Get Everything Done

Hi all,

i see that many new systems are more alive than DIT here in the forums.

What happened to DIT? Is it still a valid TM system or not?

If not, what are it`s disadvantages in general and compared to the other systems published here?

<<What happened to DIT? Is it still a valid TM system or not? >>

I for one believe that DIT is by far the best system for managing your time and your life, solidly based on an understanding of how our minds work. The other systems don't even come close.

@Chuck: Sounds great! How long are you using DIT? Do you use it exactly as described in Marks book?

@Mark: True, so what is your personal opinion? Would you still recommend your DIT system or not?

@Mark: You are referring to "If you can't complete your list for more than three days in a row, conduct an audit", right?

Yes, that seems to be very important for me, because i have every day a very big list with recurring tasks (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) and many tasks for several big projects and support issues.

This must lead to a big overwhelming list of tasks every day, don't you think?

@Will:

"Where do you put the others? Your diary? Your best guess as to when you'll do them? A 43 folders file? Accumulating lists for each commitment?"

Sounds like building open backlog lists in a closed lists system!?

I had a little time from the 22 and quickly red again DIT. So I gave it a try for wednesday and today (thursday). DIT is interesting. Deciding not acting on today's stuff and doing it on the next day seems tio be very efficient for focusing. IE I was stuck on the company account- we're closing 2015.

Yesterday I received an email from my accounting who wanted me to do it quickly. I answered "not until tomorrow". I have also found on the internet a real estate software and I wanted to see.

This morning at 9 AM I started with the most difficult (the account) and finished all at a glance. I also call the company for the sofware and finished it immediatly. At last I look at my yesterday emails and treated all.

I feel much quiet and efficient with DIT. If I do this every day sure the work will advance. But the core system is to eliminate first. That's what I did yesterday reading again yesterday list knowing that I will treat it today.

The system is simple but very interesting

For the others list I found a way to treat them. I just put them by project so I can treat them as a reference before acting. I apply the same system read and eliminate first before acting.

I still have a little back log I will treat it little by little but it won't be long.

By the way my paper spiral note book is really efficient. I have increase my efficiency and stay relax knowing every incoming stuff is in there.

<< This must lead to a big overwhelming list of tasks every day, don't you think? >>

I also think yes. But it is where stuff elimination comes.

I finished the secont day with Dit.

****Here is my Today's list****
is is interesting
- There is one thing which is undone - ie a [work for a building] I will see tomorrow - so I can do it tomorrow during it because it is a may be task

- There are 4 appointments I did today - OK they are crossed

- There is one task undone I had to [study a building] - It goes on backlog because it may wait I may do it tomorrow if I have time. It goes in my backlog folder at the top of it.

- There is one task I did. It was an urgency I sent a building to a client - So I report immediatly a call reminder in my diary on wednesday. It is a green appointment which means waiting for.

- There is an undone task which is a google investigation I may answer it goes to my backlog list

****Here is my tomorow will do list***
[are projects]

8:30 appointment with my accountant

- There is something I [must do] I visited a nice building yesterday. It was so interesting for my client that I called him immediatly. He wants me to make a teaser. I will do it tomorrow. It is non negociable. So I [planned to work] on this at 10 AM tomorrow- One hour planned as an appointment.

15:30 Appointment for the building I spoke about before.

there are 4 [calls] list it is current initiative - they will be do asap during the day when I feel to)

[There is a sollicitor dossier] I must do this is a crucial stuff but it can wait until tuesday. I closed the deal yesterday.

About 40% of the day is planified_ The left is kept for urgencies and incoming information.
I need to be reactive.

DIT does it well for the moment, even if I dont sticktly follow the rules.

Hi Andreas. I think DIT is still very alive and I personally used it for the last two years and a half. I did previously tried a bunch of other Mark's sytems for a while like FV and the earlier list-based methods. But in my experience DIT is way superior, in that it's more agenda-based. Basically is just ane efficient way to use your agenda. This is an aspect that new people using DIT can mislead, maybe because of the "tomorrow" term in the name. But with DIT you don't HAVE to really schedule all the things to do in the tomorrow page. Tomorrow is just the *minimum distance* that you put between yourself and the incoming tasks that emerges during the current day. In many cases you will program these tasks in the best way to achieve them in the next few days, not strictly tomorrow. I also tend to group similar tasks (for example if I go out doing stuff I'll try to have the more efficient path of sorting these tasks).
I also wrote a new post on some other crucial points (and problmes) with my use of DIT. As soon as Mark will authorize the post it will be online on this furum so check it out. It maybe can be interesting to you.

I agree With LORENZO and would be happy to read his post. Dit has a hudge advantage. It is to keep focus on a close list about today's tasks and appointments. After you can plan to the future ie tomorrow or later what is not absolutly urgent but doable or must doable if I may say, and say quiet about it. I notice that taking a paper diary is easier for me. But as he says I use then my diary differently. I use it as a planner.

Anyway it is must better than a long list such as AF or FV because we have the feeling of doing things.

For people who likes digital instead of paper, Omnifocus get it very well. Just create a Today context then a tomorrow, then a tikler, then a someday, then a waiting, then a backlog context and it is likned to yours projects. That's for the advantage. The inconvenient is that for me I loose the feeling of doing and it stuck my intuition. Digital did always that with me.

@ Andreas

I have been using DIT probably from 2010, although unfortunately I was sidetracked from time to time by Forster's newer systems, which didn't work for me. DIT tells you what a day's work consists of and how to know if it is done. Using the system, I was surprised to see that there were days when I had done the day's work by 3pm. Since closed lists don't grow during the day, you also know that you are completely free of obligations once the day's work is done. DIT is a unique system and is unlike any other system I know of.

I suspect that Mark Forster doesn't realize how revolutionary his DIT system is in the time management field where every author seems to repeat the same tired (unworkable) ideas.

"I suspect that Mark Forster doesn't realize how revolutionary his DIT system is in the time management field" - I dont know but what I know is that not only stuff is planified very efficiently in the future, waiting for are perfecly followed and most of all if you dont do something it goes immediatly in the backlog as a dissmissed item to be revised or eliminated in the future and that is fantastic.

Oh s**t I probably clicked the wrong button at the end... awesome! It was a pretty long post #_#

I also find that I do well with DIT. (I have a blog post about it here: http://entirelyuseless.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/do-it-tomorrow/

I think DIT addresses time management but not necessarily procrastination, and these are two different things. As Mark says, the audit procedure is necessary when things begin to overflow, and if you are really "feeling lazy" you will just refuse to do the audit procedure, or maybe just refuse to do the things on your list.

The problem with procrastination is this: no system in the world is going to force you to follow the system, if you just don't feel like it and therefore choose not to follow it. It seems to me that Mark's no-list systems are an attempt to get around this problem, but ultimately it does not have a final solution, or at least not one that anyone has found.

Test since almost a weekly test. DIT is still working with me. It perfectly goes into my organisation I explained in my previous post. If I don't have time to do something it is automaticaly dismissed and declared as a backlog. The system is interesting because it make you quiet.

However I still spend a goog time doing my daily and weekly review and the plan stuff which must be.

I think Do It Tomorrow is an amazing book and system. When I first read the book it really resonated with me and still go back and read different sections of it regularly.

I've now adapted the system a little into 'Do It Next Week', since I find that I work better on a weekly schedule.

I plan what I want to get done in a week and then schedule actions for each day using the very useful Teux Deux app (https://teuxdeux.com). I also try to theme my days, so that helps me decide which day I need schedule an action for.

When a new request comes in, I tell say "I won't be able to do that until next Tuesday" because this is the day I've chosen for that activity, so unless it's really urgent then I'll do it the next time Tuesday rolls around.

I'm also not as strict with keeping the lists closed - I just like to manage them so that I reach 'to do list zero' at the end of each day. Usually I will build some slack into what I plan to do every day so that I can fit in odd jobs that come up throughout the day. Sometimes I end up rescheduling tasks and pushing them later in the week. At the end of the week I evaluate what I got done compared to what I wanted to get done - if I have a backlog then clearing that becomes a priority for next week (or I just clear it over the weekend) and I think about how I can make sure I don't end up with a backlog next week.

<< Do It Tomorrow is an amazing book and system >>

I agree totally with Daz on this. For years there have been little discussion of DIT or updates by Mark in this forum. I had assumed, perhaps rather erroneously, that Mark himself didn't think highly enough of DIT that he had gone off to create other systems of time management.

For long I wondered if I was a minority of one in thinking that DIT is a major breakthrough in time management systems. This long discussion thread makes me feel that, after all, I am not a minority one in believing that DIT is probably the best time management system ever invented.

"The only tasks which go on the DIT list are the ones that you are actually going to do tomorrow, right?"

Don't know. I thought that i should put EVERY new task on the tomorrow list. Did i misunderstand that?

@DAZ

The "themed" days you talk about seem very like having a particular project going on yes? So it probably will be your current Chief Initiative. Do I get it wrong? Or mabye you have a work that vary alot, because personally I don't need to theme a day since my projects will automatically brand the day for me.
One thing that I feel DIT still have space to go deeper is project management. Chief Initiative in DIT for me is the second most important rule of the system because is the main fuel for pushing forwards projects. The majority of my work is made of projects, usually big projects that goes along one or more weeks.
I understand about you trying to give a weekly footprint to your plans. Our weekly planning shouldn't be a personal option, because it's too important for everyone. The Total Project Management chapter in DIT try to tell you something about how to organize a project but I feel it could be more precise. Because to complete projects is really the main reason some people looks for time management in the first place. So I think simply subdivide projects in Continuous and Organizational (NOTE: sorry but I have the Italian version of DIT so the terms could be wrong) isn't enough. In the "organizational" projects paragraph the book says that it's possible that some tasks will generate other tasks, also to be managed with the agenda. That's exactely what is going to happen, but it doesn't tell you nothing about how to manage the project itself. That single thing can easily disrupt every system in place and quickly put you back to the "fire-extingushing" mode.
The most dangerous project-management characteristic to me is this ability to multiply in volume; you can loose yourself in some insignificant detail without formally failing the syestem because "you're working on a single task". Problem is that that taks is now (implicitly) subdivided in other 10 sub-tasks, and you're spending all your time on the first sub-task. Because obviously the total time in the weekly plan must not vary while subdividing the tasks. Or it should vary consciously. But what happens when you work is that tasks will naturally multiply and grow and it's diffucult to recognize it. The next day your written task will still be right but really what you will do will be a little part of it, and when you're finished, you will still have plenty to complete the written task.
If reply on this critique already exists on other books or articles from Mark I'm really interested to know where I could read them!
I hope all that can make sense, I'm not sure my language is correct but, yeah at least I tried ;)

@Lorenzo:

I theme my days based on responsibilities/commitments that I have (I suppose you could say these are continuing projects). I work in a school and am in charge of writing the timetable and running the water polo team, so I have Timetable Tuesdays and Water Polo Wednesdays. If at all possible I schedule all tasks to do with these on those days. I also do other stuff on those days and at times I will do tasks related to timetable or water polo on different days, but I have found it really helpful to simply say 'I will do that next Tuesday' when a timetable request comes in.

I get your point about organizational projects. I don't have as many of these, but when I do I start by making a dynamic list of everything that I think needs to be done on that project. Then I try to schedule the first 3-5 things that need doing over the next week. When I've completed those, or when the week is up, or if there is a significant change in the project I will then make another dynamic list of everything that now needs doing (I won't use the original list, just start again with a blank piece of paper).

If there's a chance this project will need to be done again (in a year maybe) I will keep a check list of the jobs I did so I can use that as a starting point the next time I do it.

Hope some of that helps!

DAZ

@cricket

Your methods sound very similar to mine.

I tend not to schedule much on Fridays and use this to clear any overdue tasks before the weekend.

I also renegotiate with myself frequently when I've overcommitted and will put jobs off until later in the week. It's only if I haven't finished everything I planned by the end of the week then I'll do an audit of all my commitments/efficiency.

I've also found 15 minutes to be the perfect time for a burst of work followed by a 5 minute break.

The point about milestones is also a good one. If a project is particularly large then I'd break it down into weekly milestones then produce a dynamic list for each milestone to generate the tasks needed to get to the milestone.

@ Mark

"I didn't know there was an Italian version of DIT."

Am I missing something here?

It is on your website
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2010/3/10/italian-version-of-do-it-tomorrow-now-on-sale.html

Hi all
I've enjoyed DIT (my version) since 2007. I tried AF1 in early 2009 because I erroneously thought that it was supposed to be an upgrade. Instead, it's an entirely different system. I quickly returned to DIT and haven't looked back.

If you're having any trouble with DIT (assuming that it closely matches your working style), don't be afraid to customize it within the framework of it's principles. I changed mine to a weekly WILL DO list. I cull my day's WILL DO list from it. It still works fine. DIT is also sturdy enough to use resistance workarounds when I need them.

I consider DIT to be Mark's masterpiece.
Thank you Mark and thanks to the readers for all the wonder resistance workaround tips.

As well as the groundbreaking Mañana principle, from which the book takes its name, DIT is also full of great tips such as the current initiative, closed lists and dealing with filing systems (amazingly simple to just put the last used file on top, I also use this system with my computer files by ordering them by date accessed).

Another bit of advice that I've found really useful is to deal with the least important project first. This means that a project gets the full time it deserves and never causes any stress as it is dealt with little and often well ahead of schedule. In the same way that you need to get rid of any backlog in order to implement the Mañana principle you also need to make sure all your projects are up to date and completed for this to start to pay dividends.

I agree with Lorenzo that the project element of DIT could do with some expansion.

It seems that a lot of people have adapted DIT to work more on a weekly basis ... maybe there is scope for this being some sort of new system or book Mark?

What happens to tasks in the DIT system on which I worked today, but which are not yet completed?

@Andreas:

<< What happens to tasks in the DIT system on which I worked today, but which are not yet completed? >>

You carry on with them tomorrow!

@ Chuck and Mark
Yes that's my version of DIT and is an old printed version. Really ugly graphically speaking (compared to the present ones) but the translation feels good. I read it at least 3 times from start to end and checked it countless times.

@ Cricket and DAZ
Thank you for your insights in project-management. Milestones are a good point, and I've also used separte lists for projects. I also tried to use AF, FV and other list-based methods to sort those separte lists, but I noted that I can't over-complicate the system, because if I do I will dump it more easily. It have to feel natural and simple for me, that's very important. I've also found out that some projects simply don't allow for too much listing and organization.

I work in the 3D graphic field as a freelance, and I deal with entire projects on my own. I learned that you have to let the work flow to be able to finalize it. Programming too much becomes counter-productive and it also can turn off inspiration. So the only thing I can do during the project development is constantly referring to a simple principle that I call "From Macro to Micro". Something that in the software programming field is called "Top down method". And that's very similar of what Mark says in the "Little and often" priciple on DIT chapter 2. Basically you have to think in recursive stages. First you put in place the simplified basic elements and you animate the camera and objects. Then you think of the raw lighting. Then you proceed on adding raw materials, etc until you have a basic version of the entire scene in place. After that, you start again from the beginning and work further to refine what you've got. You have to make decisions based on what really makes a difference, because if you don't it's very easy to loose yourself in *improductive work*.
The difference with "little and often" is that I have to commit to projects for vast parts of my day-time. I think it's still "little and often" but used in a much more condensed way. Also I can't work like Mick Cool with all his check-lists and perfect organization. I'm forced to improvise and be ready to completely divert my work because that's how it goes in that kind of projects: the client could change his mind, a first solution to a problem could easily not work etc. And also a work is never really finished. It's only finished when the time's out.

What about personal projects where you don't have any time's out? For me that's the real huge ugly problem (but this post is already too long...).

@Lorenzo

I like your 'macro to micro' idea. This is a good candidate for starting afresh with a new dynamic list after each iteration i.e. throw out your checklists from the last iteration and start again with a blank slate. This will help keep the process fresh.

Have you seen Kanban? This is a good method for tracking projects.

I know it's hard with constant requests coming in, but I would urge you to be as much like Mick Cool as possible and at least try to put things of until tomorrow - as Mark says in the book, people start to get more respect for your time when you show consistently that you will get their request done tomorrow.

For personal projects, I would say that you need to maybe set yourself targets and deadlines too! I was inspired by the story of how Amundsen won the race to the South Pole by focusing on marching 20 miles a day. I've taken that principle and try to consistently do 20mins a day on my own personal project/current initiative. You'd be surprised how much you can get done in a week by just doing 20 minutes a day!

I've heard and read about Kanban a bit but never really get it. I know there are apps and online systems but I don't use any. Do you know a link where it's explained in an brief and easy way?
The thing about trying to be Mick Cool... the situation is a bit different. It's not that I don't use manhana principle. I do especially when dealing with clients. But it's what's inside a work session that can't be organized like Mick. The work process is simply too open to variables to really program the details. Once in a while I do a little list just for the main blocks or when things tend to reapeat but the rest of the time is a continuos try and error and refining process. You have to "just do it", and do it for a long time.
About auto-imposing deadlines, that's where I'm really lacking. The problem is not that I don't do nothing, but that I do too much, and I never reach an "adequate" level for the things I do. I haven't really found a way to control that. It's like I need somebody whipping me on the back to stop ;)
I'm reading Mark's last book these days and I hope to get some ideas from there. First five chapters are already amazing stuff and many things have "tickled" me already about these subjects. I can't wait to see how it goes on.

DIT is still working !
As I am a lot outside I try (again) to use another software I discovered ie teuxdeux. Very interesting for this and easy.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. — Winston Churchill.Dec 28, 2010

Damned ! I saw the list this morning and it was non operational. So I got back to Omnifocus and found a way to do it (I hope).

I use the end date (echeance) field and decided to affect a date to do it instead of using the usual start date. Why ? just because there is an incredible forecast view where you can see your incoming week linked with you diary. At a glance you have a perfect view of all is on your plate.

All task are still linked to project so I am immediatly operational after half an hour of fast reviewing

The treatement is based on DIT MF METHODOLOGY - All incoming is treated tomorrow unless it is urgent. Simple rule, simple efficiency and PERFECT FOR ME. The buffer let me breath a bit so I feel much comfortable ! Thank you Marc !

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. — Winston Churchill.Dec 28, 2010"

I will get it !

Forgot to say that with Omnifocus when something is undone and dated it automaticaly goes in the forcast in the "past" field" ie it becomes a backlog ! and treated as usual on the manana principle.

I also think DIT is (almost) the complete system and one I always come back to after trying others out. What I aim for is that everything which comes in today - tasks, ideas, big projects, vague ideas etc. must be PROCESSED tomorrow, even if they cannot be worked on or completed tomorrow. In other words, when I look at my list compiled yesterday,I need to make a decision on everything on it - to either do it, dismiss it or schedule it for a future date, for reasons of convenience or practicality.

Projects are more troublesome for me. If I have a new project, I know I should make a start by doing some work on it and then keep working on it day by day until it is finished (do the least urgent thing first). That can work with some projects, such as tackling a batch of marking or organising bookshelves, which can be easily broken down into subtasks.

However I find other projects are better tackled as an entirety It works better when they are given a dedicated amount of time which can take up the majority of the day - e.g. restain the decking, reorganise the filing system, plan out a new approach to something at work. For that type of project, I tend to allocate a set day in the future and schedule it on my calendar.

I also like to sit down on a Sunday and look at the week ahead to see what is coming up, whether any deadlines have been overlooked and to see what shape my week is taking - a sort of review and plan ahead..

Great to see so many people using DIT and sharing their experiences and tweaks. I've used it periodically, and it's particularly good when I am feeling stuck (or feeling utterly overwhelmed, which for me is different from actually being utterly overwhelmed).

@Cricket

Tucked away in my copy of DIT is a print out of this article by Mark:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2008/3/15/weeding-the-task-diary.html

Which I have found a useful discipline and is basically your approach.

@Mark

<< Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. — Winston Churchill.Dec 28, 2010 >> "What's the significance of Dec 28, 2010?"

Nothing ! Bad copy and past from the web :-)

@All

Just a little report from how I deal with DIT
This morning I opened my computer with Omnifocus on the forecast view. The today's list was ready and the back log including stuff I did not do yesterday was in past.

Perfect ! All items are linked to my project > Perfect too

1. I began to erase and report all things I did not want to do on today's list and past
2. I had a quick look to my diary in the same windows to see my daily appointments - nothing crucial
3. I looked at my project list and froze some of them
4. I made appear my froze project, red them again to see if there was no emergencies then glose the frozen view
5 I began DIT workflow ie began with the past items and did it one by one.
6 When finished I began my daily list and did it one after the others, each time I finishhed a project I reported in the project the next action. When I something new happened I reported it to tomorrow if no urgencies. If they were urgent I did it immediatly
7. It is 13:36 my day is finished ! All is done and well done.
What do I do ?
5.

SO here is my checklist - re worked

Check list
COLLECTING PART:
(0) COLLECT TODAY’S IDEA > INBOX

REVIEW PART :
(1) REVIEW PROJECT TO FREEZE (Use report Field) + // REPORT TASK OF TODAY including rela prospectio
(2) BACKLOG erase and report future Tasks from PASTn
(3) READ NOTE BOOK REPORT TASKS including TODAY’S TASK - Creer les marges, rajouter mes commentaires et reporter les taches sur DIT par projets et date.
(4) REVIEW TOMOROW Task and appointment // erase and report
(5) REVIEW TODAY Task and appointment // erase and report
(6) CHOOSE PROJECT YOU WANT TO FOCUS TODAY

DOING PART :
(1) DO THE BACKLOG PAST FIRST !
(2) TODAY’S TASK BY PROJECT THEN ON BY ONE like they are,
(3) DURING ACTION COLLECT with shortcut in OF
(4) IF you can plan it immediatly, if you can’t do a review later