Get Everything Done

DSAF (DEAD SIMPLE AUTOFOCUS)
=============================

I'd like to share a variation of AF which I consider, using it for more than half a year meanwhile, MY "final" version: It avoids long task lists by design, deals with dismissals in a clear and unambigous way – and it's dead simple.

What I keep from the different incarnations of AF:
- the rule that you "dot" a task when you START it,
- the rule that you work on a task only as long as you feel like,
- the rule that you strike out the task when you stop working on it and, if it's not yet finished, write it again (in other words, if appropriate) at the end of the list.
Besides some small errands lists I keep separate, I use only one long list. Unlike as in AF1, pages don't play any role.

So, what do I do different?

Dead simple:
1. Every sunday evening, I draw a thick line below the last item on the list.
2. Then I dismiss (by crossing the pages out) all tasks BEFORE the line I drew LAST sunday.
This way, I am left with all tasks that I didn't complete in the past week.
3. Then I review the newly dismissed pages and transfer every task I feel I maybe will attack in the coming week to the new list BELOW the newly drawn line.
All other tasks get highlighted in yellow for future reviews (as we learned to do in AF1) and become automatically a "maybe one day"-list this way.
4. Then I review the highlighted items BEFORE those I just highlighted (older than 2 weeks therefore) for tasks that I want to transfer to my current list as well.
(In case of doubt, I transfer a task – the worst thing that can happen is that it will be ignored one more time.)
This review I do, you guessed it, as long as I feel like.
(I have developed the habit to do this review of older tasks first the next morning – usually Monday –, but

How I work the active list (which is always rather small – rarely more than 5 pages) depends on my mood. Most of the time I simply scan the pages until a task "stands out". Sometimes I work the list in FV-style: Dot the first item on the list, ask myself, "what do I want to do BEFORE that?", and so on. Should the list shrink too much (which hasn't happen until now), I'd do another review of the dismissed pages.

And that's it. Dead simple, as I promised.

Two additional notes:

• Apparently, there is no dismissal of pages as in AF1, because this would not make sense. The only dismissal takes place when I „close“ a week. The version DSAF is most kindred to might be AF4, only that the signal to close the open list is the end of a week, not a pass without „standing out“ – which always took too long when I tried AF4, resulting in gigantic lists.

• Of course you can choose any other cycle or start of week; it does not have to be Sunday evening. I use to shorten or prolong the "weeks" if there is a more significant break. For example, if I am parting on a journey on Tuesday, I’ll draw the line Monday evening and transfer only tasks that will be relevant for the journey. The other tasks will reappear during the review after I am back home (which will result in drawing another divider line).

Hi Andreas,

Thank you for your post. I respect the fact that you've road tested your ideas over the past six months. Well done!

I always wanted to use a circa weekly version of an AF system but didn't come up with a workable idea.

Could you answer 2 small queries?

< 2. Then I dismiss (by crossing the pages out) all tasks BEFORE the line I drew LAST sunday.
This way, I am left with all tasks that I didn't complete in the past week.>

Do you do this in the usual AF way, i.e. put a cross in the top corner of the page?

< 4. Then I review the highlighted items BEFORE those I just highlighted (older than 2 weeks therefore) for tasks that I want to transfer to my current list as well. >

Do you ever permanently delete highlighted tasks (by scoring through them) that you know you are never going to do? Or basically do you not feel this is necesarry?

Thanks again for sharing your ideas.

@Leon

Q1: I cross out the whole page (upper left to bottom right and upper right to bottom left). I did so from AF1 on because it's more visual this way. For DSAF it's more convenient because I often have to dismiss parts of pages – everything that's above the divider line.

Q2: No, I never delete highlighted tasks permanently. As you say, it doesn't seem necessary to me. They stay where they are and get forgotten with time … but they are still there should I have the intuition to scan this old notebook from x years ago.

(I need 2-3 notebooks per year for AF. No other task management system I ever used in my life produced so little overhead. I can still afford to keep them ;-D)

Hi Andrea
This is a very interesting tip i will try next week.
The problem with all Af is the groth of the list which becomes little by litle bigger and bigger. At a certain point it becomes completely un manageable. Thanksfor the tip

Thanks for your reply Andreas, by the way what notebook do you use?

@Leon:
I use an X47 timer with 4 inserts (calendar, AF list, general notebook and adressbook).
This one:
http://www.x47.com/en/personal-organizer/planner-planners-leather-pocket-size-left-hand/

Thanks again Andreas

Hello Andreas,

Thanks for this interesting idea. I've been using it for my home list for just over 2 weeks and am finding that it functions very well. For just over a year I've been using the "Pig Pog" Moleskine Pocket Reporter system at home (http://pigpog.com/2007/01/20/pigpogpda-a-moleskine-hacked-into-a-complete-system/ ) and I find that your idea of a weekly review with dismissal combines very well with that. It keeps the active list short and relevant.

At the moment I'm trying out AF1 again at work. I tried it first when I discovered Mark Forster's systems last spring, but it didn't work for me that time. However, it think that it was mostly because many of the fundamental concepts were new to me, e.g. "little and often". I've been motivated to try it again because according to this site it seems to have worked for many people over a long period of time. I recently read your post from a few years back about "Ping Pong AF1". It seems like a clever way to introduce some more flexibility into AF1 while retaining the structured procrastination effect of the closed lists. I was wondering why you decided to abandon that system in favour of something else?

Thanks again,

Keith

[I've amended the link to make it work properly. There needs to be a space between the link and any following punctuation marks - MF]

Hello Mark,

Thanks for the advice and indeed all the ideas exhibited here on the site, not forgetting DIT, which I read recently.

I wanted to ask 2 more additional questions re AF1:

1. Optimal no. of lines per page.
The original instructions state 25 - 35 lines per page. My notebook, with 26 lines, is at the lower limit. I've recently felt some resistance to the system and have problems making a full circuit of the list daily (more below) and was wondering if this could be related. This theme was discussed before on the fourm and I read a post from you that when you changed from 25 lines per page to 34 you noticed a considerable ease in using the system. Do you think that it's generally better to have notebook with a number of lines nearer the upper limit, or does it not play such a big role?

2. Daily starting point.
According to the original instructions one should start each day where one stopped the previous day. However, on the fourm it seems to be generally recommended to start the day on yesterday's page, which is what I've been doing so far. The advantage is that one can deal with urgent items from yesterday quickly, however a disadvantage I see is that if one doesn't make a full circuit each day the pages just before yesterday are neglected. I sometimes don't make it round the list due to getting stuck on the last pages or due to lack of time because of meetings. I guess that the original method of picking up where one left off yesterday would deal more fairly with the entire list because if a full circuit is not possible one day then at least it will be completed the following morning. However of course this method does not deal as well with urgent items. Do you endorse a particular method or do you think it's simply a matter of personal taste and circumstances?

I'd also be grateful for the opinion of any other long-term users of AF1 out there!

Thanks,
Keith

Thanks Mark, I'll experiment with these options!

@Keith:

You asked why I abandoned "Ping-Pong-AF", which served me well for years.

The reason is that I was nevertheless always struggling with the active part of the list (between the last page where I started and the first active page where I "ping-ponged" to) becoming bigger and bigger. I once became aware of what a relief it was to start a new notebook and only take the tasks with me that I considered as "still relevant" among all that were on the lists. This feeling made me ponder, and after a while – my active list was again too big to handle – I decided to merciless dismiss everything except the last three pages and transfer the relevant tasks immediately. Worked great. So I played with this a bit, and one of the ideas I came up with was to just repeat this process every weekend. And that was it.

Hi Andreas,

Thanks for the explanation! DSAF works well for me at home. At the moment I'm trying AF1 at work and I want to give it a fair trail. But if it doesn't work out I'd seriously consider using DSAF.

All the best!

Hi AndreasE,
Great post. I'm wondering if you could clarify one point.

So you draw a line Sunday night and then you go to the previous line you drew the week before and cross out all of the pages from that week, namely, the week before. Now that leaves you with a week of stuff where the pages have not be x-ed out just above the newly created line. So, is it the crossed out pages or the ones in the week you just finished that you go through and either highlight or transfer? Could you clarify. Because it would seem that if it was the week you just finished then you might as well cross those pages out too. Could you clarify. Thanx so much.

@Steve:

I do the highlighting or transfer only from the crossed out sections. As you saw yourself, it would make no sense otherwise.

To clarify, I try to picture the list:

LIST ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, January 27th, 2013:

(tasks of week 7th-13th january: crossed out, highlighted)
____________________

tasks of week 14th-20th january: active, closed
____________________

tasks of week 21st-27th january: active, open


On Sunday evening, I draw the line below the last week and crossed out the week before.
So, the next day it looks like this:

LIST ON MONDAY MORNING, January 28th, 2013:

(tasks of week 7th-13th january: crossed out, highlighted)
____________________

(tasks of week 14th-20th january: crossed out, highlighted)
____________________

tasks of week 21st-27th january: active, closed
____________________

tasks of current week: open, active


And so on ...

@AndreasE

Excellent. I'll give it a try. My previous efforts at the system yielded a problem of long lists. So this might just work for me. I'll give it a shot. Thanx for sharing!

DSAF definitely ends the problem of too long lists.

Actually, it works so good for me that I can't imagine going back to whatever system I ever used.

@AndreasE
Are you dismissing pages in the normal way with an x in the corner as well as this weekly review technique? I'm assuming that the weekly divider is the only time you close a list, except when you go away as you noted.

Hi Steve,

Please see posts above in answer to your question - I asked a similar thing, hope it helps.

@Steve:

No, I cross out the whole area of the page.

Anyone (other than AndreasE obviously) still using this hidden gem of a system?

I had a pretty successfully week with it until I switched systems yet again...!

Have re-booted it today!

Hi Leon,
I've been using DSAF since the beginning of Jan. at home and since the beginning of Feb. at work (apart from a brief trail of SMEMA). For me personally it's the most successful system presented on this site, which I've tried. Some advantages I've noticed:
- The weekly dismissal/review keeps the list very short and relevant. For example, at the end of my month long trail of AF1 in Jan at work I had 44 open items on my list. After the first dismissal with DSAF I had 15 active items! That's since fluctuated according to workload, but has never been above 30 items spread over 2 - 3 pages.
- I like that the rules do not define exactly how one should process the active list. With several of the systems here I found that I resisted the very clearly defined rules e.g. with FV having to follow a chain of pre-defined tasks in a certain order. With DSAF the choice is left to the user. Motivation comes instead from the simple, time-based dismissal and the closed list of last week's entries. I usually use the "stand-out" principle or ask myself "what do I have to do next"?
- One list for (almost) everything. I put almost everything into the list including for example "waiting fors" preceded by "WF" so they stand-out. Dismissed items automatically become a Someday/Maybe list to be reviewed weekly. This review can be as simple as AndreasE describes or could be expanded into a GTD-style review if required.
What's your experience of DSAF been?

Hi Keith,

I personally think DSAF is a really good system in the style of AF. Unfortunately I have a major problem relating to anxiety and being able to remain with any one system - so I have not been able to build up months of experience with it as Andreas has done. (Loud scream). However, I'm sure I will return to DSAF in a few days / weeks! Best of luck and keep us informed of your progress if possible!

@Cricket

Exactly. Works like a charm. Still.

Hi Andreas! I've been using your DSAF as well in the last six weeks. It's been working very well :). I mostly use FV to scan through the active list. I really like the review process and the inherent dismissal of stale tasks. And it keeps the list short! Love it :).

(In the throws of system switching again...)

Hi Andreas & others, anybody still workind DSAF?

Hi Leon,

yes, I am still using it. Only difference is that since several months, I draw "The Line" on friday evening while my grand weekly backup is running. But that's no big difference, it just feels more harmoniously this way.

Best, Andreas

Hi AnderasE
Although most people remember you for creating PingPong method, I learned much when you explained how to integrate your appointments, deadlines and incremental milestones when writing your novels. Until you wrote that post, I worked my calendar separately from my list. Thank you for that great advice. It's so helpful to know that all of my non-negotiable obligations are on the first day of the week of my week's list. I also borrowed your idea of adding new work to the list as it comes. That turns it into a rolling list. I also borrowed from your X47 to keep a separate section for notes. My list would get unwieldy when my notes were jumbled with my jobs and tasks. If I didn't have brain damage, I'd probably use DSAF as written. It never occurred to me to make my calendar items the first part of the list. That's quite ingenious!

Thanks for sharing your great ideas!

Are any of your novels translated into English? Because I haven't needed to speak German for decades, I'm sure that I'd have difficulty reading it. LOL!

p.s.
I keep to ending my work on Friday also (unless I want to work more which is rare). I call the weekend "catch up or celebrate" LOL! I call Mondays "Golden Monday" because I love the freshness of starting a new unit of my life. LOL! These silly little sayings help my attitude. LOL! I also break down my goals and responsibilities by the seasons. During holiday seasons I want to only work on a skeleton schedule to barely keep things current because I'd rather use my energy to make merry! LOL! My mom used to say that Germans are the hardest works and the best at knowing how to enjoy themselves. I try to live up to her words. LOL!

p.s. typo

Germans are the hardest workers, not works. LOL!

@learning as I go

There is one of my novels translated to English; it's called "The Carpetmakers", Tor Books/St. Martin's Press, USA. A second one is about to come out in the US next year, but I don't want to talk much about before it's there :-)

Are Germans the hardest workers? I don't know. It depends, I think. And don't forget that Germans have more holidays than almost everybody else ;-)

I at least follow Mark's advices and methods (although gently tweaked) in order not to work HARD, but SMART!

Hi AndreasE
I'll try to find your novel. It will be fun to know that the guy who wrote this learned from Mark! This forum truly attracts many interesting, intelligent and very kind people. Mark set the tone years ago and it's stayed the same. Many internet comments are quite harsh and sometimes quite vulgar. Mark's site is like a small cozy pub located in a large, high crime city. LOL!

There are exceptions to every stereotype, but I think Germans have a very high reputation for being very innovative and hard working. Of course, for me, I first learned it from my mom. And living in the USA is relatively disapointing when it's oktoberfest, Easter and Christmas. *sigh* I was there in the 1950's. Other than the local German kids beating us up to steal our clothes and money, it was a very magical place for a child. It was truly beautiful! The flowers, the fountains, statues, galleries and museums and the Berlin zoo! (This is a child's view. I'm sure it's much better than what I was exposed to.) I also loved it when my parents took us on vacation to kitzbuhel, austria. Oh my God, it was breathtakingly beautiful. There was no shortage of snow to play in! LOL!

I can no longer work SMART with this broken brain, but borrowing many of your tips definitely helps me to work a bit smarter than before! LOL! You've got a really great system. I hope the newer people coming for tips reads about how to integrate the calendar items and goals/milestones into your list system. Truly, that's ingenious!

Good luck with your next novel. I'll get to hunting for The Carpetmakers. Fingers crossed that it's not a horror novel. LOL! (Some of those German Fables for children are horror tales. LOL! Learning them definitely scared me into behaving better! LOL! )

p.s.
The first winter we came to the USA, ALL of our tobaggans and sleds were stolen from us! LOL! The American sleds are so inferior and few people had tobaggans. That taught us all not to leave our stuff on the lawn! LOL! Also, our friends were envious of our beautiful European toys, lederhosen and hand-knit sweaters. What we took for granted in Germany was precious in the USA because most kids only had manufactured toys and clothing. It also costs a small king's ransom to get German food and sweets here.....but it's worth the price!

Hi AndreasE
I apologize for these drug induced posts. My gratitude toward your sharing tips is clear thinking.

Tomorrow I find out about my next surgery. If the doc's scalpel slips, my rambling posts mercifully come to an end. LOL!

For new readers who want to blend project management and their calendar with their working list (in this case, DSAF) please read these threads. As AndreasE stated, it's much easier to work from your list rather than switching from the list and calendar. For work, I only use the calendar for time boxing.

"A Days Work Done" versus "Being On Track"

http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/992066#post992104


"Linking Goals and AF"

http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/993079

Thanks for the update Andreas, best of luck with your new book.

@learning as I go:
Good luck for your surgery!!

(BTW: "The Carpetmakers" is science fiction.)

@Leon:
Thanks.

Hi Andreas
Thank you for your well wishes. Today the doc told me not to expect much help. There's only so much that they can do but if I don't get the surgery it's 100% sure things will get worse faster. *sigh*

My friend is a true science fiction fan. He is sending me his copy. He said that you are a world renown author! ! ! WOW! I'm impressed. I told him not to tell me anything about the book. I want to be surprised. The only science fiction I've ever read are books he told me that I MUST read. He has always been correct. He said "The Carpetmakers" is uniquely presented and will cause me to think and stay in suspense. I'm really looking forward to it.

Again, thanks AndreasE for taking the time to share your AF tweak and especially the projects and calendar integration! (I still must look at my 2 calendars and several notes strategically placed to get me out the door! One calendar is in the bathroom because I know for a fact that I'll be in that room! LOL!)

Hi AndreasE
I am giving a try to your system DSAF and I need your help because something is not very clear for me. I already put my task day by day so it is simple to close the list.
We are wednesday so I close my list. I have jump to last wednesday week (2 to 6 of september) and reported all I hope to do next week. I did the same the week before (ie 26 to 30 of august) and I also reported the tasks I plan to do (only 3)
But what about this past week ie 9 to 13 th of september. Would'nt be clever to report what I plan to do which is not already done and dismiss all the rest ?
The result is now a list of 40 items I plan to do next week.
Thanks for helping ;-)

@jupiter

This is how I did it at first: Draw a line and immediately review the dismissed tasks. But when the actual workweek comes towards its end, you'll have the problem that all the tasks you've "touched" (=you worked a bit on them and reenter them at the end of the list) accumulate at the end of the list, THEN you draw the line below and then you have to pull them ALL over once again.

Too much administrative work, plus: it creates a resistance towards stopping tasks when you feel like stopping. So, I reconsidered my approach -- and I came to the conclusion that the best way is just to keep the list of last week (as a closed list) and the list of the new week (as an open list, because you'll add new and re-entered tasks).

So, let's say, we have week 38, then the tasks of week 38 and 37 are still active, everything else (until week 36) is dismissed and highlighted and serves as a "maybe one day list" I review from time to time to see which tasks I feel like I want to re-active them (in which case I pull them over on the open end of my current list). That's all. When "Working the list", I scan the tasks of week 37 and 38 and do what feels like doing, or, when I feel like doing another approach, I deal with this list FV-wise (dotting the first task and then looking for what I want to do BEFORE that one etc.).

I have to mention that I don't divide my list day-wise (because: why should I?); I have only one continuous list of tasks; divided by a line every week. And that's it.

I hope that helps.

Hi AndreasE
Thank you very much. It is clear in my mind. I find your system interesting because it is close to AF4 which created open and close list day per day. Even AF4 was really great it has the inconvenient to make grothing lists (like AF1) which became soon un manageable. Your system seems to get rid with unactionnable tasks and grothing list and that's fine.

After reading Mac cormack book (getting results for dummies) I have found many ideas which are fully compatible with your way of doing things.

What I wonder is about notes. I have a lot of them. New clients, new buildings, ideas, thought about things, new ideas about business developpement and so on.

For many reason I have stopped to use computer for tasks and notes for a spiral A4 notebook. The basic way in French real estate ;-)

I wonder how I could treat thats "notes". I like the idea of continuous tasks. Would it be more simple to keep the left page per day for notes and the right on for tasks or would it be more easy to divide my new note book in 2 front book for tasks and midle to the end for notes.

What do you think about it.

NB Congratulation for the clock per day of your note book it makes easier the following of time and planification. I kept the idea ;-)

@Jupiter:

I keep notes and task lists totally separated, because I make A LOT of notes; they would simply overwhelm task lists.

I use a spiral notebook, too (for the same reasons I use paper and pen for task management), but A5 format, and with microperforated pages I can easily tear out. What I do is: I start a new page for every subject. I ALWAYS (since 30 years or so) write the actual date in the upper left corner and a keyword for the subject in the upper right corner. Then the notes, whatever.

So, in the notebook I have a kind of a "timeline" of my notes, subjects totally mixed. (If I scan backwards from today I have: notes for my novel, ideas for a birthday gift, notes for a review I intend to write, notes concerning a computer problem my wife has (I am the one who is supposed to solve it), a recipe I stumbled upon, an idea for a new novel, a page of my diary, some philosophical thoughts, a concept for an important letter, and so on.)

But later, I tear out all pages I intend to keep and put them in binders, alphabetically ordered, so that all notes to a certain subject come together, sometimes divided by YEARS! (It's amazing what you get if you do this for years. Basically, I have a true picture of my life in these binders.)

So, notes are a part of my information management system. But my notebook and my task list are always together, and if I travel, both come with me ;-)

Hi AndreasE
I'm still waiting for the book to arrive *sigh* (I feel like a child waiting for Christmas Eve...) Your binder system of notes sounds quite intriguing! If you ever get the inspiration to write your memoir, those notebooks will come in handy. I am more interested in how an author thinks: what information interests him, how he manipulates it to help form his thoughts and how it is organized to serve his thoughts. I'd suspect that gathering information is a part of creating original thought and to help clarify the thinking that's important to you. I'm sure your readers would be thrilled to get a glimpse into your thinking system. My friend told me that The Carpetmakers will cause me to think and tickle the philosopher in me. I look forward to it!

Because you're being so generous and willing to answer questions, I must take this opportunity while you lend your ear.....

1. You said you are using a spiral notebook. Is that only for notes or is it a separate section/book for cataloging your thoughts exclusively? I use a ring binder system for my tasks and jobs and quick fleeting notes to jog my memory or lead my work. I keep my more permanent thoughts in my computer....such as they are. LOL! Are you still using X47 for guiding your work and other duties?

2. Do you intermingle your goals timeline with your task list or have a separate page to gauge your progress. My brain can't easily cull information that's scattered so I have separate pages for things I want to track. How do you keep track of longer goals with connected tasks?

3. Do you blend the mundane tasks with your more important work? I use to have my chores and recurring responsibilities habituated. Now I need physical reminders to let me know when I've completed or neglected something. If you do in fact insert your recurring responsibilities into your system, doesn't that cause your DSAF list to get too long? I find that it's easier to write categories as the task for example clean, laundry, check investments, pay bills, etc. Then I go to my separate page/section to guide my decisions. I'd guess that we do at at least a dozen recurring maintenance jobs per day that each consist of several more individual tasks! LOL! Even before my brain damage, needed a guide to make sure everything is current or ahead. How do you do it? Since you're a creative person, it must be difficult to stay current when your mind takes you into the creative zone. LOL! I was horrible with that! My family and friends would resent me closing myself off from the world when I'd be on a creative bent or immersed in a learning process. Does that also happen to you? I'd have to actually set an alarm to wake me out of my trance. LOL!

Thank you for your generous spirit in answering our questions. I use a weekly version of DIT laced with several ideas I lifted from you! LOL!

@Learning as I go:

>1. You said you are using a spiral notebook. Is that only for notes or is it a separate section/book for cataloging your thoughts exclusively?<

No, I use 1 notebook for everything. Errands list, philosophical meditation, novel scene development, notes for a letter ... all goes in there. But on different pages, of course.

>Are you still using X47 for guiding your work and other duties?<

Yes. I hope to do so for the rest of my life, because a better calendar system is simply not conceivable.

>2. Do you intermingle your goals timeline with your task list or have a separate page to gauge your progress.<

Goals timelines goes into the calendar. I usually have a week goal for the novel in progress, for example (this friday, I hope to reach the 92.100 words mark, for example).

>How do you keep track of longer goals with connected tasks?<

For more complicated projects with connected tasks, I usually have a page in my notebook where I scribble down everything that's important.

>3. Do you blend the mundane tasks with your more important work?<

Yes. A task is a task is a task. Either I have to do it or not. Which realms it belongs to is unimportant.

>If you do in fact insert your recurring responsibilities into your system, doesn't that cause your DSAF list to get too long?<

Well, I don't include things that I do habitually (brushing teeth, for example), that's what habits are for, aren't they? That you don't forget them. And I don't put recurring responsibilities on my task list if they're dated (for example, paying fees): such things go into my computers calendar system as dates with reminders, so that they make "BLING!!" at the right time ;-)

>Since you're a creative person, it must be difficult to stay current when your mind takes you into the creative zone.<

Yes, this is in fact still an issue. When I'm writing, I tend to forget the world around me. In difficult phases, I use alarm clocks. I have two of them at hand on my desk.

Hi Andreas
Thank you for your answers.

re:X47 calendar. I love that the schedule is on top and I can place my Weekly MITs below it. I think better with an overview. Because of my cognitive deficits, I write a daily MIT list to provide cueing and focus. Once they're done, I can choose freely what to do with the rest of my time. I hate getting into a project or simply relaxing unless my MIT list is done for the day. If I'm having a tough time and I can't remember much, I post a note to let me know that I'm free for the day. Each time I pass it, I smile. LOL!

re: Projects in calendar. I probably lifted this from you. I see my deadlines on the calendar which helps me to formulate my Weekly MITs. I like devoting a page to the project so that seeing my progress gives me an extra boost of confidence. Also, sometimes I like to write a fleeting note or two that gives my mind a direction to think of ideas and tasks to further it along. When I totally fail, I rip it up and start a new page. LOL!

re: A task is a task is a task. I wish I could think that way. Sometimes it's difficult for me to differentiate what's a task and what I simple want to work on for myself. Also, I try to keep mundane tasks down to a minimum. I could easily spend hours and hours over-cleaning, over managing my filing system, take on too many projects, etc. It's not simply memory deficits. My brain has always been kaleidoscopic. It's a blessing for creativity and problem solving. It's a curse for list creation.

re:habits (brushing teeth, for example) LOL! I have checklists for that because my memory fails me over and over. I go to brush my teeth and it's already wet. I go to cook breakfast and the dishes are wet in the drying rack. When it pertains to drugs, it could be quite dangerous if I didn't keep a separate list. I keep eating lists to remember to eat. If I go too long not eating, I lose too much weight. It's easier for me to keep wipe off lists separately. Yes, my brain is practically useless. LOL!

For recurring batches, I use fake deadlines to prevent forgetting or to prevent spending too long on it. Example: Too much cleaning is not necessary yet it's impossible to do too much laundry. LOL! I put the category as a task on my weekly list. I have to have it completed by the fake deadline. It keeps me up to date.

I stole your idea of adding one offs to the running list. I'll do them when it's time. I don't clear my batches every day. I just review them to make sure no bombs are ticking. LOL!

re: Alarms. THANK YOU for revealing that. At least I don't feel so bad having to do that also. I also have a two alarm clock .......just in case. LOL! I also use the double alarm to get me out the door. If I forget why it's buzzing, I check either a calendar or notice one of two or three extra notes to remind me where I'm going. LOL!

Speaking of where I'm suppose to go....I called and moved back my surgery. I admitted that I am too much of a chicken face right now to face it. They gave me two more weeks to get sensible and brave. *blush*

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. It seems as though you haven't changed anything except drawing the line on Friday. I've always considered Friday the end of the week unless I intentionally want to work on the weekend. That's rarely my wish. LOL!

My book should arrive soon. I'm excited to read it. Hopefully, that will help distract my mind from the dreaded scalpel. I can't stay being a chicken face for too much longer.LOL!

@Learning as I go:

>> it's impossible to do too much laundry. LOL! I put the category as a task on my weekly list. I have to have it completed by the fake deadline. It keeps me up to date.<<

If you have to do something in order to stay up to date, then it's NOT a fake deadline! It's a real deadline, also maybe not so dead as others ;-)

I have such a mechanism in my mail app. I flag all mails I intend to answer, which puts them in an "intelligent" box where they stay for exactly one week: This much time I allow myself to answer them (= emptying that "WeekBox" as I call it). After one week, they automatically fall out ;-(