is better than no system.

So having established that I am much more effective with a system than without one, the next question was which type of system is best? No list, day list or long list?

I won’t go into all the ins and outs of my comparisons. Enough to say that long list was the clear winner, provided that:

The list is comprehensive (which doesn’t mean it can’t be built up over a period)
There is no chopping and changing of systems. By their very nature, long list systems need time to mature.
The list is worked intuitively.

So the next question was naturally “Which is the best long list system for me”?

The most basic is Simple Scanning. I have in the past considered this to be the best as well as the simplest system. But it does have some disadvantages:

It’s boring. This may sound a rather frivolous reason but one of the characteristics of a good system is that it maintains interest and motivation. Just going round and round a list gets to be a bit mind-numbing.
There’s not enough encouragement to get moving on tasks which have been on the list for a long time.
There’s also not enough encouragement to keep moving on tasks or projects which have been started

I don’t intend to review all the many long-list methods on this site. So I’ll move straight on to the winner, which is The Final Version Perfected (FVP). Why do I consider that to be better (a lot better) than Simple Scanning?

It’s not boring. The way the list is processed keeps interest alive and encourages engagement with the individual tasks on the list as well as the list as a whole.
The sorting method is designed so that every task on the list will get dealt with. The progress towards the early tasks on the list is inevitable. The algorithm used ensures this. So indefinite skipping over tasks is not possible.
Once a task starts moving, the pressure is kept up on it until it is completed. This applies whether it is a new or an old task. It will deal equally well with small routine tasks and major projects. What’s more there is no need to differentiate between these when working the list.

One can get through an immense amount of work using this method.

I have found that the best and quickest way to use the list is not to use a question, but simply to use “standing out”. If you work it consistently the list will find its own balance.

N.B. I’ve been having problems getting the blog editor to open which has resulted in my not being able to add links to this post. I’ll add links as and when the glitch clears. Meanwhile you are advised to use the search box in the right margin to find the meaning of any terms you don’t understand.