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Discussion Forum > Bullet Journal

Mark:

"<<Those dynamics are simply being made explicit and in doing so it makes the system seem more complicated than it is. But those features are still there.">>

It reminds me of the story of the centipede which was asked "How do you manage to control all those legs?" The centipede started to try and work out how it did it and then discovered that it was completely unable to walk anymore."

I think this observation is spot on. I do this a lot in my life. It's a zooming of the lens from big picture to close-up—breaking things down to the individual Lego blocks to understand what's working so I have a method that's simple, sustainable, flexible and teachable. In doing so however, there's a tendency to miss the holistic nature of a thing and get wrapped up in it's individual parts. To miss the forest for the trees.

"However since I obviously can't beat the complication bandwagon I've decided to join it. So I'm currently working on a way of improving The Next Hour by making it more complicated. It will have the additional benefit of being more suitable for paper and pen."

Haha. Well, knowing your level of mad genius I'm sure it will surpass expectations. You may wind up liking the paper version better! I know you still have a soft-spot for paper-based systems.
October 19, 2016 at 5:27 | Registered CommenterMichael B.
Michael B:

Unfortunately it didn't work out too well!
October 19, 2016 at 15:17 | Registered CommenterMark Forster
If you're using a bullet journal, here's an idea.

I've been using a bullet journal for over six months now and only one thing has been a problem - it's difficult to find old, unactioned tasks. Since tasks, notes, and events are all recorded as they occur under each individual day's entry, unactioned tasks get further away and harder to find, especially if you're taking a lot of notes and tracking projects and things (like your NCAA bracket - ugh).

But I read about "The Bounce" system (I haven't been here in a few months) and thought about how I might keep one continuous list. Here's what I'm trying - tasks get dedicated pages. Once I put a task on the first line of a page, tasks are all that go on that page. When I fill a page up I turn to the first empty page and start another task page. At the start of each day I draw a line under the last task and write the date.

So far, so good. It's nice to see tasks grouped together again. And The Bounce system solves a number of other problems (as documented by Mark elsewhere); plus it's kind of fun.
March 22, 2017 at 22:54 | Unregistered CommenterZane
It's too much, isn't it?! The Bullet Journal method. Truly productive people don't overorganise their lists. They DO make lists, though, and, like Richard Branson, prioritise a bit. You don't need any more structure, or protocol, because it quickly becomes onanistic and self-defeating, not least because you spend more time organising than doing.

In my opinion, Alan Lakein covered it completely in 1973. If you read David Allen attentively, you can clearly see that everything - and I mean everything - is covered in Lakein. Not to mention every other time-management guru. The problem with Lakein is that he casts his nuggets of wisdom all over the place in an unstructured way. But it's still all there.
March 23, 2017 at 1:24 | Unregistered CommenterMartin Williams
I call it an Everything Book, but it's similar to a BJ.

Some pages are from meetings, especially if I'm taking minutes, when I have to record for everyone, not just myself. Actions to take before the meeting ends get a square. Actions to take later get open circles that stand out. That way, I don't have to recopy the tasks to another page.

Some pages are lists of tasks. Every line is task, so there's no need to give them all circles. I sometimes give a star if I'm worried it will get buried or forgotten, but that's rare.

Brainstorming and project pages vary. Book the hall would get a circle, since I need to see that when looking for tasks in general. Things that can wait until I dedicate a few hours to the project probably wouldn't, since I'll re-read the page at that time.

If part of the page is obviously a list, it doesn't need circles.

Tearing a corner means no active items on either side of the sheet, but there might be something on it I want to keep for reference. Line through the page is equivalent to tearing out the page and throwing it away.

I always have the right book with me, since it's always the same book. (Yes, I sometimes stray, or try to use a separate book for each project, especially at the start of a big project, or near the end of a book, or when starting a new book, but always regret it.)
March 25, 2017 at 22:35 | Registered CommenterCricket
Martin Williams -- Your comment expresses an old conflict, whether or not to use a time management system at all. It's so easy to fall into "getting things planned" instead of "getting things done". And there are many very productive people who don't seem to use any identifiable system at all. Nonetheless, many of us get tremendous value from using some kind of system, and always trying to improve how we get stuff done.

It prompted me to express the conflict in the form of an Evaporating Cloud diagram.

http://www.evernote.com/l/ADjghne7gmNBKbI14AKc5AY7bEx95KSGM8Q/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporating_Cloud

Maybe others would express the conflict differently. For example, maybe it's not really "system vs. no system", but "more system vs less system".

My main point in sharing this is that the method helps to get really clear about what the problem is that we are trying to solve. It almost always gives me new insights -- and it didn't fail me this time. :-)

For me, the exercise points to deeper conflict: how much focus to put on improvement, and how much on simply getting things done. "Improve" vs "Do" -- where should I focus?
March 25, 2017 at 23:37 | Registered CommenterSeraphim
That's a clear example. Adding "always" seems a useful lens.

You missed an assumption: The Time Management System will actually improve the efficiency.

Many of us here make another assumption: Time spent trying to improve the system will make the system more efficient. Not just a little more efficient, but enough to make up for the time we spent experimenting.
March 26, 2017 at 20:40 | Registered CommenterCricket