The first translation of AF4 is into Chinese (traditional). Many thanks to Catus Lee.

There is a brilliant file by Andreas Hofmann which gives an animated version of my demonstration of AF4. This is an absolute must for quick understanding of the system. Many thanks, Andreas, this was a huge undertaking.

Another factor was the extra overhead through working the system as a blog entry. Although I spend a huge amount of time each day on my computer, I really do not like using it for a To Do list (of whatever type). I find paper and pen much quicker and easier, and it has a meditative natural quality about it which the computer entirely lacks.

There were certain “extras” necessary for demonstration purposes. I had to number items, change from normal to italic, to bold, to strikethrough and so on. As my regular readers know, I abhor having to annotate entries, so I found the extra fiddling with each task a real strain.

So the whole thing seemed much more like hard work yesterday than it normally does. I was also conscious that having an audience changed what I was doing. I did an impressive number of tasks yesterday, but they are probably not quite the same ones that I would have done if I’d been working normally.

And I’m still trying to work out how to get back to my usual way of working. I feel that yesterday disturbed things, and put them out of their rightful sequence. I think for list purposes I am going to pretend yesterday never happened. I will just pick up my written list from where I left it two days ago.

I will give the system for paper and pen, but it is easy to adapt the system for electronic use.

You will need a ruled notebook.

1) Draw up your list of things to do with one task per line. (If you already have a list you can continue to use it). You don’t need to put everything on the list at this stage as you can add other tasks as and when you think of them.

2) Draw a line at the end of the list. Everything before this line is known as the Backlog. As you think of new tasks add them after the line. Everything after the line is known as the Active List.

3) You start with the Backlog. Look through the tasks in the Backlog in order and work on any tasks which feel ready to be done. Delete each task when you feel you have worked on it for long enough, and re-enter it at the end of the Active List if you need to do more work on it.

4) When you come to the line, do not go into the Active List. Instead return to the beginning of the Backlog and continue to move through it in it doing any tasks which feel ready to be done. Keep circulating in this way, until you have done a complete pass through the Backlog without any tasks being done.

5) You now cross the line into the Active List. Move through the Active List in order working on any tasks which feel ready to be done.

6) When you reach the last task on the list, you then go back to the beginning of the Backlog and repeat the process from Step 3.

7) When you have crossed off all the tasks in the Backlog, you draw a line at the end of the Active List and this now becomes the Backlog.

So just to recap:

Your list is divided into two parts, the Backlog and the Active List. You circulate round the Backlog until no more tasks seem ready to be done. Then you do one pass through the Active List. After that you return to the Backlog. Once you’ve done every task in the Backlog, the Active List becomes the Backlog and you start a new Active List.

Deleting undone items

After you have been working on the Backlog for some time it may be reduced to a few tasks which for some reason or other you are reluctant to tackle. At this stage you may find that when you go back to the Backlog from the Active List you do a complete pass of the Backlog without doing any of the tasks.

If this happens, you should delete all the remaining tasks in the Backlog using a highlighter instead of a pen stroke, and then proceed as in Step 7 to make the Active List the Backlog.

The next time you come to the beginning of the list, you should finally cross off the highlighted tasks by deciding what to do with each one in turn. You may elect to abandon it, re-enter it on the Active List (with or without re-phrasing), or put it into a reminder system for review at a later date. In making the decision what to do with each task, you should look at the reasons why you haven’t done it yet.

Other implementations

It’s perfectly acceptable to use sheets of ruled paper rather than a notebook. You need two lists, a Backlog and an Active List. If you have undone items to review as in the previous paragraph, you will need to keep the old Backlog list until this has been done.

Electronic implementation is easy, as seen on my example yesterday. Rather than use Strikeout for actioned items, you can simply delete them. There’s no need to put new tasks in italics - I did that purely for demonstration purposes. You might want to use Bold for the current task, as it helps to find your place again.

Note that there are only 26 tasks left unworked on of the orginal 75 tasks.

Check details needed by Travel Agency
Card for L
Weed Noguchi
Aeneid
“Then She Found Me”
Write E-book
Write M
Camera Manual
Return chalk to T
Brain trainer
German 24/3
Mow Lawn
Sort out Google bar
Blog “7 Habits of Poor Time Managers”
“Saraband”
Write
Reading List (oldest)
Reading List (newest)
G replied?
Walk
Tax Return
Photo Galleries
Squarespace Videos
Journal 10+Paper
“Top Gear”
Change Wallpaper
Autopager?
Firefox extension name?
Voicemail
 Lowest Point Forecast
Doodle
PhotoPlus Manual
“Taxi Driver”
Cancel Avon Policy
Check Porsche Tyres
Check Polo Service
Tidy Office
Make Bed
Facebook
Bureau Top Tidy?
Investment Managers
Carswell
Diaries of Adrienne v. Speyr?
RegZooka
Pitch C#
Write Henry
Voicemail
Ordo
Wash Up
Check BP
Check weeding schedule for old accounts
Find Phone Number for Ben’s Gutters
Prepare papers for Phoenix signing
Check domain hosting records
“Fanny Cradock”
Spanish 13
SpyZooka
Newsletter Template
Portuguese 17/2
Try out issuu.com
Reading List (quality)
Email (2057)
“Fleurs du Mal”
“The Cell”

THE LIST

13 Cancel Insurance Policies (1018)
15 Write Henry S. (1053)
[Contribute to P & Y’s Charity]
10 Buy Guillotine
[Weed Old Accounts]
[Ring Ben’s Gutters]
[Get Phoenix Insurance Claim signed]
[Investigate ways of marketing and selling E-book]
[Approaching businesses?]
11 Photo Plus Manual
[Sort out Domain hosting]
14 Photos for Facebook
12 “Taxi Driver”
[“Fanny Cradock”]
[“I Know Where I’m Going”]
[“The Edge of the World”] [1452][1534]
——————————————
Check details needed by Travel Agency
56 Schedule for Newsletters?
16 Restaurant for L’s birthday?
Card for L
Weed Noguchi
57 Portuguese 17
Aeneid
“Then She Found Me”
Write E-book
Write M
67 Read Gerald Goldman’s “Ultra Simple Guide”
Camera Manual
Return chalk to T
Brain trainer
17 Tidy Office
68 “Fleurs du Mal”
18 Make Bed
German 24/3
19 Facebook
50 Spanish 12/2
Mow Lawn
Sort out Google bar
Blog “7 Habits of Poor Time Managers”
“Saraband”
Write
20 Bureau Top tidy?
21 MicroPlaza
Reading List (oldest)
Reading List (newest)
G replied?
22 Desk tidy?
23 Exercise
Walk
Tax Return
Photo Galleries
Squarespace Videos
47 Check BP
Journal 10+
24 Investment Managers
25 RegZooka
26 Cut Hedge
27 NumberWatch
28 Carswell
69 “The Cell” (2300)
Paper
1 Comments (0800)
2 Voicemail

29 Fix date for lunch with Carol N
3 Email
4 FTSE (0833)
“Top Gear”
5 Lowest Point Forecast
30 Back Up
31 Reading
6 Doodle
Change Wallpaper
58 Reading List (quality)
7 Pitch C#
8 Wash Up
Autopager?
Firefox extension name?
9 Comments
Voicemail
32 Email
33 FTSE
Lowest Point Forecast
Doodle
34 Pitch C#
35 Wash Up
36 Comments (0904)
PhotoPlus Manual
“Taxi Driver”
Cancel Avon Policy
48 To Think About
37 L replied re Henry?

38 L replied re restaurant?
Check Porsche Tyres
Check Polo Service
Tidy Office
39 Read Newspaper
40 Check Site Visitors for today
Make Bed
Facebook
51 Find Driving Licence
Bureau Top Tidy?
52 Regenerate Friend Wheel
41 Ordo
Investment Managers
Carswell
59 Carol N replied re lunch?
Diaries of Adrienne v. Speyr?
42 Lunch
53 SpyZooka
RegZooka
54 Reading
Pitch C#
Write Henry
55 Book restaurant
43 Reserve District 9 and Tricks
44 Comments
45 Wash Up
46 Email
Voicemail
56 Site Visitors
Ordo
49 Comments
Wash Up (1450)(1709)(1847)(1849)
—————————————————
Check BP
60 Email
61 Comments (1528)
Check weeding schedule for old accounts
Find Phone Number for Ben’s Gutters
Prepare papers for Phoenix signing
Check domain hosting records
“Fanny Cradock”
Spanish 13
62 Tweetdeck
SpyZooka
63 Reading
64 Site Visitors (2046)
Newsletter Template
Portuguese 17/2
Try out issuu.com
Reading List (quality)
65 Email
66 Tweetdeck
Email (2057)
“Fleurs du Mal”
“The Cell”

0800. The list is divided into two unequal parts, divided by a line ———————. Different rules apply to each part. I am starting where I left off yesterday, near the end of the list. The method here is to move down the list taking action on those tasks which feel ready to be done. I will number tasks in the order they are done so you can follow the sequence. The numbers in brackets after some tasks are times, and refer to the log entries at the end of the list (of which this is the first).

0833. This is reminding me why I hate using electronic means of working a to do list! It’s slowing me down no end. The Squarespace editor is also being annoying - a blank line has appeared in the middle of the list which I don’t seem to be able to get rid of. Never mind!

0904. I’ve now reached the end of the list. My next action is to go to the beginning of the list - into the part of the list before the line (——————). Oooooerrrr!!!

1018. Within the first part of the list, I keep circling round the list until nothing further seems ready to do.

1053. I’ve now been round the first part of the list three times, and there’s nothing further that seems ready to do. So now I start on the second part of the list. I only do one pass of this before going back to the first part.

1450. Now reached the end of the list for the second time today. So back to the first part of the list (the “backlog”)

1452. None of the tasks in the “backlog” stand out for action so I have marked them all up for review (on paper I would have used a highlighter for this). At the same time I have drawn a line at the end of the list so that the whole current list becomes the “backlog”. All new tasks will now go below this line.

1528. Now reached the end of the list for the third time today. Notice how fast I moved through the list this time. Back to the beginning of the list.

1534. What I have now done is delete all the items marked for review. You will see that I have re-entered some after rephrasing them. One I have re-entered as it was (A recorded TV program that I haven’t yet had time to see). The rest I have dropped altogether because I decided the time wasn’t yet ripe for them.

1709. Reached end of first part of list - back to the beginning. On another subject, this page has been loaded 5,973 times today (and it wasn’t all by me!)

1847 End of first part of list again - back to beginning.

1849 I’ve been round the first part of the list again without any tasks seeming ready to do - so on to the second part.

2046. Page has been accessed 7,507 times today.

2057 Reached the end of the list again. Back to the beginning. I’ll select a next task, but what I’m really going to do is go and watch NCIS on tv!

2300 That’s it for today. 70 tasks completed. 8,604 page views. I hope that’s given everyone a good idea of how powerful the system is. Now I’ve just got to copy everything I’ve done today back into my paper notebook!

(Comments on this post are now closed. If you can’t see the existing comments, click on the post heading “Working Live Today”)

This particular post will remain unchanged. The actual working list will be published at 8am UK time (3am EST) tomorrow (Friday):

Cancel Insurance Policies
Write Henry S.
Contribute to P & Y’s Charity
Buy Guillotine
Weed Old Accounts
Ring Ben’s Gutters
Get Phoenix Insurance Claim signed
Investigate ways of marketing and selling E-book
Approaching businesses?
Photo Plus Manual
Sort out Domain hosting
Photos for Facebook
“Taxi Driver”
“Fanny Cradock”
“I Know Where I’m Going”
“The Edge of the World”
Check details needed by Travel Agency
Schedule for Newsletters?
Restaurant for L’s birthday?
Card for L
Weed Noguchi
Portuguese 17
Aeneid
“Then She Found Me”
Write E-book
Write M
Read Gerald Coleman’s “Ultra Simple Guide”
Camera Manual
Return chalk to T
Brain trainer
Tidy Office
“Fleurs du Mal”
Make Bed
German 24/3
Facebook
Spanish 12/2
Mow Lawn
Sort out Google bar
Blog “7 Habits of Poor Time Managers”
“Saraband”
Write
Bureau Top tidy?
MicroPlaza
Reading List (oldest)
Reading List (newest)
G replied?
Desk tidy?
Exercise
Walk
Tax Return
Photo Galleries
Squarespace Videos
Check BP
Journal 10+
Investment Managers
RegZooka
Cut Hedge
NumberWatch
Carswell
“The Cell”
Paper
Comments
Voicemail
Fix date for lunch with Carol N
Email
FTSE
“Top Gear”
Lowest Point Forecast
Back Up
Reading
Doodle
Change Wallpaper
Reading List (quality)
Pitch C#
Wash Up

All my actioned  tasks are not shown on this list, but it’s worth bearing in mind that I normally work with paper and pen so that deletions from the list are still visible.

I will start the day off by posting my current list on this blog - and then every time I take action on a task or add a new one I will up-date the post. That way you will be able to keep track of exactly what I am doing at any given time.

I will be using the new unreleased Version 4, which I am currently testing, so you can see how fast and powerful it is.

Timings (very approximate):

Start: 8am UK Time

Finish: 11pm UK Time

I hope the exercise will show the following:

- the speed and flexibility of the system

- the various levels at which I enter tasks

- the nature of the tasks which are suitable for an Autofocus list

I will also leave Comments open so that hopefully a dialogue will develop about what is happening.

The secret, known to people like the Native Americans, is to line up two landmarks. When you do this you can easily proceed in a straight line just by keeping the two landmarks aligned. When you reach the first landmark you know you are facing in the right direction so all you have to do is to pick another landmark.

It struck me that this applies to how we go about getting to our goals in our business or personal life. If we aim for just one landmark we are likely to wander about and end up facing in the wrong direction. If we line up two goals then we are much more likely to proceed in a straight line to our desired result.

Let’s give an example of this. We often hear that networking is very important for building a small business. So some people go overboard with networking. They join networking associations, attend lots of events, talk to loads of people, and may even organise their own events.

Then they become disillusioned because their business, far from expanding, is suffering from the amount of time they spend away from it at networking events.

What has gone wrong?

The answer is that they have only lined their actions up on one landmark. They have taken on board that “networking is good” and have therefore lined up on the networking landmark:

——————-> Networking

The result is that they have just concentrated on doing more and more networking without really considering what the purpose of it all was.

If they had remembered that the purpose of the networking was to expand their business they would have approached the networking in a different more focused way:

——————-> Networking ——————-> Business Expansion

As an exercise, you might take a look at some of your goals to see whether they are properly lined up. For instance what might the difference be between these two?

——————-> MBA

——————-> MBA ——————> Promotion to Higher Management

or these two?

———————> Going to gym

———————> Going to gym ———————> Increased energy for work

Wherever you suspect that an activity which should be supporting a higher goal is taking on a life of its own, it’s a good idea to carry out this lining up exercise.

1) Isolate the backlog

2) Get the system for handling new stuff sorted

3) Keep working away at the backlog

People who don’t know this method usually try to clear a backlog by using step 3 on its own. But without doing step 1 first, all that will happen is that the backlog will fill up as fast as you clear it. Even if by some heroic effort you do succeed in clearing the backlog completely, if you haven’t done step 2 you will have a new backlog within days.

This backlog method can be used in many ways which may not be obvious on first sight. Here are a couple of examples:

Tidying an Office

You need to tidy your office. What is untidiness but a backlog of tidying? So carry out the three-step procedure.

1) Dump everything that is out of its proper place (or doesn’t have one) in a pile in the middle of the floor.

2) Work out a routine for cleaning and tidying your office every day. Stick to it religiously.

3) Work on clearing the pile bit by bit.

Getting out of Debt

What is debt but a backlog of money? So three steps to getting out of debt.

1) Consolidate all your debt into one loan, and refuse to take on any more debt of any type.

2) Cut your expenditure so that you can live within your income.

3) Make regular payments towards paying off the loan (capital as well as interest).

I am now working on a time management system which extends this principle to our normal daily work - even where there isn’t a significant backlog. It’s so far proving very powerful. More details soon!