Lenten Challenge 2024

This year’s Lenten Challenge starts on Wednesday 14th February and ends on Thursday 28 March, both dates inclusive.

The challenge is to keep to the same time management system for the whole period. You can enter the challenge by nominating which system you are going to follow in the Comments below. The system does not have to be one of mine. You can change your entry up until the start date (your local time).

This is not intended to imply, include or exclude any religious belief whatever.

Entries:

Voluntas: Dreams

Vegheadjones: The Bounce

Paul MacNeil: Autofocus 1

Ryan Freckleton: Resistance Zero

Topher Jake: SMEMA

avrum: Touchstone System

Brenda: DWM2

Sev: 5T

Brent: DIT with index cards

Mike Brown: Simple Scanning

Will: FVP

Pablo: Simple Scanning/Bullet Journal

Alan Baljeu: RTM/Lapse

Caibre 62: Anchored AF2

Aaron Hsu: Time Surfing

Austin: Do More Better

Fintan: DIT (Work & Personal)

Mark Forster: FV

Will: FVP

Adam T: FVP

Brandon: Dreams

Bence: Anchored AF2

Margaret1: RTM

Cameron: Dan Charnas’ Work Clean

Arneo K: FVP-NQ-FVP with New Question

Tobba: Seraphim’s RTM System

David: Dreams

Comments

[Voluntas]

«Dreams»

[Vegheadjones]

Been enjoying “the Bounce” these days. I think I’ll stick with it.

[Paul MacNeil]

Back to AF1, which I've been using lately and I forgot how good it was.

[Ryan Freckleton]

Resistance Zero with date based dismissal (tasks older than 3 days are reviewed and dismissed with the 4 questions from Autofocus):

- Why was this dismissed?
- Does this need to be done at all?
- Is the time ripe to do it?
- Is it a distraction from my primary goals and commitments?

[TopherJake]

SMEMA for my inattentive ADHD brain that prefers to live in the moment.

[Mahesh]

I have a question that leads from my choice of a TM system for this challenge.
The "fairy tale story revisited" has been the most clear "productivity method" that I have been able to come back and anchor my practice to.

Mark - has your thinking around effectiveness of TM systems transformed beyond what you wrote in the fairy tale story? While it has provided me a framework for organizing my life and tasks, I face a lot of resistance once I start working on my tasks. I keep staring at my organized list, but then step back and procrastinate.

[avrum]

I don't have an official name for my life management system. Some components are rock solid, and have been working well for a few years. However I'm about to introduce a couple of analog tools, so this Lenten Challenge comes at a good time. As always, I appreciate your efforts and thinking Mark.

Working Title: Touchstone System (credit to the late Barbara Sher).

[Mark H.]

What is the "fairy tale story revisited"? I searched the website, but came up with no answer.

[Caibre65]

Mark H

From Mark’s book Get Everything Done I think.

[Caibre65]

Chapter 10 in fact.

[Mark H.]

Thanks.
I have the book.
I will look it up.

[Mark Forster]

Mahesh:

My last remaining copy of GED seems to have vanished. I'll get some more, but in the meantime can you remind me of the main points of "The Fairytale Revisited". Thanks.

[Mark Forster]

Mahesh:

Found it!

1. Chuck everything out of your life that you haven't time to do properly.
2. If it needs doing it must be done
3. Rotate your attention
4. Systems
5. Schedule time for yourself
6. Employ yourself
7. Treat resistance as a signpost to where you should be going. (Note this one particularly - Chapter 11 is all about this)

Probably the best time management advice ever given, IMHO..

[Arneo K]

Avrum,
Can you share some more details on the touchstone system that you have mentioned above.

[avrum]

Arneo K:

My plan is to shoot a quick video and upload to YouTube. I think that's the best way to describe all the different parts (and how they fit).

[Mahesh Kamat]

Mark F: Yes that's the one. Thanks for the validation. I also find it provides a framework for building out all of the other practices you mention e.g. manana principle, FVP, Autofocus, etc.
After re-reading my question and your response I think I'm struggling with #7-Resistance. I can get everything into the right lists and rotate my attention, but once I'm there, I need to move in the direction of resistance.

[Brenda]

DWM2 for me.

[Mark H.]

Regarding #7-Resistance: How would this work with Resistance:Zero? This seems to be saying that we should do what we resist, but I thought that Resistance:Zero means to do what we have zero resistance for. Could we alternate them, so on one pass we do one, and the next pass we do the other?

[Sev]

I think I will try the original Autofocus again. It's been a while since I last tried it

[Brent]

DIT with Index cards

[avrum]

Brent - I've been on an Index Card kick for a few months now. Curious - why/how are you using the index cards (as opposed to notebook)?

[Brent]

Hi Avrum, The short answer around index cards is I'm enjoying the tangible aspect of the cards. The tactile nature of cards allows me to interact with my routines, projects, and tasks in a more committed way then simply scanning a long list does. I literally pick up each card and interact with it by either working on it or consciously deferring it by moving it to a different stack. I talked a little bit more about it here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2768953
Brent

[Sev]

Mark:

You know what, please scratch what I said. I will go with 5T
Sorry for the inconvenience :)

[Mke Brown]

Simple Scanning, using a spiral composition notebook.

With a Leuchtturm 1917 weekly planner for scheduling and notetaking

[Mark H.]

Brent, Avrum,

I have experimented with index cards, but give up quickly because there are so many that I have trouble organizing them. I use a composition notebook and go through about 4-5 pages a day, so I am writing about 100 lines a day. However, I am thinking that if I just use the index card for projects, rather than tasks/notes too, perhaps there will be 30 or so current projects, and I would be able to keep track of them better. Is that you use them for?

[Mark H.]

Brent, Avrum,

Ok, so I read the thread about index cards. I read there that Brent has 17 project cards, but then more recently you are using one thing per card. 17 index cards are manageable. However, I can see more items on one page, so I can scan faster with a notebook than a large stack of index cards. But I still have some trouble keeping track of progress on projects, so I could experiment with project on index cards.

[Aaron Hsu]

I'm trying to decide between simple scanning, 5/2, and time surfing. Time surfing has been working really well for me, so I'm somewhat hesitant to switch, but now might be the time to play around a little bit. ;-) Maybe Time Surfing + Morning Pages?

Tough choice!

[Mike Brown]

Aaron Hsu:

I spent an unconscionable number of days re-reading posts on AF1 and Simple Scanning and Mark's posts on the perfect system to refresh my memory, and also seriously considered Oliver Burkeman's very good 3-3-3 system. (Google that and you'll find out what you need to know.)

I have found that when my work is familiar and well-defined, I rarely refer to my lists. The work manages itself. I'm time-surfing.

But when there are no big projects or the work presented to me is in onesie-twosie packets and scraps -- when there is no large external motivator driving my day's work, in other words -- that's when 3-3-3 or declaring a Current Initiative or time-blocking is crucial to me, so that I don't drift.

I opted for Simple Scanning during the Challenge to see how/whether the simplicity of a list can really express and get moving on the larger life goals it floats on top of.

[Will]

Mike,

I envy you!

I find that the days I don't look at lists correspond closely to the days when I either get little done or am completely out of control.

Days not unlike today,

:0)

I'll be sticking with FVP. But will it be on MS To-Do or in my notebook? Not sure.

[Pablo]

I'm just coming back to pen and paper, so I don't know if this qualifies as system, but I get into Lenten Challenge with a commitment to use a paper notebook (structured according to Bullet Journal directives) and maybe simple scanning as a general method to select the things that need attention.

[Will]

Pablo,

Pen and paper certainly counts. In fact, it is recommended by many.

[Voluntas]

I just noticed that Mark has no hat in the ring yet. Waiting until the last minute to commit to a system?

[Caibre65]

Anchored AF2 for me.

[Aaron Hsu]

Thinking it through, I think I'm going to stick with Time Surfing.

[Austin]

I’m in with Tim Challies’ “Do More Better” system.
(Don’t care for the name. Do like the system.)

[Alan Baljeu]

Never heard of Challies’ system, but “Do Less Better” would I think be preferable.

I’m going for Seraphim’s RTM merged with my LAPS. I’ve been at that for a while, but I haven’t been consistent, and that will be my lenten goal.

[Fintan]

Once again doing DIT in Lent. But this time I'm doing both a work and a personal DIT each day.

[Mark Forster]

FVP

[Will]

What counts as failure?

I tend to take a relaxed view. There are days when I just bimble from task to task, but when I do focus, I come back to FVP.

Do I need to work from the list every day? </adolescent whine>

[Adam T]

FVP

[Brandon]

Dreams!

[Caibre65]

Mark

Please amend my entry to FV.

[Bence]

I choose Anchored AF2.

[Caibre65]

Sorry Mark. Please ignore my last comment. I’m sticking with Anchored AF2

[Margaret1]

I'm going to do RTM for the Lenten Challenge.

[Cameron]

I'm going to go with the Work Clean system (by Dan Charnas)

[Arneo K]

I am going to go with FVP-NQ - FVP with New Question.

[Tobba]

I will try Seraphim’s RTM system

[David]

Hmmm. I woke this morning with the thought of starting with ’Dreams’ and, more generally, trying to get back into “Pull Mode”.
Strange that this wasn’t really a conscious decision and I’d forgotten entirely about the Lenten Challenge. Subconscious time management…

[eiron page]

I forgot to sign up ahead of time, but I am trying to dedicate myself this year to something completely different: pre-allocated time-blocking, in which I set ahead of time what should be the primary focus for a period of time. During this time block I am allowed to do anything genuinely more urgent that arises as long as I go back to the assigned task as soon as it is resolved. Anything else that comes up that is not more urgent than what I am doing should be jotted down to be time blocked at a later time. I am using a smart scheduling app to allocate tasks to my calendar.