Get Everything Done

1. Use a page-a-day diary or journal book.

2. Draw a vertical line down the middle of the page.

3. The left side of the page is your "maybe" list.

4. The right side of the page is your "hot list".

5. When you start the day, you would normally have many items on today's "maybe" list, and nothing on the "hot list".

6. Process by cycling through all the items on today's page -- both the "maybe" list and the (growing) "hotlist". Work on anything that stands out.
○ If you take action, and complete the item -- just cross it off.
○ If the item needs more attention (either recurring or unfinished), then re-enter the item on today's "hot list" list.
○ However, if the item needs to be re-entered but is "done for today", you can enter it on the *next* day's "maybe" list.
○ In cases where you really can't take any more action for several days (for example, you sent off an email and expect 2-3 days to get a reply; or it's a recurring item and you don't need to see the task again for a week), then re-enter the item as many days ahead as needed -- on that day's "maybe" list.

7. When nothing else stands out on today's page, then you can scan forward through future pages, taking action on anything that stands out. Follow the same re-entry rules for unfinished items as above.

8. After going through the future pages, go back to the oldest page in your book that still has active tasks. Treat these pages just like AF1 pages -- i.e., if you take no action on a visit to a page, all remaining items are dismissed.

9. After completing an old page (either by taking action on something, or by dismissing that page), you have the option of moving forward to the next old AF1 page, OR jumping directly forward to today's page. Use the same re-entry rules for these old AF1 pages as you do for the today page.

10. Today's page cannot be dismissed -- it's like the last page in an AF1 notebook.

11. The normal, default place to put new things is on TOMORROW's "maybe" list.
○ However, if a new item is urgent and needs attention today, put it on today's hot list.
○ If a new item cannot be started till the future, then put it on the future date's maybe list. Don't abuse this -- if you defer items to the future merely because tomorrow is already looking full, I have a feeling the system will break.

12. At the end of the day, move whatever you want from today's hotlist to tomorrow's maybe list. Leave everything else on the page alone. Then you are done for the day. (Ahhh, what a nice feeling!)

13. If you like, at the beginning of the day, you can take a quick scan or two through today's maybe list, and put a dot or a circle or other mark next to the items you think are probably "hot" for today. Or, you can just rely entirely on the standing out process. Whichever you prefer.


This seems pretty similar to what I posted earlier. Here are some additional observations:

1. The explanation of the rules is vastly simplified.

2. There are a lot fewer choices to make. Unactioned items typically remain where they are; thus, there isn't the reliance on "negative standing out" to decide when to "move a task somewhere else".

3. It does not include project pages -- though these could be included pretty easily by using blank pages at the beginning or end of the notebook.

4. The focus of one's work tends to be on today's hotlist.

5. Splitting the list into "Maybe" and "Hotlist" seems to make a key difference vs DIT or DIT+(AF1 on old pages). The "Maybe" stuff is merely a list of tasks for your consideration - there is no implied commitment, until you take some action on it and move it to the hotlist. This would seem to create a lot more freedom and sense of flow.

Alternate approach to dismissal: You could use DWM-style dismissal -- anything over 30 days old is dismissed automatically.

Caveat: I haven't tried any of this yet -- I just wanted to capture this brainstorm before I go to bed. I will try it tomorrow, if I can wrangle these ideas into a OneNote structure. :-)

Greenchutney wrote:

<< Does this mean that you may keep a NEW page around till it gets "filled up"? Meaning that the NEW page doesn't automatically turn into a DATED page at the end of the day? >>

Yes, that is how I was originally doing it. But Alan and Mark seemed to assume it would be created at the end of the day, and after thinking through it, I liked their idea better, because the mechanics are much simpler.


<< If so, what is your definition of filling up? Certain count of tasks or some other criteria? >>

My criterion was that it filled a screen full of OneNote items = about 30 or 35 items. I didn't like having more than that on any one page because it involves too much scrolling.


<< I tried TODAY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY setup but I couldn't sustain it after sometime and I went back to DWM2. Now, I have been trying your method for the last 2 days and I really like it. >>

Great!


<< However, I have added a few wrinkles. I have added the timed dismissal aspect of DWM2 - both for the unactioned items (30 day dismissal as you mention) as well as the actioned items (7 day dismissal). >>

Yes, that's pretty easy to do if you date your pages. I used DWM myself for several months and found I didn't get bogged down as much as with AF1-style dismissal, though I missed the standing-out flow of AF1.


<< This type of dismissal I feel can coexist with AF1 type dismissal. I will experiment with this for the next few weeks. >>

Let us know how it works out!


<< I also have decided to move any tasks left behind in TODAY at the end of the day to DATED close list, instead of moving them to NEW. Once an item moves to TODAY, it means that it has been committed. If the commitment continues to be there, then the task will move to FUTURE pages. If the commitment has dwindled, then it makes sense to move it to a DATED page. I am not sure how the dynamic plays out compared to your method of moving them to NEW page. >>

With the new rewrite (revision 2), it works out essentially the same.


<< BTW, I also use Onenote for this system and I do have iPhone version for mobility. I use the mobile version primarily as read only list and add any new item into it when I am not near the pc. Right now the pages unfortunately cannot move in the mobile version which would make it more versatile. >>

Nice to know the iPhone has a OneNote app. One more reason to consider an iPhone…

I will post later how I am implementing Revision 2 in OneNote.


<< So far I have really liked the flow of this system and I have been able to get a lot done. I have a clear picture of what I am doing "today" and it gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. >>

Yes, that's been my experience too -- and it's been going on long enough I thought I should share it. :-)

Mark Forster wrote:

<< Gosh! Even I didn't get second versions out as quickly as that! >>

Well, that's because you are a lot more thorough, and your systems are a lot more elegant and can serve a much broader userbase than mine, plus you do a lot more testing before publishing something. :-) I am more selfish and am publishing these so I can get faster feedback from this excellent community and incorporate the best ideas that make sense to me.

Also, the way this whole thing has evolved for me has been very organic, lots of "little and often" improvements on a basic theme. This revision is not a whole lot different than what I've been doing for months now.

That basic theme has been:
- Cycle through series of pages, taking action on whatever stands out
- Pages follow the "free form" model: AF1-like pages interspersed with project pages, "recurring weekly" pages, reference pages, or whatever happens to make sense at the time, like a TODAY page
- Move things forward in some way, if you take action on them
- Dismiss things if they’ve been sitting around too long or are cluttering up the rest of the system
- Adapt the specific form to your current needs -- try new page types, try new dismissal methods, don't be stuck with any particular rules, just KEEP CYCLING THROUGH

The constant cycling has been such an important key -- frequent repeated exposure to all my outstanding work, allowing tasks to percolate till they are ready, or till it becomes clear they are no longer relevant.

Eventually some page types and other structures became "permanent fixtures" -- such as the TODAY page.

Reflecting on the way things were going, and why it was working so well, and what some of the downsides were, led me to write the "AutoDIT" post. My hope was to share something that worked well for me --maybe someone else would benefit from it -- but also to get feedback that might help me improve the weak spots. And I got that feedback very quickly, especially from you and Alan.

That resulted in the Revision 2 rewrite, which is mostly just a clarification of Revision 1, with a few ambiguities clarified, but not really a whole new system.

matthewS wrote:

<< so Monday ( named DAY) pages are gone, however as "page-a-day diary" that is OK
what about March (named MONTH), would you suggest put on March 1st? >>

Yes, that's what I would be doing if I were actually using a notebook instead of OneNote.


<< as I commented earlier, I liked the ability to get a big picture view of the year with the Month pages >>

Some diaries / journals have a "month view" page at the beginning of every month. Maybe you could put those tasks on that page, and get the same effect.

Or maybe just put the items on the first of the month, and put a PostIt sticky tab at the beginning of each month to make them easy to find.

I tried to put together a little tour of how I implement this in OneNote. You can get the PDF at <https://files.me.com/talanton/vf1odz> (389 KB)

brettypooh wrote:

<< to be clear, when there is no more room on todays maybe list, do you simple spill over to tomorrows maybe list? >>

To be honest, since I implement this in OneNote, I don't really have a limit.

With paper, I suppose you could overflow the Maybe items to the next day. This would become a chronic issue and clog up the system, if you are frequently overflowing to the next day like this. And I don't see a way to limit it via the mechanics of the system. You could "audit your commitments" to try to reduce the incoming tasks, but that's not automatic enough for my tastes.

Thus, I think it'd be preferable to get a notebook with bigger pages, or something along those lines, so you ensure you can cram all your tasks onto the one page for that day.


<< or are items on todays maybe list, tomorrows, or January 8ths list items you really hope to touch that day? >>

No, I don't necessarily expect to touch all the items that day. The point is that I want the items I don't touch to become "AF1" pages that get cycled for awhile and then dismissed if no action is taken. Overflowing to future pages both clogs up the future pages (making them less responsive to current needs), and it also defers the cycling/dismissal process.

Mark Forster wrote:

<< << The constant cycling has been such an important key ... >>

Which is of course one of the key principles of AF1. >>

Yes, of course, which is why I've said many times this system borrows a lot from AF1. :-)


<< For example, if you thought hard about how you could make your system as simple as possible, you might realize that you can achieve exactly the same effect without making any changes at all to the rules of AF1. All that is needed is to specify something which the rules leave unspecified. >>

Yes, I agree, I am sure this system could improve and benefit from some hard thinking. My own hard thinking doesn't appear to be up to the task, however, which is why I've started these threads. :-)

Regarding the "unspecified something", the first thing that comes to mind is the number of items per page. I suppose you might mean that you can define this as "close the last page at the end of the day". But simply doing that would not give you the ability to differentiate between items you want to see again today, items you want to defer to the future, and items you don't really care when you see next.

Perhaps you referred to the tickler system for items that must wait till some future date to be started, which AF1 leaves unspecified. You could consider the future pages as just another tickler system. But even so, this still does not create the equivalence of AutoDIT's focus on TODAY, the ability to know when a day's work is complete, etc.

Maybe you mean something else -- anyone else have any ideas?

I see the key difference between AF1 and AutoDIT as being AutoDIT's multiple entry points:

- With AutoDIT, new urgent items are entered directly onto today's hotlist. AF1 does not handle urgent items in any special way, and this is the main weakness of AF1.

- AutoDIT provides future pages for entry of items that cannot start until some future date. AF1 offloads these items to an unspecified tickler system.

- AutoDIT provides at least two entry points for re-entry of unfinished items after you take some action on them. You can enter them on today's hotlist (if you want to see it again today); on a future maybe list (if you don't want to see it again till some future date, for some particular reason); or on tomorrow's maybe list (if you don't have any place else to put it). AF1 doesn't differentiate these at all -- everything goes at the end.

By the way, Mark, if you'd rather me call it something than AutoDIT, I will be glad to comply, since this name obviously borrows nomenclature from two of your flagship systems.

I was thinking about this some more while driving around this afternoon.

It seems that if you make these two changes to AF1, then you arrive at AutoDIT:

- Close the last page at the end of the day -- not when it actually fills up. This would be an actual rule change.

- Incorporate the TOMORROW page and all the other future pages as your tickler system -- which isn't specified in the AF1 rules.

You can also count the "maybe" list and the "hot" list as really just one list. When you start the day, everything will be on the maybe list. As you process things, the items that see some action can move to the hotlist. This can be simplified. When you start the day, just draw a line under the items that are on the list so far. Add any new items below the line. Also, re-enter items you want to see today, below the line. The line itself isn't even necessary - it's just a useful visual clue to show you activity that occurred after the start of the day, and it has a parallel in DIT.

Looking at it this way, AutoDIT really is just a variant of AF1 with a variable page length and a built-in tickler system. AF1 already allows you to move an item, after you've taken some action, either to the last page (which would be the TODAY page), or to the Tickler system. The TOMORROW page is really just part of the Tickler system.


But now, looking at Mark's latest comments, this isn't what he had in mind - there's something else that he has in mind that makes this exactly AF1 if you specify something that wasn't specified. I will go scour the AF1 rules again and see if I can find it...

Mark Forster wrote:

<< But one of your main problems with AF1 if I recollect correctly was that you weren't achieving this constant cycling because of the slow rate you were progressing through the list. I'm glad you've now been able to overcome this. >>

The focus on TODAY is what allows me to overcome it. This keeps me current, and keeps me focused on the main projects and tasks at hand. I still take excursions through the older tasks, but they don't have nearly as much appeal -- the current tasks have a much stronger draw. Thus, far fewer of those old tasks "stand out", they get dismissed much more quickly, and don't drag me down.

AF1 didn't have that same "pull" to the current, important projects. If I was processing page 10, and entering new items on page 15 (which was a typical situation for me), the current tasks just weren't fresh in my mind -- I was always deferring them to "later". I was always finding lots of things to do on page 10. After a few days, I might actually arrive at page 15 (while entering new items on page 21), and still find plenty of things to do, especially because now whatever items were still current, were pressing and urgent because I had taken so long to get to them.

This always being behind, was a self-perpetuating problem. If I was processing page 10, and new items were going onto page 15, it was abundantly clear that I might not get back to page 10 again for a very long time. So, I'd better do whatever needs doing on page 10 NOW. So I'd spend more time there than I might if I had confidence I could actually come back to that page pretty soon again.

Sometimes I would just jump ahead to the last page so I could stay current, but after a few days, I'd fall behind again. (This is obviously breaking the rules, unless you count this as a kind of "if something needs doing now, just do it!!")

Sometimes I would mass-dismiss several pages in a row, the very first time I came to them, because there were many items on the last page I *had* to get working on *now*. But again, after a few days, I would not be current any longer.

AutoDIT is different because I start the day cycling around on one page that consists only of NEW items from yesterday, and UNFINISHED items that I actioned recently, and URGENT items. In other words, it's ALL FRESH and CURRENT.

At least half the days, I don't ever leave that page. I whittle away at it till it's all gone. It's a nice feeling and builds on itself throughout the day.

Some days, I need a break, or I finish some major task or project and am not quite sure what to do next, or I get that niggling feeling that maybe there's something I left behind that needs attention, so I take an excursion through the older pages from previous days. Some of it is still interesting or fresh and "stands out". But for much of it I have the feeling, "What was I thinking? Why is this even here?" A lot of it gets dismissed. And then I'm back to my TODAY page, refreshed after a short break, an hour or two at the very most, doing something a little different.

I'm still puzzling how to achieve that same effect just using AF1's rules.

Mark Forster wrote:

<< The "unspecified something" is within the system as it stands - something within the rules which is not specified (though I must admit I was quite surprised to find that it wasn't!) >>

I was thinking it might be "What do I want to complete today?" or "How do I know when I've completed my day's work?" AF1 doesn't specify those, but that fact wouldn't be a surprise -- many times in the past, you've discussed the fact that AF1 doesn't tell you this, and in fact you recommend in the rules themselves to set a strict STOP time for yourself because AF1 will just keep drawing you in.

The system does NOT specify what to do with dismissed items. The rules talk about how not to re-enter them without due consideration, but it doesn't really give a process for handling them, for what TO do with them. This isn't really a surprise to me -- I always thought there should be something added, such as, "When you dismiss a page, remember to enter 'Review dismissed' as a new task", or "Add a recurring task 'Review dismissed' to your tickler". But in any case, I don't see how this applies here, and I don’t think this is the "unspecified something" that Mark meant.

Alan Baljeu wrote:
<< To me it's valuable to separate Hot tasks from newly entered tasks. What you write here completely discounts that. >>

Alan, I am just brainstorming here, and not suggesting any new changes to the rules as I've posted them at the top of this thread.

I'm just trying to figure out Mark's "unspecified something" in the AF1 rules that, if properly specified, would allow you to handle urgent items successfully in AF1, give you a focus on what is important for TODAY, and give you a sense of closure for the day, that you've completed your day's work. This is what Mark is claiming, and it's fun to try to figure it out. :-)

Hugo - you beat me to it by 20 minutes! This idea just came to me as well. The rules don't specify where to start each day (although in the discussion forum, Mark has generally recommended you start where you left off the previous day).

If you start each day at the point where yesterday's new entries began, this would address the issues I have always had with (1) falling behind and never catching up to where the fresh and current tasks are, and (2) not ever being sure how fresh and current the tasks will be, if I just start where I left off the previous day.

If you start each day with the first task that was entered the previous day -- easy to find if you enter the date as Mark suggests in the rules -- this can also give you a sense of your day's work -- basically, clear everything from that point to the starting point for today.

Mark, are we close?

Alan Baljeu wrote:
<< Oops, I hadn't noticed the rule 6 represents a substantive change from the previous AutoDIT. I disclaim that processing of both sides together. >>

For me, in practice, I would spend most of my time on the hotlist side, and then occasionally go grab something new from the maybe side. I'd cycle through, but just give a cursory glance at the maybe side. So it seems to me this could work the way you want it to work.

I decided to re-organize slightly as a "pure" AF1 setup, plus tickler, with the daily start as Mark describes it, and see if it is really equivalent to my AutoDIT rules. So far, it has a very different feel, but I think it's because of slightly different mechanics. I will report back later.

The most substantive difference seems to be entry of new items. In AutoDIT, the default for new tasks is to enter them into the tickler for tomorrow. I can still do that even with AF1, but it's different than the normal default AF1 behavior.

Mark Forster wrote:
<< The concept of tomorrow's work belongs to DIT, not AF1 and I'm not sure that it's a good idea to try to combine two very different systems. >>

I'm not sure it's a good idea either. :-) But the "TODAY" list has been such a great tool for me for the last few months, that I'm not sure I want to give it up quite so easily.

A key advantage is that it is a CLOSED list -- closed to new items, that is, in the same sense that DIT's daily list is a closed list. There are exceptions -- urgent items that must be done today -- but those really don't require much mental effort to identify. I really like watching my TODAY list get smaller as the day progresses.


So, here is my plan:

(1) I have set up my OneNote files to support pure AF1. I will enter new items at the end of the list -- not into the tickler. I'll try that for a couple days at least, and test Mark's theory that my AutoDIT approach is identical to (AF1 + start at the page which contains the first entry of the day before).

(2) If I feel that I am not achieving the TODAY effect that I was getting with AutoDIT, then I'll invoke the AF1 rule that anything that can't be started till the future should go into the tickler, and also make a command decision that I don't want to start ANYTHING NEW until tomorrow. Thus everything new goes into the tickler for tomorrow. I think a case could be made that this is still pure AF1, just an unusual approach to using the tickler. I'll try that for a couple days at least, and see if it improves.

(3) If I am still missing the TODAY effect even after that, then I may introduce something like the TODAY Maybe List and the TODAY Hotlist, to separate the active hot tasks from the rest of the stuff on the today list. This would now be breaking away from AF1 and getting closer to the AutoDIT rules.

brettypooh -

Thanks for your comments. Actually, I do like to keep improving my systems -- I find it enjoyable for its own sake, but also need some reliable way to handle my workload.

The whole reason I posted my system to the discussion forum was to get feedback to see if anyone had ideas that could fix some of the weak spots. It turned into quite an interesting discussion!

So, I am happy to keep looking for something better, and to do some experimentation toward that end. I don't really feel inadequate. I don't look to Mark as to a guru, but I really do appreciate his insights and feedback because they have always been so helpful.

Alan - At this point I'm finding it hard to keep track of what we are comparing. I think the AutoDIT rules, as I originally posted them, and also as posted at the top of this thread, are pretty close to what you had started doing independently. But this thread has taken several turns and twists, and I've mentioned a few other variations, and Mark has mentioned some as well, and now I am actively testing something very different (though Mark claims it is nearly identical in the end). So I'm feeling a bit lost. :-)