Discussion Forum > On the eventual problem with AF1
Hi Alan.
<<can shed light on the original problem,>>
An excellent question, but I'm not sure the problem is "out there", but rather internal. My original, and never ending problem(s) are:
* finding co-partners for my projects (providing accountability and skills that I don't possess)
* battling inertia due to fear of....
* sublimating creative energy into productivity systems, to avoid the painstaking process of real creative work
* an emotional process of (almost) always choosing pleasure over pain
10 years +, and I've yet to find a silver (productivity) bullet for any of the above. Though the fantasy remains. However after dropping one (major) ball at work, I'm done relying on PULL/DREAMS... at least for now.
I remember AF4 being sound - in principle and practice. I figure, if Stever Robbins uses it, it's good enough for me.
<<can shed light on the original problem,>>
An excellent question, but I'm not sure the problem is "out there", but rather internal. My original, and never ending problem(s) are:
* finding co-partners for my projects (providing accountability and skills that I don't possess)
* battling inertia due to fear of....
* sublimating creative energy into productivity systems, to avoid the painstaking process of real creative work
* an emotional process of (almost) always choosing pleasure over pain
10 years +, and I've yet to find a silver (productivity) bullet for any of the above. Though the fantasy remains. However after dropping one (major) ball at work, I'm done relying on PULL/DREAMS... at least for now.
I remember AF4 being sound - in principle and practice. I figure, if Stever Robbins uses it, it's good enough for me.
August 14, 2011 at 20:31 |
avrum
avrum
One could, I suppose, use a hybrid approach - AF1 could be the default approach. However, when there are urgent tasks, add a second column for these urgent tasks. Perhaps switch to SuperFocus at this point with a small change - Carry forward only the urgent tasks in column 2 if unfinished. Unfinished Non-Urgent tasks would just be added to the last active page.
Haven't tried this, but it might work to keep the feel mostly an AF1 feel.
Haven't tried this, but it might work to keep the feel mostly an AF1 feel.
August 14, 2011 at 23:26 |
PaulB from Canada
PaulB from Canada
Alan wrote:
<< After several months some started to complain it wasn't responsive enough to urgent items, leading Mark to create AFs 2, 3 and 4 to solve this.>>
Perhaps it is time to ask what other structures are necessary to complete a sustainable time management system centered around AF1. In other words, after a full year of successful AF1 use, what would a person's complete system look like? Where did all the dismissed items go (that weren't trash)? How do they track big projects? How do they handle all the "DO NOT" items in the AF instructions, such as urgent items?
The successful AF user needs a reliable calendar and reminder system. They also need a place to store dismissed items that are not trash but will not be revisited within the next week (per a comment of Mark's someplace last month in a thread about dismissal). Perhaps one or two other things ... a to-read stack?
We are all swimming about on our own with these things, and some of us are tweaking our notebooks in pursuit of them.
PERHAPS ... AF1 is already best-in-class, and the time and energy should now be spent on how to support it properly? Perhaps, due to our various personalities, there will not be one definitive set of tools but rather a handful of functions, such as "a method of bringing forward future reminders ..." and "a place to store reading material listed in your notebook ..."
In DIT, Mark crafted an excellent set of principles that one could use to fashion a sustainable Push system. Could there be a similar thing for Pull? Starting with AF1, adding Dreams (optional, for those who want to tackle goal-setting head-on), obviously adding a calendar, and ... what else?
In my case, every tweak I added to SF, and many I saw others toying with, is available "off the shelf" in AF1. Want to scan for urgent items? From wherever you are, make a quick pass round the book and "just get the folder out" on every item that screams "URGENT!". Fifteen minutes, tops, and those items end up listed on the open page. How many times did I try to force SF to do that??
The more I use AF1 (instead of SF), the more my "dashboard" shrinks. I am much more able to visualize what is going on simply by getting through the notebook, as Mark intended. There will always be a dashboard for me, combining my day's appointments with other hard realities, and this is the part that I think varies from person to person. But the common thread is the category of information on this board and how its information flows through the notebook to the board and back.
<< After several months some started to complain it wasn't responsive enough to urgent items, leading Mark to create AFs 2, 3 and 4 to solve this.>>
Perhaps it is time to ask what other structures are necessary to complete a sustainable time management system centered around AF1. In other words, after a full year of successful AF1 use, what would a person's complete system look like? Where did all the dismissed items go (that weren't trash)? How do they track big projects? How do they handle all the "DO NOT" items in the AF instructions, such as urgent items?
The successful AF user needs a reliable calendar and reminder system. They also need a place to store dismissed items that are not trash but will not be revisited within the next week (per a comment of Mark's someplace last month in a thread about dismissal). Perhaps one or two other things ... a to-read stack?
We are all swimming about on our own with these things, and some of us are tweaking our notebooks in pursuit of them.
PERHAPS ... AF1 is already best-in-class, and the time and energy should now be spent on how to support it properly? Perhaps, due to our various personalities, there will not be one definitive set of tools but rather a handful of functions, such as "a method of bringing forward future reminders ..." and "a place to store reading material listed in your notebook ..."
In DIT, Mark crafted an excellent set of principles that one could use to fashion a sustainable Push system. Could there be a similar thing for Pull? Starting with AF1, adding Dreams (optional, for those who want to tackle goal-setting head-on), obviously adding a calendar, and ... what else?
In my case, every tweak I added to SF, and many I saw others toying with, is available "off the shelf" in AF1. Want to scan for urgent items? From wherever you are, make a quick pass round the book and "just get the folder out" on every item that screams "URGENT!". Fifteen minutes, tops, and those items end up listed on the open page. How many times did I try to force SF to do that??
The more I use AF1 (instead of SF), the more my "dashboard" shrinks. I am much more able to visualize what is going on simply by getting through the notebook, as Mark intended. There will always be a dashboard for me, combining my day's appointments with other hard realities, and this is the part that I think varies from person to person. But the common thread is the category of information on this board and how its information flows through the notebook to the board and back.
August 14, 2011 at 23:37 |
Bernie
Bernie
I wonder, avrum, if you'd benefit from The Procrastination Equation. It's by a behavioral psychologist who specialized in the subject. He takes years of studying college students' procrastination habits and identified the key factors contributing to the problem, and the most effective techniques known for mitigating those factors. Thoroughly researched and pleasant to read as well.
Paulb, lOoks like we have a quorum to start a Canadian chapter of autofocus fans. Your proposal seems sensible to me.
Paulb, lOoks like we have a quorum to start a Canadian chapter of autofocus fans. Your proposal seems sensible to me.
August 15, 2011 at 2:09 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Alan:
<<I wonder, avrum, if you'd benefit from The Procrastination Equation>>
Because I've experienced well-lived days i.e. flow, productive, risk-taking, I know what I'm looking for. This does not mean it's easy to find... or that I'm willing to take the necessary risks.
My overall point is that different systems, like heroin, only provide temporary relief.
<<I wonder, avrum, if you'd benefit from The Procrastination Equation>>
Because I've experienced well-lived days i.e. flow, productive, risk-taking, I know what I'm looking for. This does not mean it's easy to find... or that I'm willing to take the necessary risks.
My overall point is that different systems, like heroin, only provide temporary relief.
August 15, 2011 at 2:44 |
avrum
avrum
Oops I was unclear. I was citing a book, not a system. The book presents strategies for self-evaluation and adjusting the factors in the equation to make it easier to choose the right thing. Mainly it clarifies why we procrastinate - we intuitively know, but this clarification is useful.
August 15, 2011 at 3:28 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Thanks Alan - but what I need is accountability, not more theory.
I posted a request on Barbara Sher's FB page looking for accountability partners in Toronto. Zip, nada replies. Argh. I'll keep looking.
I posted a request on Barbara Sher's FB page looking for accountability partners in Toronto. Zip, nada replies. Argh. I'll keep looking.
August 15, 2011 at 16:34 |
avrum
avrum
I'm trying to remember whether, when I started developing AF2 et seq., I actually had a problem myself with the way AF1 functioned or whether I was just responding to the comments of others
I suspect it was the second because I can remember two things about AF1 quite distinctly:
1) Whenever I tried something different which failed, I always went back to AF1 with a sigh of relief (as indeed I have this time).
2) AF1 is the only system I have ever tried (including all my other ones) which hasn't somewhere along the line caused me to start resisting the system itself.
Perhaps some of you are brave enough to page back through thousands of comments to find out what I wrote at the time - I don't think I am!
I suspect it was the second because I can remember two things about AF1 quite distinctly:
1) Whenever I tried something different which failed, I always went back to AF1 with a sigh of relief (as indeed I have this time).
2) AF1 is the only system I have ever tried (including all my other ones) which hasn't somewhere along the line caused me to start resisting the system itself.
Perhaps some of you are brave enough to page back through thousands of comments to find out what I wrote at the time - I don't think I am!
August 15, 2011 at 17:58 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I didn't think I would do this either, but I was wrong :-)
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2009/5/4/autofocus-after-four-months.html
"However as the inventor of the system I still don’t think Autofocus is the perfect system - not even for me! There are certain aspects of it which I think could be improved. The two major ones are dealing with urgent items and dealing with items one really doesn’t want to do. It’s not so much that these don’t get done in Autofocus - it’s that they don’t get done quickly enough. My ideal system would be a bit sharper on both of these."
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2009/5/4/autofocus-after-four-months.html
"However as the inventor of the system I still don’t think Autofocus is the perfect system - not even for me! There are certain aspects of it which I think could be improved. The two major ones are dealing with urgent items and dealing with items one really doesn’t want to do. It’s not so much that these don’t get done in Autofocus - it’s that they don’t get done quickly enough. My ideal system would be a bit sharper on both of these."
August 15, 2011 at 20:43 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Thanks for researching that, Alan.
One thing that strikes me on reading it is this paragraph:
"That’s why I have been keeping on with the experimenting. I would really like to reach the perfect system one day, because all this experimenting wreaks havoc with my own organisation. What’s more I would really like to reach the perfect answer while I’m still young enough to make full use of it myself!"
I'm wondering how much my own use of the system was affected by my constant experimenting. In my very early days of working AF I remember I noted that to get the full benefit of the system the list needed to be mature. Constant experimenting of course results in the list never getting fully mature.
I'll be interested to see how it goes this time - and I'll try and keep off the experimenting!
One thing that strikes me on reading it is this paragraph:
"That’s why I have been keeping on with the experimenting. I would really like to reach the perfect system one day, because all this experimenting wreaks havoc with my own organisation. What’s more I would really like to reach the perfect answer while I’m still young enough to make full use of it myself!"
I'm wondering how much my own use of the system was affected by my constant experimenting. In my very early days of working AF I remember I noted that to get the full benefit of the system the list needed to be mature. Constant experimenting of course results in the list never getting fully mature.
I'll be interested to see how it goes this time - and I'll try and keep off the experimenting!
August 15, 2011 at 21:44 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
After several months some started to complain it wasn't responsive enough to urgent items, leading Mark to create AFs 2, 3 and 4 to solve this. Much later Superfocus arrived to directly tackle the issue from an AF1 frame. It seems to succeed but loses the light feeling of AF1. The extra column slows the list while accelerating completion of tasks. Which means it's less adept at clearing a backlog.
So back to AF1, I wonder if the years' experience can shed light on the original problem, that gradually it becomes less responsive. Will new experience make this second trial better, or will it be fundamentally the same? And what specifically happens to raise the problem?