Discussion Forum > Testing AF1 vs AutoDIT
You lasted longer with it than I did, anyway!
It was nevertheless a very useful exercise because it made me realize some things about the dynamics of AF1 which I'd never previously understood properly.
As I've mentioned earlier, one of these things was that AF1 puts the emphasis on what we haven't done rather than on what we are doing. Once I'd understood that, I realized that I could very simply alter the rules of AF1 so that the balance swings the other way.
It was nevertheless a very useful exercise because it made me realize some things about the dynamics of AF1 which I'd never previously understood properly.
As I've mentioned earlier, one of these things was that AF1 puts the emphasis on what we haven't done rather than on what we are doing. Once I'd understood that, I realized that I could very simply alter the rules of AF1 so that the balance swings the other way.
January 5, 2012 at 22:33 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Seraphim,
Choosing to put "new work" into a tickler system (to be added to AF1 tomorrow) still has the drawback of deciding, many times each day, what is new work and what is related to existing work. Perhaps the choice is always crystal clear for you, in which case it won't be a problem. But I would end up hesitating a lot.
Have you considered an alternative, such as marking all the essential TODAY items in some way, directly on the list, either in the morning or previous evening, and then focusing on trying to make good progress on them, in order to call it a day?
Choosing to put "new work" into a tickler system (to be added to AF1 tomorrow) still has the drawback of deciding, many times each day, what is new work and what is related to existing work. Perhaps the choice is always crystal clear for you, in which case it won't be a problem. But I would end up hesitating a lot.
Have you considered an alternative, such as marking all the essential TODAY items in some way, directly on the list, either in the morning or previous evening, and then focusing on trying to make good progress on them, in order to call it a day?
January 5, 2012 at 22:38 |
ubi
ubi
For myself, it's clear what's new. I don't try to distinguish essential vs. optional, and the Maybe Tomorrow items aren't put in a tickler, but on a second open page. I focus on the first page, and don't dwell on the second. This effectively postpones most New stuff until tomorrow but doesn't make a rule of it.
January 5, 2012 at 23:15 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
ubi wrote:
<< Choosing to put "new work" into a tickler system (to be added to AF1 tomorrow) still has the drawback of deciding, many times each day, what is new work and what is related to existing work. >>
I try to keep it simple:
- If I take action on a task but don't finish it, I re-enter it on the TODAY page. If I have a strong feeling that "this is enough on this task for today", then I re-enter it on the TOMORROW page instead.
- If it's not a re-entered task, then it is entered on the TOMORROW page.
- Urgent new items are generally handled off-list anyway. E.g., my boss comes by and wants to talk -- I don't tell him, "Please wait a moment while I enter this interruption on my TODAY list…" I just stop what I'm doing and we talk. Or I am working my task "Clear email". Many emails need a short immediate reply. I just reply immediately - I don't enter them anywhere on my list.
- There MAY be a rare new item that is really urgent and needs to go directly onto the TODAY list -- but I haven't seen one of those in weeks. So I'd rather not make a rule about them -- it clutters up the rules too much -- I'd rather treat them as exceptions. It's my list, after all, and I can what I like with it. :-)
<< Perhaps the choice is always crystal clear for you, in which case it won't be a problem. But I would end up hesitating a lot. >>
Simple. To summarize what I wrote above: Re-enter on TODAY unless you don't want to do anymore today. Enter new items on TOMORROW. You are allowed to make exceptions a few times per month. :-)
<< Have you considered an alternative, such as marking all the essential TODAY items in some way, directly on the list, either in the morning or previous evening, and then focusing on trying to make good progress on them, in order to call it a day? >>
No, I really haven't considered it. I don't like pre-prioritizing.
I might start the day by entering whatever happens to be on my mind, directly onto the TODAY list. Especially if lots of things are bothering me. But I don't pre-prioritize those, either. They get processed through the day like everything else.
<< Choosing to put "new work" into a tickler system (to be added to AF1 tomorrow) still has the drawback of deciding, many times each day, what is new work and what is related to existing work. >>
I try to keep it simple:
- If I take action on a task but don't finish it, I re-enter it on the TODAY page. If I have a strong feeling that "this is enough on this task for today", then I re-enter it on the TOMORROW page instead.
- If it's not a re-entered task, then it is entered on the TOMORROW page.
- Urgent new items are generally handled off-list anyway. E.g., my boss comes by and wants to talk -- I don't tell him, "Please wait a moment while I enter this interruption on my TODAY list…" I just stop what I'm doing and we talk. Or I am working my task "Clear email". Many emails need a short immediate reply. I just reply immediately - I don't enter them anywhere on my list.
- There MAY be a rare new item that is really urgent and needs to go directly onto the TODAY list -- but I haven't seen one of those in weeks. So I'd rather not make a rule about them -- it clutters up the rules too much -- I'd rather treat them as exceptions. It's my list, after all, and I can what I like with it. :-)
<< Perhaps the choice is always crystal clear for you, in which case it won't be a problem. But I would end up hesitating a lot. >>
Simple. To summarize what I wrote above: Re-enter on TODAY unless you don't want to do anymore today. Enter new items on TOMORROW. You are allowed to make exceptions a few times per month. :-)
<< Have you considered an alternative, such as marking all the essential TODAY items in some way, directly on the list, either in the morning or previous evening, and then focusing on trying to make good progress on them, in order to call it a day? >>
No, I really haven't considered it. I don't like pre-prioritizing.
I might start the day by entering whatever happens to be on my mind, directly onto the TODAY list. Especially if lots of things are bothering me. But I don't pre-prioritize those, either. They get processed through the day like everything else.
January 6, 2012 at 2:42 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Alan Baljeu wrote:
<< For myself, it's clear what's new. I don't try to distinguish essential vs. optional, and the Maybe Tomorrow items aren't put in a tickler, but on a second open page. I focus on the first page, and don't dwell on the second. This effectively postpones most New stuff until tomorrow but doesn't make a rule of it. >>
That's essentially what I do also. I usually skip my tickler pages when I'm cycling through the list, but nothing prevents me from looking through them and taking action on them "before the appointed time", if I so choose.
<< For myself, it's clear what's new. I don't try to distinguish essential vs. optional, and the Maybe Tomorrow items aren't put in a tickler, but on a second open page. I focus on the first page, and don't dwell on the second. This effectively postpones most New stuff until tomorrow but doesn't make a rule of it. >>
That's essentially what I do also. I usually skip my tickler pages when I'm cycling through the list, but nothing prevents me from looking through them and taking action on them "before the appointed time", if I so choose.
January 6, 2012 at 2:49 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
And I've tried it for the last several days. And while it does feel more responsive and focused than "start each day where you left off" AF1, it's still not working for me. I find the new incoming work generates too much clutter, and I have lost the focus on today's critical tasks.
I also lost the DIT-like sense of closure -- that I know what my work is for the day, and I know when my day is done.
So, in accordance with my plan, here is what I will try next.
I'll still do AF1, and still start each new day with yesterday's first page. But all new work that arises today will go into the tickler for tomorrow. I want to see if this restores the focus and the sense of closure that I had. In a sense, this is still "pure" AF1 -- no real breakage of the rules -- I am just making the command decision that I cannot start any new work today. And if you can't start something, then by AF1's rules, it goes into the tickler.
If this doesn't work, then I may need to revisit some of the other features of AutoDIT, such as free-form project pages interspersed with the AF1 pages, or the special TODAY pages. But that would be a distinct move away from AF1, and it's fun to try to make this all work strictly following AF1.