Discussion Forum > Nunc Coepi!
Sheer brilliance!
Thank you.
<<But the best part, I learned, is the surprise of finishing. >>
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There should be a haiku about that moment ...
Thank you.
<<But the best part, I learned, is the surprise of finishing. >>
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There should be a haiku about that moment ...
September 4, 2011 at 20:03 |
Bernie
Bernie
The new system encourages this.
September 4, 2011 at 20:26 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Very refreshing!
That's what actually happens when you start a new list.
Maybe that's why people do it?
That's what actually happens when you start a new list.
Maybe that's why people do it?
September 5, 2011 at 10:58 |
Erik
Erik
Also what happens when people retain the list but tweak the rules!
In all events, restarting is akin to persisting. Behind both is a commitment, not to do your best, but simply to do. If you believe it's possible, then Lack of Success isn't failure; it's merely a delay in success. As you have committed to do a thing and not merely try, you won't quit while you still believe in the endeavor.
In all events, restarting is akin to persisting. Behind both is a commitment, not to do your best, but simply to do. If you believe it's possible, then Lack of Success isn't failure; it's merely a delay in success. As you have committed to do a thing and not merely try, you won't quit while you still believe in the endeavor.
September 5, 2011 at 13:42 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
I think Neil Fiore said that in The Now Habit and it struck me so forciby that I made it my mantra, and it's very like your insight: the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it.
When i was writing my master's thesis earlier this year, it seemed a long and impossible slog and I could not see the ending point. But I kept saying to myself, "All I have to do is show up and keep starting on it." I couldn't finish it the next day, but I could keep starting on it every day, and it eventually got done. It's a powerful reframing of the problem.
I like it when the results of a project accrue over time, until you almost don't notice that it's done.
When i was writing my master's thesis earlier this year, it seemed a long and impossible slog and I could not see the ending point. But I kept saying to myself, "All I have to do is show up and keep starting on it." I couldn't finish it the next day, but I could keep starting on it every day, and it eventually got done. It's a powerful reframing of the problem.
I like it when the results of a project accrue over time, until you almost don't notice that it's done.
September 5, 2011 at 13:51 |
Mike Brown
Mike Brown
I agree with the comments. Could it also be that some things in life are better left unfinished, but are nevertheless worhwhile?
Barbara Sher has a book Refuse to Choose addressed to people who start many things, but don't finish them or don't keep at something long enough to master it, and she tells them (partly) to accept it and learn ways to take advantage of it.
When is the reluctance to finish a sign to take a break, to try something new, to look at it from a different angle? To quit or to press forward?
Does it make a difference whether you are committed to finishing before you start?
Barbara Sher has a book Refuse to Choose addressed to people who start many things, but don't finish them or don't keep at something long enough to master it, and she tells them (partly) to accept it and learn ways to take advantage of it.
When is the reluctance to finish a sign to take a break, to try something new, to look at it from a different angle? To quit or to press forward?
Does it make a difference whether you are committed to finishing before you start?
September 5, 2011 at 15:37 |
markhedm
markhedm
" the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it."
I am astounded how powerfully that saying resonates.
I am astounded how powerfully that saying resonates.
September 5, 2011 at 17:01 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
I agree that the attitude to what's on the list is important. If they are seen as mostly things I gotta do but don't wanna do that will be very different from things I might enjoy, or how I might express myself this week, or things I might share with others, pleasures and fun list etc. That's why the future vision is important I think: it acts as a magnet or lighthouse or beacon to filter and sift tasks that aren't taking you toward who you want to be. Productivity without a feeling of personal success isn't what I want. Perhaps 3 lists are in order: DO list, BE list (implicit in the future vision) and HAVE/GET list. Or perhaps Julia Cameron's Artist's Way has some inspiring aspects. Personally I'm trying to move autofocus toward autoflow - take me to my best future in the best timings in the most efficient and effective way.
September 5, 2011 at 18:20 |
michael
michael
+JMJ+
@Erik: <<That's what actually happens when you start a new list.
Maybe that's why people do it? >>
Indeed!
Also, I think this is the reason the Personal Kanban that you are using is working wonderfully for you, because you always start the day with a clean slate that you are going to fill up til the end of the day. It is like a fresh new start every day!
-----
@Mike Brown, Alan: <<the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it.>>
Yes, that is the most succinct distillation of what I am trying to say that I could imagine. Very powerful indeed!
-----
@markhedm: <<When is the reluctance to finish a sign to take a break, to try something new, to look at it from a different angle? To quit or to press forward?
Does it make a difference whether you are committed to finishing before you start? >>
I found, in the few days that I have trying this paradigm, that probably the best way is to stop, even if you are just in the beginning, and say to yourself, "I have finished what I can for now," take a break, then pick it up again (either later, or tomorrow, or the next few days, depending on the task) and say, "OK, let's start this!" I have to say that this approach is very powerful!
-----
I have been trying for the past few days to integrate this paradigm into my 1to7esque task management system.
Preliminary results?
It has been nothing short of amazing. It has made choosing and doing the tasks almost effortless!
The main idea is to be able to indicate in the system which tasks are done for today and you can start again tomorrow, while also being able to identify which tasks you still have to work on today, and which tasks you can start on later in the week, while, finally, still be able to universally catch all the tasks that come to you. One, two, seven ^___^
-----
Godspeed.
@Erik: <<That's what actually happens when you start a new list.
Maybe that's why people do it? >>
Indeed!
Also, I think this is the reason the Personal Kanban that you are using is working wonderfully for you, because you always start the day with a clean slate that you are going to fill up til the end of the day. It is like a fresh new start every day!
-----
@Mike Brown, Alan: <<the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it.>>
Yes, that is the most succinct distillation of what I am trying to say that I could imagine. Very powerful indeed!
-----
@markhedm: <<When is the reluctance to finish a sign to take a break, to try something new, to look at it from a different angle? To quit or to press forward?
Does it make a difference whether you are committed to finishing before you start? >>
I found, in the few days that I have trying this paradigm, that probably the best way is to stop, even if you are just in the beginning, and say to yourself, "I have finished what I can for now," take a break, then pick it up again (either later, or tomorrow, or the next few days, depending on the task) and say, "OK, let's start this!" I have to say that this approach is very powerful!
-----
I have been trying for the past few days to integrate this paradigm into my 1to7esque task management system.
Preliminary results?
It has been nothing short of amazing. It has made choosing and doing the tasks almost effortless!
The main idea is to be able to indicate in the system which tasks are done for today and you can start again tomorrow, while also being able to identify which tasks you still have to work on today, and which tasks you can start on later in the week, while, finally, still be able to universally catch all the tasks that come to you. One, two, seven ^___^
-----
Godspeed.
September 5, 2011 at 22:09 |
nuntym
nuntym
Various:
<< <<the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it. >>
It's a well-researched fact that goals are more motivating if they are couched in terms of how much is left to do rather than how much has been done.
So for example in a fundraising appeal it's more effective to say:
"There's only £20,000 left to raise of our £100,000 appeal"
rather than:
"We've already raised £80,000 of our £100,000 appeal."
The first keeps people's eyes fixed on the goal and what is needed to finish it, while the second makes them feel that they are nearly there and can start slacking off.
<< <<the goal isn't to finish a task, it's to keep starting on it. >>
It's a well-researched fact that goals are more motivating if they are couched in terms of how much is left to do rather than how much has been done.
So for example in a fundraising appeal it's more effective to say:
"There's only £20,000 left to raise of our £100,000 appeal"
rather than:
"We've already raised £80,000 of our £100,000 appeal."
The first keeps people's eyes fixed on the goal and what is needed to finish it, while the second makes them feel that they are nearly there and can start slacking off.
September 5, 2011 at 22:20 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I like it. That might be why I like making week and today lists.
September 6, 2011 at 16:20 |
Cricket
Cricket
I was experiencing significant resistance recently in doing my list. I didn't even want to look at the list anymore!
I then read this article from a Catholic organization: http://www.spitzercenter.org/html/posts/the-secret-of-all-progress-111.php
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” --- Thomas Edison
Could we be wrong? Could the secret to getting things done be not to finish but to BEGIN again and again and again until you finish?.
What if I start looking at my list not as things to finish, but as things to start. Even the unfinished tasks, what my attitude towards them is to "forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:13) and thus approach them as starting anew with some progress I have already forgotten?
And you know what, it works. Starting something is, in all honesty, more easy for me than finishing, because there is the excitement of plunging into a new project, compared to the drudgery and stress of doing things repeatedly, carefully, and/or hurriedly to finish something. But the best part, I learned, is the surprise of finishing. I especially love the feeling of grabbing at empty air, just realizing that I had actually finished folding my clothes! ^___^
Godspeed.