Discussion Forum > My No-List Hack
Jesse,
I've made a couple assumptions (I put them in [ ... ] ) So tell me if I'm close to the mark on this...
1. You can only enter a new task by working on it upon entry.
2. When you're finished working on it, you cross it out [only if you are done with it for the day.]
3. If you cross it out, then your next task will be the oldest task on the list
4. If you do not cross it out, then you must add a new task and work on it
5. If an old task cannot wait its turn to come up naturally in the list, then simply add it to the end and work it as if it were a new task.
This will result in that task being on the list twice, and so it is twice as likely to come up in the normal course of work - giving you the opportunity to work it little and (more) often.
Is that about right?
I've made a couple assumptions (I put them in [ ... ] ) So tell me if I'm close to the mark on this...
1. You can only enter a new task by working on it upon entry.
2. When you're finished working on it, you cross it out [only if you are done with it for the day.]
3. If you cross it out, then your next task will be the oldest task on the list
4. If you do not cross it out, then you must add a new task and work on it
5. If an old task cannot wait its turn to come up naturally in the list, then simply add it to the end and work it as if it were a new task.
This will result in that task being on the list twice, and so it is twice as likely to come up in the normal course of work - giving you the opportunity to work it little and (more) often.
Is that about right?
May 16, 2016 at 18:50 |
Miracle

Thanks for responding!
Yeah that's about it.
#2 is a little different. For me, I only cross it out when I can no longer do anything that will help get that task done. I don't worry about the day either. In fact, I use the same list each day. Obviously, you can tweak as you want though. I prefer to have an ongoing list.
Yeah that's about it.
#2 is a little different. For me, I only cross it out when I can no longer do anything that will help get that task done. I don't worry about the day either. In fact, I use the same list each day. Obviously, you can tweak as you want though. I prefer to have an ongoing list.
May 16, 2016 at 19:33 |
Jesse

Jesse
Ah. I assumed the same day because of the general convention with No-Lists to start afresh each day. I've found that to be my preference. To each their own right?
And I like how you say that you only cross it out when you can no longer do anything that will help get the task done. This leans you toward doing everything you can to attain completion, rather than only going as far as you feel like going right now. I think that "completion compulsion" makes a huge difference in the long haul.
Two more things I like about this method. It basically keeps your focus on the "root task" (the oldest task on the list), allowing you to take "breaks" from it to accomplish other things. However, your focus will continually be drawn back to it until you get it to where you can cross it off. It's that little and often kind of persistence that No-Lists excel at.
The final thing I like about this method is that it does away with re-entry. I've got a love/hate relationship with re-entry. I love how it automatically sorts catch-all lists, separating the grain from the chaff. But in No-List systems, which purposefully contain no chaff, re-entry feels vestigial and awkward. Re-entry in No-List systems basically double the list maintenance overhead without providing any chaff separating benefit.
All this, and I'm sorry to say that I'm in the middle of experimenting with a different method right now and I'd rather not interrupt it to try your method. All the same - I think it truly a method worth attempting!
Ah. I assumed the same day because of the general convention with No-Lists to start afresh each day. I've found that to be my preference. To each their own right?
And I like how you say that you only cross it out when you can no longer do anything that will help get the task done. This leans you toward doing everything you can to attain completion, rather than only going as far as you feel like going right now. I think that "completion compulsion" makes a huge difference in the long haul.
Two more things I like about this method. It basically keeps your focus on the "root task" (the oldest task on the list), allowing you to take "breaks" from it to accomplish other things. However, your focus will continually be drawn back to it until you get it to where you can cross it off. It's that little and often kind of persistence that No-Lists excel at.
The final thing I like about this method is that it does away with re-entry. I've got a love/hate relationship with re-entry. I love how it automatically sorts catch-all lists, separating the grain from the chaff. But in No-List systems, which purposefully contain no chaff, re-entry feels vestigial and awkward. Re-entry in No-List systems basically double the list maintenance overhead without providing any chaff separating benefit.
All this, and I'm sorry to say that I'm in the middle of experimenting with a different method right now and I'd rather not interrupt it to try your method. All the same - I think it truly a method worth attempting!
May 17, 2016 at 14:31 |
Miracle

Miracle, I'd love to see what you method is like!
May 17, 2016 at 14:49 |
Jesse

Jesse,
First, thanks for sharing your method! I will keep it in mind as a good one to try out. (In fact, I may give it a go just for an evening since it's so easy to swap out No-List methods)
As for "My" method, well I won't claim to have come up with anything original like you did. My experiment is a cobbled amalgam of other methods posted here. Combine nuntym / serephim's method (http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2599963 ) with the hard limit of Mark's 5T method in "Secrets...", and the Spinning Plates method of task selection... and voila!
1. Add tasks at will, delete tasks at will, but you can have no more than 6 tasks active at once.
2. Circle through them Spinning Plates style, working a little on each one at each pass.
3. Cross them out when they are done for now, they are no longer relevant, or you need to make room on your list for something more pressing.
The idea is similar to the "write it all down on a small whiteboard" idea. If you have 30 things you can / need / want to work on, but you can only write down 6, then you'll tend to put the 6 most useful or pressing. This is to keep task selection on the most relevant work.
It also goes against the current trend of only adding something if you actually work on it. That has it's advantages - chiefly among which is keeping your work focused on finishing what you started and not wasting your time with something you are not ready to commit your action to. However, I don't like the lack of "leaning forward." It creates lists that either choose what to do now, or that go back over what you've already started. It does not get you thinking about where to go next.
I figure this list has the best of both worlds. You can fill the list with things you INTEND to do, and keep the things you've already started on the list until you finish them. Bit of both forward looking and backup.
To handle urgent things, I just add the urgent thing to the list and work on it right away. That may mean that I need to delete something else from the list to make room - but the 6 I have written down will always be the 6 most relevant right?
Finally, I circle through them Spinning Plates style (Round Robin) to ensure I don't become fixated on the 2 or 3 most interesting, and ignore the others. If it's on the list, it will be worked. It also helps me keep the short list pruned.
It's working well so far, but I want to see what the longer term effects are. I've only been using it for a couple of days.
First, thanks for sharing your method! I will keep it in mind as a good one to try out. (In fact, I may give it a go just for an evening since it's so easy to swap out No-List methods)
As for "My" method, well I won't claim to have come up with anything original like you did. My experiment is a cobbled amalgam of other methods posted here. Combine nuntym / serephim's method (http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2599963 ) with the hard limit of Mark's 5T method in "Secrets...", and the Spinning Plates method of task selection... and voila!
1. Add tasks at will, delete tasks at will, but you can have no more than 6 tasks active at once.
2. Circle through them Spinning Plates style, working a little on each one at each pass.
3. Cross them out when they are done for now, they are no longer relevant, or you need to make room on your list for something more pressing.
The idea is similar to the "write it all down on a small whiteboard" idea. If you have 30 things you can / need / want to work on, but you can only write down 6, then you'll tend to put the 6 most useful or pressing. This is to keep task selection on the most relevant work.
It also goes against the current trend of only adding something if you actually work on it. That has it's advantages - chiefly among which is keeping your work focused on finishing what you started and not wasting your time with something you are not ready to commit your action to. However, I don't like the lack of "leaning forward." It creates lists that either choose what to do now, or that go back over what you've already started. It does not get you thinking about where to go next.
I figure this list has the best of both worlds. You can fill the list with things you INTEND to do, and keep the things you've already started on the list until you finish them. Bit of both forward looking and backup.
To handle urgent things, I just add the urgent thing to the list and work on it right away. That may mean that I need to delete something else from the list to make room - but the 6 I have written down will always be the 6 most relevant right?
Finally, I circle through them Spinning Plates style (Round Robin) to ensure I don't become fixated on the 2 or 3 most interesting, and ignore the others. If it's on the list, it will be worked. It also helps me keep the short list pruned.
It's working well so far, but I want to see what the longer term effects are. I've only been using it for a couple of days.
May 17, 2016 at 16:48 |
Miracle

After an excursion into Mark's "don't write it down till you are ready to start" variants, I am back to something like what Miracle is describing, or what Nuntym describes at http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2599963
I just keep a short focused list of whatever seems to be pressing on my mind, whatever seems to need to be done. I don't have any algorithmic rules at all. If the list feels too big, then I do a quick scan to pare it down -- sometimes using a quick FVP run-through. Or just erase the whole thing and start over.
I don't keep any reminders or commitments on this list -- I do have separate places where I put those things. If they creep onto my list -- such as when I think of something I need to do and write it on the no-list simply because it's handy -- then I try to move them to the right list ASAP.
I usually write the no-list on my whiteboard -- I've got a couple 11x14 whiteboards stuck to the wall near my desk with magnets, which I can take with me, move around, etc. I use one of them for the no-list, and one for a project list. I've also got a removable adhesive 17"x21" whiteboard-paper that covers the surface of my desk -- great for ad-hoc dynamic lists or brainstorming or whatever.
But if I am out-and-about, a scrap of paper works fine, or a note in the Notes app on my phone.
I just keep a short focused list of whatever seems to be pressing on my mind, whatever seems to need to be done. I don't have any algorithmic rules at all. If the list feels too big, then I do a quick scan to pare it down -- sometimes using a quick FVP run-through. Or just erase the whole thing and start over.
I don't keep any reminders or commitments on this list -- I do have separate places where I put those things. If they creep onto my list -- such as when I think of something I need to do and write it on the no-list simply because it's handy -- then I try to move them to the right list ASAP.
I usually write the no-list on my whiteboard -- I've got a couple 11x14 whiteboards stuck to the wall near my desk with magnets, which I can take with me, move around, etc. I use one of them for the no-list, and one for a project list. I've also got a removable adhesive 17"x21" whiteboard-paper that covers the surface of my desk -- great for ad-hoc dynamic lists or brainstorming or whatever.
But if I am out-and-about, a scrap of paper works fine, or a note in the Notes app on my phone.
May 18, 2016 at 16:10 |
Seraphim

I'll use Mark's examples from his latest post to show how my version works. The list items will be capitalized.
I want to write a report, so I write that as a task:
WRITE REPORT
I start working on the report. I'm tired of doing this! I want to work on my blog post, so I write down blog post on my list which looks like this:
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
Notice that I don't cross anything out. The current task which I must now be working on is the bottom item, the blog post. I will work on the blog post for as long as I possibly can, if at anytime I want to work something else or even take a break, like watching a movie, I simply write that at the bottom of the list, and that's the new thing I'm working on now.
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
WATCH MOVIE
I want to stop watching the movie and do something else, but like Mark's method, I must write the new thing to do, which in this case is Check Calendar, so...
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
WATCH MOVIE
CHECK CALENDAR
Now, I work on even this easy task as long as I possibly can. Once I'm out of ideas on how to work on it more, (I could organize my calendar better, get rid of old events, change the format to be more readable, etc) only then do I finally cross it out:
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
WATCH MOVIE
------------------- (crossed out "check calendar")
This is where the methods differ. I now start working on the top item on the list, which is the oldest. I like this better as it tends to help work on that item little and often! And it helps me from letting older stuff slip through the cracks. So now I'm working on writing the report. I do that a bit, or I don't and I realize that I've got to tidy the office, so I start on that, which means that I must write it down:
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
WATCH MOVIE
-------------------
TIDY OFFICE
So now I'm tidying the office. I work on that as much as I can until:
1. I start doing something else which I must write down at the bottom as a new item
2. I do as much of it that I can, at which I cross it off and begin on the oldest item.
The hardest part of doing it this way is knowing which item is the current task. It will always be the bottom item on the list that has nothing below it. If the bottom item on the list is crossed out, then it's the oldest (top) uncrossed out item.
You will eventually return to an already written task as you grind through the older items, but if you need to get back to it sooner, simply write the item at the bottom of the list. I need to work on that blog post more...
WRITE REPORT
BLOG POST
WATCH MOVIE
-------------------
TIDY OFFICE
BLOG POST
Does this make sense? Anyone have questions or comments?