A Few Notes on "Get It Right, Keep It Right"
Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 10:12 The Get it Right Keep It Right (GIRKIR) system is still working extremely well for me, but I’ve been taking the opportunity of the Lenten Challenge to try out a few variations. Some of you may have already tried these or others and I’d be interested to know how you’ve got on with them.
Entry by doing
This means that when you reach the end of the list you write in a new task and immediately take action on it. This method of entry forms the basis of some “no list” systems. I tried it out with GIRKIR to see whether it would make the system quicker in dealing with urgent tasks.
The answer was that yes, it did - a bit. But it was not enough to outweigh the fact that I am more reluctant to enter a difficult task if I have to do it at once, rather than have a bit of a lead-up time.
So on balance the existing rule (enter when you reach the end of the list and go back to the beginning without doing it) wins.
Using the Question
By “the Question” I mean “What am I resisting not doing?”. The rules leave it open whether you use the Question or not. I found that using the Question produces a better result, especially in the form “What am I resisting not doing now?”
How long a list?
I haven’t pushed this to the extreme yet, but I have found that every time I start a new list my work goes backwards and it takes time to re-establish everything.
The maximum length of list I’ve reached so far is a bit more than forty tasks. This is fewer than I would normally have on a long list, but every task and project on it was completely up-to-date, and I was able to move very fast through the list while still keeping it up-to-date.
So my advice is to keep a list going as long as you can, and employ vigorous weeding to keep it manageable.
The exception to this if you are away for some time and work has built up in the meantime. That would be the right time to start a fresh list in order to get everything under control again.
How many tasks to enter in one go?
The rules say you should only enter one task at a time, but I did some experimenting to see if it was possible to enter more. The answer is yes and no.
Yes, because entering three or four minor tasks together won’t really make much difference.
No, because I found myself unable to resist the temptation to enter more and more and larger and larger tasks together until the system collapsed under the weight of all the new work it was being asked to digest all at once.
So, I recommend sticking strictly to one task entry per pass as per the rules. Otherwise you will quickly find yourself back with a Simple Scanning list in all but name.
Using A Pre-Entry List
As you go through the process of adding one task to the list per pass you will become aware that you have a queue of tasks to add to the list. What makes better sense than to write these tasks down so you don’t forget to enter them?
Don’t!
If you do, you will end up with a list that is longer than your GIRKIR list and expanding rapidly.
My advice is don’t think about future tasks for entry at all. Just use The Question to identify the next task.
Reader Comments (14)
Two questions regarding „The Question“:
1) Do you use „The Question“ to decide which new task is added to the GIRKIR list or which task on the list you work on?
2) For the latter: I scan the list starting at the first task and for each task I ask myself something like „Am I up-to-date with this or do I need to work on it in order to avoid negative consequences?“ What do you think?
<< Do you use „The Question“ to decide which new task is added to the GIRKIR list or which task on the list you work on? >>
I use it for which task to add to the list. You can't use it to decide which task on the list to work on because you are supposed to be working on every task in order, provided there is some work to be done.
<< For the latter: I scan the list starting at the first task and for each task I ask myself something like „Am I up-to-date with this or do I need to work on it in order to avoid negative consequences?“ >>
See above. You need to check each task in turn for whether there's any work to be done on it. If there is, work on it. If there's no work, move on to the next task and check that.
Rather than a list, how about using a notebook and adding a task/project per page?
My first two pages would be university interview and garden. I have loads to do for both but can probably only work on either for so long before my interest wanes. Once I get exhausted, I would then move on to my next task which would probably be the kitchen.
I've used a fairly similar technique for the day job which worked really well.
<< Rather than a list, how about using a notebook and adding a task/project per page? >>
I suggest you try it out and then report back on how you get on.
First of all, I'm delighted to see that this community is going strong. Mark, I'm a big fan and have been proselytizing about your work for years.
I'm using a long list - it's probably Autofocus 2 - in a bullet journal, and it's working great. I'm not sure I can embrace this new GIRKIR concept because I'm an expert at "ubiquitous capture" and I don't think I could handle not adding things to the list as they occur to me. But I'm going to try the new question - it sounds like it might be the right way for me to power through the things that make my lists long and unweildy.
Thanks so much for this system. It's the best I've found. I was using GTD for *years* before I realized "it's not me, it's him." I finally realized that for me, at least, it was anti-creative. Autofocus, in its many forms, has been much more inspiring. It engages my intuition a lot more.
<< I'm not sure I can embrace this new GIRKIR concept because I'm an expert at "ubiquitous capture" and I don't think I could handle not adding things to the list as they occur to me. >>
Great to have you aboard, and it's good to hear how the Autofocus system is working for you. My advice is to stick with what works for you, so there's absolutely no need to take on a new system just because I've written one!
Thanks!
Brent
I see the problem with the feeder list, I know that it would become unwieldy and out of control very soon for me, which is one of my recurrent issues.
But... how do you make sure you don´t forget something important?
Best,
<< how do you make sure you don´t forget something important? >>
The more important something is, the less likely you are to forget it. But if there is something time sensitive which you can't afford to miss then use a reminder.
See:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2619181#post2619325 and the following comment.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2619181#post2619325 and the following comment.>>
Thanks! Very useful.
Best,
In addition to all the random stuff I track in my bullet journal (weekly schedule, shopping lists, stuff I want to read, creative ideas, etc.), I'm also using it as a place to keep my pages for Autofocus. So I'll make a "spread" and call it Autofocus, and then I just track my tasks there and process them according to whichever AF system seems to work, which I guess is a hybrid of a couple of them. (I've settled on one continuous long list where you make a chain of dots and work from the bottom up.)
I currently have about 8 active "spreads" in the bullet journal and find I have a system that (finally) works well and sparks lots of creativity.
I also have "waiting for" pages and "agenda" pages for individuals I communicate with often (and then in my long list I have tasks to review those pages).
I was a looooooong time GTD devotee and I feel like a new person since I started using Autofocus. The biggest revelations for me are:
1. I've learned to let things GO and trust they'll pop in my mind again if they become important someday. Dismissing tasks used to terrify me, so I'd put them on a Someday/Maybe list which became an unwieldy and intimidating behemoth.
2. I see the profound difference between putting something straight onto a "someday" list with no evaluation, and putting something on a mundane regular list and seeing if it passes the test of ever getting done in the course of working Autofocus. If I've been hashing through a page for weeks and never do that task, that tells me something.
3. This system activates my intuition in a way GTD never did. Reviewing my lists regularly allows my subconscious mind to process information all the time and come up with interesting solutions. And I love that I only pre-determine what I'm going to do in the next couple hours because my priorities shift from day to day. In fact, between this and the bullet journal, I'm finding myself routinely generating creative ideas at an unprecedented rate.
I love AF!