Discussion Forum > DIT and tasks that need percolation
So, here are my questions for all of you. :-)
If you have used DIT, can you point me to some kind of percolation feature, or some method for handling "someday maybe" tasks?
And even if you haven't used DIT, do you have any ideas how to handle this situation?
If you have used DIT, can you point me to some kind of percolation feature, or some method for handling "someday maybe" tasks?
And even if you haven't used DIT, do you have any ideas how to handle this situation?
August 10, 2012 at 23:01 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim -- my initial reaction is that systems for doing would be different from the systems needed for rumination. The latter require me to sit far away from a computer, or eat lunch by myself without my Kindle, or make a mindmap, or some such.
Mark has suggested in the past phrasing such tasks as "Think about x" as a way to give yourself think time. Or perhaps the task is to schedule time to think about x.
I wonder if a tickler system might be helpful, so that you could write the task on a piece of paper or index card, you make notes on it when it pops up in the system, and then return it to the tickler for review in x days. Use the power of writing and regular review to let the ideas accrue over time, then the task would be to write a draft or schedule a task that is clearer to you. The tickler doesn't conflict too much with your DIT tasks of physical actions and it keeps the idea-incubation separate from the time-bound world of tasks.
This is all intellectual, though, not sure if it satisfies the emotional heart of your problem.
Mark has suggested in the past phrasing such tasks as "Think about x" as a way to give yourself think time. Or perhaps the task is to schedule time to think about x.
I wonder if a tickler system might be helpful, so that you could write the task on a piece of paper or index card, you make notes on it when it pops up in the system, and then return it to the tickler for review in x days. Use the power of writing and regular review to let the ideas accrue over time, then the task would be to write a draft or schedule a task that is clearer to you. The tickler doesn't conflict too much with your DIT tasks of physical actions and it keeps the idea-incubation separate from the time-bound world of tasks.
This is all intellectual, though, not sure if it satisfies the emotional heart of your problem.
August 13, 2012 at 15:59 |
Mike Brown
Mike Brown
Thanks Mike. I think your comments get to the heart of the issue.
DIT is built on the idea of the "will do" list: your goal should be to action everything on your list for the day. I tried to do that, but at the same time was writing EVERYTHING on my list, on the tomorrow page. This mixture didn't work.
I have two ideas for handling this:
(1) Use a separate notebook for writing everything down. Scan it regularly, and move things to your DIT list when I am ready to commit. Good: catches everything; simple. Bad: Out of sight, out of mind; might be urgent action items in there that don't make it onto my DIT list because I just didn't get around to transferring them.
(2) Block off the bottom third (or so) of the DIT pages for stuff like this. If you don't actually take action, it doesn't matter. Highlight the item and review old unfinished items regularly. If I am not sure I am committed to it, just write it down there. Good: Write Everything In One Place; anything requiring urgent attention gets it. Bad: Not enough room for rumination, sketches, etc.
(3) Some combination...
I'm trying #1 right now but already feeling I am not scanning it enough.
DIT is built on the idea of the "will do" list: your goal should be to action everything on your list for the day. I tried to do that, but at the same time was writing EVERYTHING on my list, on the tomorrow page. This mixture didn't work.
I have two ideas for handling this:
(1) Use a separate notebook for writing everything down. Scan it regularly, and move things to your DIT list when I am ready to commit. Good: catches everything; simple. Bad: Out of sight, out of mind; might be urgent action items in there that don't make it onto my DIT list because I just didn't get around to transferring them.
(2) Block off the bottom third (or so) of the DIT pages for stuff like this. If you don't actually take action, it doesn't matter. Highlight the item and review old unfinished items regularly. If I am not sure I am committed to it, just write it down there. Good: Write Everything In One Place; anything requiring urgent attention gets it. Bad: Not enough room for rumination, sketches, etc.
(3) Some combination...
I'm trying #1 right now but already feeling I am not scanning it enough.
August 13, 2012 at 18:31 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Example: I have an idea for improving a system at work. It's just an idea, not an action or a task or a project. I am not sure what to do with it.
With AF or FV, I would normally just enter the item at the end of the list. Each time I cycle through the pages, I would see the item. This would trigger subconscious thought on the topic, if nothing else. Eventually, with each exposure to the idea, it would slowly take a more concrete shape. It would either form into some kind of action plan, or it would feel more and more stale and irrelevant. I always saw this "percolation" as a key feature of AF and FV.
DIT doesn't seem to have this. You enter all new items on the "tomorrow" page. And everything on your tomorrow page becomes your "Will Do" list for that day.
So, I enter the idea on tomorrow's page. And I start that day with this item on my "Will Do" list. But it really does not belong on a "Will Do" list - I am not at all committed to doing anything about it yet. I need to sit on it for a while, let it percolate.
Here are some things I thought I could try doing with such items:
- Cross it off and re-enter it later. That doesn't really make sense. What, would I do that every single day, with every item of this kind? There wouldn't be room on the page. This isn't percolation, it's just needless tedium. My hand gets tired just thinking about it. :-)
- If I would re-enter it at a later date, why not just do that from the beginning, when the idea first enters my head? This is essentially what DWM tells you to do. But with DWM, you scan forward to future days, looking for things you want to get done early. With DIT, you normally don't do that, unless all your Will Do list for the day is already done. So, the item would not get the frequent exposure.
This made me realize a key difference between DIT and DWM, and it boils down to the "Will Do" list versus the "maybe do, maybe not do, let the process figure it out" list. The key problem here is that a "Will Do" list cannot serve as a percolation list. Everything must be actioned.
As far as I can tell, DIT doesn't have a "percolation" feature at all... I read through parts of the DIT book to see if it does have such a feature, but couldn't find anything.