Discussion Forum > Celebration Time: best 10 posts (blog or forum) of all time
I really loved the 'Muddy Field' piece that Mark wrote, it completely changed my way of thinking about backlogs:
http://www.markforster.net/muddy-field
and just about anything on the basics of Autofocus (original flavour).
acedia xx
http://www.markforster.net/muddy-field
and just about anything on the basics of Autofocus (original flavour).
acedia xx
December 19, 2011 at 13:31 |
acedia
acedia
December 19, 2011 at 22:58 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
I reread the Muddy Field. Perhaps the most important article on this site. I have drawn a line. The question now is how to apply the "Clear incoming material daily" to AutoFocus? AF rules, excepting DWM, don't have timed clearing, and eventually that becomes a problem.
I think what happens is everything works smoothly, and then occasional busy periods cause the list to gradually go larger. Unchecked, eventually it becomes overwhelming, and like walking through a muddy field.
So what is the AF analogue of "Clear Incoming Material Daily", given you don't clear your AF list daily?
I think what happens is everything works smoothly, and then occasional busy periods cause the list to gradually go larger. Unchecked, eventually it becomes overwhelming, and like walking through a muddy field.
So what is the AF analogue of "Clear Incoming Material Daily", given you don't clear your AF list daily?
December 20, 2011 at 14:19 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Alan: <<AF rules, excepting DWM, don't have timed clearing, and eventually that becomes a problem. >>
Which is why I like time-based dismissal systems like DWM2 more ^___^
<<So what is the AF analogue of "Clear Incoming Material Daily", given you don't clear your AF list daily? >>
I guess one can use Mike's pre-filtering tweak which was discussed here,
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/883672#item884285
It will certainly satisfy "STEP THREE — REDUCE THE INCOMING VOLUME", as I will certify by personal experience. That tweak saved my bacon (and sanity) many times while I was using AF4.
But "Clear Incoming Material Daily"? Hmm. Maybe you can use AF4 and dismiss the closed list every end of the day. But the thought of dismissing that much every day makes me cringe...
Which is why I like time-based dismissal systems like DWM2 more ^___^
<<So what is the AF analogue of "Clear Incoming Material Daily", given you don't clear your AF list daily? >>
I guess one can use Mike's pre-filtering tweak which was discussed here,
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/883672#item884285
It will certainly satisfy "STEP THREE — REDUCE THE INCOMING VOLUME", as I will certify by personal experience. That tweak saved my bacon (and sanity) many times while I was using AF4.
But "Clear Incoming Material Daily"? Hmm. Maybe you can use AF4 and dismiss the closed list every end of the day. But the thought of dismissing that much every day makes me cringe...
December 20, 2011 at 18:03 |
nuntym
nuntym
That's exactly my point. The recommendation for backlogs is to clear things daily, but that is certainly not the recommendation for AF systems. It seems to me something different needs to be said about backlogs in AF.
December 20, 2011 at 21:29 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
I nominate nuntym's Context Autofocus post:
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1520924
This ingenious system was the inspiration for the system I'm working on:
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1677163
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1520924
This ingenious system was the inspiration for the system I'm working on:
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1677163
December 21, 2011 at 22:34 |
Deven
Deven
I'd like to thank Mark Forster and all forum participants for an invaluable year of self improvement.
My 2011 started out with a resolution to "really finally do GTD right," which promptly led to another binge of system/tool research and then to my arrival at this web site. Mark's unique ideas, his authenticity in his writing, and the insights and goodwill of forum contributors have led me to a state of ... hmm ... Unexpected Effectiveness.
See, I had thought success would come from whipping myself along a linear, self-disciplined grind of devouring hyper-organized lists, only because that describes every approach I'd encountered or imagined before markforster.net. In fact, GTD had actually seemed free-wheeling and intuitive compared to the rest of the field. But now that I have an AutoFocus notebook and a Dreams journal, I am effective in a much better and completely unexpected way.
Perfection still escapes me. Even an 80/20 level of imperfection escapes me. I feel like I am running at 40% of capacity, and I still lag far behind my mega-focused, completely unstructured era of Silicon Valley all-nighters and single-project sprints. But those days are over, and within my current stage of life, I am now more effective than ever. More importantly, I no longer wonder how I will ever manage to pursue my important goals, and I no longer trudge through my work as if strapped to a backpack loaded down with unheeded time management tomes! Whether or not I ultimately switch tools/systems again, 2011 marks an important milestone: the transition from putting my real aspirations on hold to pursuing them little & often amid everything else that calls for my attention.
So you might say my mission to "really finally do GTD right" has succeeded—by replacing it with AutoFocus and Dreams!
Many thanks and a happy holiday season to you all.
---------
Bernie's Top Three Posts of all time:
1. How To Make Your Dreams Come True (e-book)
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/1/29/how-to-make-your-dreams-come-true.html
2. AutoFocus System
http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/
3. Rules for SuperFocus
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/2/10/rules-for-superfocus.html
Oh, one more:
4. Mark Forster's Final Version system!
(URL forthcoming ... wink)
My 2011 started out with a resolution to "really finally do GTD right," which promptly led to another binge of system/tool research and then to my arrival at this web site. Mark's unique ideas, his authenticity in his writing, and the insights and goodwill of forum contributors have led me to a state of ... hmm ... Unexpected Effectiveness.
See, I had thought success would come from whipping myself along a linear, self-disciplined grind of devouring hyper-organized lists, only because that describes every approach I'd encountered or imagined before markforster.net. In fact, GTD had actually seemed free-wheeling and intuitive compared to the rest of the field. But now that I have an AutoFocus notebook and a Dreams journal, I am effective in a much better and completely unexpected way.
Perfection still escapes me. Even an 80/20 level of imperfection escapes me. I feel like I am running at 40% of capacity, and I still lag far behind my mega-focused, completely unstructured era of Silicon Valley all-nighters and single-project sprints. But those days are over, and within my current stage of life, I am now more effective than ever. More importantly, I no longer wonder how I will ever manage to pursue my important goals, and I no longer trudge through my work as if strapped to a backpack loaded down with unheeded time management tomes! Whether or not I ultimately switch tools/systems again, 2011 marks an important milestone: the transition from putting my real aspirations on hold to pursuing them little & often amid everything else that calls for my attention.
So you might say my mission to "really finally do GTD right" has succeeded—by replacing it with AutoFocus and Dreams!
Many thanks and a happy holiday season to you all.
---------
Bernie's Top Three Posts of all time:
1. How To Make Your Dreams Come True (e-book)
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/1/29/how-to-make-your-dreams-come-true.html
2. AutoFocus System
http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/
3. Rules for SuperFocus
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/2/10/rules-for-superfocus.html
Oh, one more:
4. Mark Forster's Final Version system!
(URL forthcoming ... wink)
December 23, 2011 at 21:54 |
Bernie
Bernie
For me the most precious would be http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/1/29/how-to-make-your-dreams-come-true.html as everyone can use it to uplift their lives and it's just beautiful that anyone passing by this site can download it and have the opportunity to make positive changes or approach old problems in new ways.
I suppose the Superfocus rules get in as essential: http://www.markforster.net/blog/2011/2/10/rules-for-superfocus.html
I'd also suggest http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/726414 by Sarah as an excellent example of how "standing out" can work.