Saturday
Jun182022
Resistance Zero: Amendment/Recommendation
Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 8:38 As I’ve gained more experience with the Resistance Zero system, I’ve found that it works a bit better if the scan is done from the beginning to the end, and the dotted tasks are then actioned from the end to the beginning.
I’m also personally finding that it works best if the scan is done quickly without any lengthy attempts to decide whether a task is at zero resistance. So I say “No Resistance” at the start of the scan, but don’t repeat it again during the same scan.
Reader Comments (39)
Yes, you're correct. It's basically NQ-FV without the first task being automatically dotted.
No, that's FVP. There's no comparisons or rescanning in the middle in FV.
Seems like a benefit would be getting to action sooner, although a drawback is that you miss the opportunity to find more pressing tasks.
That sounds like a lot like Simple Scanning (see http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/2/simple-scanning-the-rules.html ), almost the same except Simple Scanning doesn't start at the beginning each time, but with where you left off. I think that would have the disadvantage compared to Zero Resistance of not lowering the resistance of the part of the list you didn't reach before taking action. (I can relate to that impulse though: I've also sometimes run into a task in FVP where I wanted to take action even more than finishing the scan). I assume scanning the whole list also helps you repeat certain actions more frequently/consistently since it always includes the end of the list.
<< I think that would have the disadvantage compared to Zero Resistance of not lowering the resistance of the part of the list you didn't reach before taking action. >>
If the theory is true that every time we review an item on the list we slightly wear down the resistance, then the flip side of this is that by starting back at the beginning before reaching the end means you are wearing down the beginning of the list faster.
Since these are older tasks, and ones you have clearly had resistance to up to now, that could perhaps be a plus!
But I'm not sure about the "resistance always goes down" assumption, because I think there are some cases where every time I see something I haven't done it can add a point of stress "Oh no I still haven't done that!? It must be really big and hairy, now I REALLY don't want to!" I feel this when I do something that's been on my list for AGES and it end up taking less than 10 minutes to do.
<< Have you tried a variation where you start at the beginning of the list, scan until you reach a task with zero resistance, and then do that task right away? >>
That's a variation of AF2 which I call AF2 (Reversed). I think it's been published at some time or other (using "standing out" rather than "zero resistance"), but I haven't found the link in a quick look.
The answer is that it does reduce the resistance of the beginning of the list, but does nothing for the rest of the list.
<< I feel this when I do something that's been on my list for AGES and it end up taking less than 10 minutes to do. >>
RZ is designed to scan the whole list every time selections are made. It's the repeated scanning of the *whole* list which reduces the resistance. The only other system I can think of which scans the whole list for every selection is FV, but this is not aiming at "zero resistance" for every task selected so the effect is less.
Resistance is a huge problem for me, and AF (which I generally like a lot otherwise) doesn't wear down my resistance. I think it might actually increase my resistance on certain types of tasks. So I'll try anything if it will reduce the resistance.
But RZ might change my view about it
- It removes the decision fatigue w/ SS, bcoz there's pre-selected list. If I don't finish the pre-selected list, I've been coming the next day and finish it, which takes me to the beginning of the list and I do the scan again.
- Sometimes it suprises to see the next task. Oh wow! I get to do this now, finally :) Bcoz the criteria unlike earlier was 'Is this zero resistance', not 'Better than the other'
- Related to above point, since it's NQ, it's ZR task, not must-do task, which artificially inflates my resistance, along with it my anxiety
- Addition: I draw a line (& date) when I start adding new tasks while on RZ method. Or else I don't where the original list ends.
- Addition: I also mark the date of the task completed; it helps me see my progress and also it hides the 'dots'. Otherwise I don't know which dot is done, which ain't, despite the strikethrough. Yeah, that's me.... haha :)
Issues:
- Impulse to do a task now while scanning :P Like SS - what to do about it?
- I get to do only one scanning per day. Is that okay? Or any other better way of doing it?
- Sometimes a RZ task dotted might grow resistance later... Is that okay? I try do something on it, for 10 mins and reenter and move up the list
- Urgent or quick mosquito tasks? Is it okay if I quickly enter it, be done with it and get back to my dotted task again
Once again, thanks Mark
I'm going to give this a try, but I am curious how effective this is at dealing with urgent tasks/projects. Suppose I have two hairy projects that need my attention but that I really don't want to do—that is, resistance is really high. I don't have the luxury of scanning through my list selecting 10 other items of lesser urgency and doing those 10 first. I absolutely need to finish those two projects as soon as possible.
One benefit of the question "standing out as being ready to be done" is that tasks that you don't want to do but need to do get dotted. I may have force myself in varying degrees to start on them, but I at least do them and make progress to getting those urgent projects out the door. How does "zero resistance" take into account things you don't want to do but know you need to do now? Perhaps there's more nuance to zero resistance than I realize. Zero resistance just seems like a fundamentally different instruction that standing out.
Also with the two projects, one of the benefits of SS is that you can alternate those two projects at the end of the list, and bounce back and forth until they are done. How would something like that work with ZR? Would it look like a scan of the whole list, selecting just those two projects and working on them, then another scan of the list, selecting just those projects again and working on them, and on and on?
I don't know if I saw the answer to the question: what happens if something blows up the original dotted list mid-work (e.g. priorities change, resistance changes because you're now more tired, have less time, etc.)?
Regardless, I'm going to give this a try. This seems like a worthy challenger to SS for me.
Cameron:
<< Suppose I have two hairy projects that need my attention but that I really don't want to do—that is, resistance is really high. I don't have the luxury of scanning through my list selecting 10 other items of lesser urgency and doing those 10 first. I absolutely need to finish those two projects as soon as possible. >>
Well, do them. No TM system is designed to deal with tasks you already know you need to do straight away. The rule is always: "If it needs doing now, do it".
<< How does "zero resistance" take into account things you don't want to do but know you need to do now? >>
It doesn't. If you have tasks you know you need to do now, then why do you need confirmation of this from a system? This applies to all TM systems and none. Just do them.
If on the other hand you mean that you know that they need doing soon but you have considerable resistance against them then RZ, as explained in the blog post, will wear the resistance down because scanning has the effect of reducing the resistance of the tasks scanned on each scan.
<< Would it [dealing with two projects on their own] look like a scan of the whole list, selecting just those two projects and working on them, then another scan of the list, selecting just those projects again and working on them, and on and on? >>
I don't know. Try it and see. Even in Simple Scanning other urgent tasks are likely to get included as they come up.
<< what happens if something blows up the original dotted list mid-work (e.g. priorities change, resistance changes because you're now more tired, have less time, etc.) >>
Delete the dots and re-scan.
<<Well, do them. No TM system is designed to deal with tasks you already know you need to do straight away. The rule is always: "If it needs doing now, do it".>>
This makes total sense, but it's also emotionally depressing to me. That is to say, I often find that I might know what I need to do, and I even know that it's the thing I should be doing right now, at least in a theoretical/intellectual sense. But the main issue is exactly getting myself to actually do it. A rule like "if it needs doing now, do it," makes me instinctively want to say, "yes, but *how* do I get myself to do it?"
Of course, i realize that emotionally, on some level, this is like a child complaining about something they have to do but don't emotionally want to do, but honestly, the "wish" for me is exactly that when it comes to time management. I want something that will take what I know I want to have done, and somehow allow me to be able to do it. The equivalent of "just do it" really feels...impotent, if you know what I mean.
Or, put another way, when you say, "No TM system is designed to deal with tasks you already know you need to do straight away," a big part of me wants to retort, "Well, then what's the point of a time management system? I know what I need to do, I just can't seem to do it!"
My usual approach to "forcing" myself to do something now is to commit to just 5/10 minutes of it.
It doesn't work for all tasks (e.g. if it involves a difficult conversation - though I suppose one could plan how the conversation might go) but is usually enough to break through the inertia. Then subsequently it's easier to revisit it.
I'm an expert on accelerated learning and your approach is very enlightening because you are applying a lot of aspects of accelerated learning in your methods, and is wonderful.
Last day I've come across your Resistance Zero and the podcast number 208 from Cal Newport that in the very beginning explore a method for dealing with the long list of activity that usually appear after a period of vacation, so approaching the same problem of resistance facing a lot of incomplete tasks in a list.
His approach was different than yours, because his suggestion is to write down all the tasks in a file and then group them in clusters of tasks that are similar, regarding context or level of energy required.
Than one can tackle one group of similar task one after another, than take a break to be ready to jump to the next group.
It appears to me that Newport method are highly rationale and cognitively demanding, and he affirms that in his case he has dedicated an entire day to apply that process to his tasks after 2 weeks vacation.
In your methods you give a lot more credits to the intuitive part and unconscious processor that it's billion times faster and more capable than the conscious mind, to be able to choose the right task to do at any given time.
In your last method Resistance Zero you go even further to apply whole scan to the list to lower resistance, delegating the heavy lifting to the unconscious mind that it's always there waiting to help us in the things we do!
Thanks a lot Mark!
I found the closed list concept was also pretty effective in combating procrastination for me, so I was wondering whether RZ rules would be possible to combine with AF4 rules (one closed list, one open list). I think that could be a pretty cool combination, or do you think that would overcomplicate things?
"Now" is a very different concept from "This Week", or even "Today".
It's "no time for coffee or a trip to the bathroom" urgent. A "not a drill" fire alarm; a support call from a bank whose ATMs are off line; a wife whose waters have just broken.
Anything less urgent is "soon", and Mark's advice above applies. As does his excellent "I'll just get the file out" tip.
All the best,
Will
To be honest, the thing that has helped the most for me has been to embrace the idea of doing nothing. That is, choosing a single thing (only one) that I consider the thing that I need to get done, and then allowing myself to be bored and do nothing or do that thing. If it takes me an hour to wind up to do that thing, and I am bored for an hour, then so be it.
I find that to be the only really reliable way to get moving on important work that is long running and "high resistance and high impact" to some degree. If the task is novel, new, and fresh, it is easy enough to get moving on it.
The biggest danger I've found for myself is "false productivity" in the form of doing a lot of stuff that isn't the thing that I really need/want to get done. So, cleaning up, ordering things, testing tools, doing side projects, etc. are all things that easily distract or keep me from doing the thing that I should do. That's the danger for me in having a long list of things to do, because I'll tend to do them, but not the one thing that really should get done. This is a little like Mark's "What am I most resisting?" question, with the added caveat that I don't force myself to do it, but I just let myself do nothing as an option. It's the do nothing part that, at the moment, seems to help unlock things the best.
I am of course open to other options. :-)
I think no time management system is going to overcome every thing one can procrastinate on. The inner gremlin will find a way around a big long project that you don't want to do.
I have some trouble with this idea of resistance zero. There are plenty of things that I have to do especially at work that I feel some resistance about and if I wait until there's no resistance I'm sorry but I think I will lose my job.
Also one of Mark Forster's methods is to do the thing you are most resisting which seems to conflict with this method. Could both be right? Would alternating be a solution?
I think urgency is a better way of ordering one's tasks. I tend to have some resistance the closer the deadline comes so I'm not really comfortable with working on items first with no resistance. I think it's valuable to realize when you're resisting and ask yourself why. I don't do this often and I think it would help.
I think Aaron's method of doing nothing and just sitting there until you do the task would be helpful. I find one of the hardest things for me to do is to pray or meditate. If I put it on a long list I'll tend to do other things and never get to it. I'm more successful in setting a time limit and just sitting there. Usually I get so bored and the silence helps and eventually something from inside me prompts me.
I think the focus on one task is helpful on items one is procrastinating on. It is directly confronting the task and your issue of wanting to do it or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZPRX9X5V5I
However, I've seen this in other contexts, including Time Surfing and Ikario's 90 Heroic Minutes protocol.
I find it useful if I want to focus to go to a different place such as a study room in the library or a hotel room if it's time consuming. It gives some importance to the task at hand and can minimize distractions. I find reading a book in a garden or arboretum or by water enhances the beauty of the thoughts. In this environment there might be plenty of distractions but it does help the mind to ponder.
In addition to Mark Forster's great tips on this site, I have found the following four tips useful for motivating me to do a project:
Captivate: find a novel aspect of the project that intrigues you
Create: find an aspect which you can innovate
Compete: find an aspect which will challenge expectations - an area where you will need to break boundaries
Complete: set a clear deadline and focus on the next milestone
These '4 Cs of Motivation' are by Jesse J. Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsT3KPYJFl4
any software choice to manage systems?
still better pen and paper?
I was used to Taskpaper on the Mac
Thanks
… and among them?
😇
Thanks 🙏
When you need a new task, make a blank line, type the task, and click Move and pick your task list. It goes to the end.
I bound 'Move' to ctrl-M.
Deeper into how I operate, check out my blog post "How to pursue all your goals." And my forum post Sooner or Later.
How have you been doing with Zero Resistance? I like it, but find myself resisting almost everything.
Also, my list grew too much, so I am grouping all the undone things.
Best,
Eugenia
I've been re-reading How To Make Your Dreams Come True, which is still excellent and I think is the foundation for the work Mark's done since them. You could try asking a question from that book: "If this resistance was a friend with a message for me, what would that message be?"
Your subconscious is better than the linear conscious mind at filtering large quantities of information and deciding what to work on and when in order to achieve the overall vision. I think of most of Mark's list systems as just different tools for letting your subconscious give messages in a form that your conscious mind can hear.
You both make very good points. Resistance to everything is a pointer that something indeed needs to change. I've been pruning a lot and adding things to the list that I know I won't resist, and this has softened the resistance to others.
Thanks again!
"I think of most of Mark's list systems as just different tools for letting your subconscious give messages in a form that your conscious mind can hear."
Thanks again!