Discussion Forum > Going back to AF4, with a tweak
Very interesting tweak nuntym - hope you'll give an update in the future.
My own tweak of AF4 was instead to redraw the line after a defined number of items rather than right at the end of the open list. I think I experimented with about 20 items or so. My intention was to keep an element of pressure on the oldest items and accelerate action or dismissal.
My own tweak of AF4 was instead to redraw the line after a defined number of items rather than right at the end of the open list. I think I experimented with about 20 items or so. My intention was to keep an element of pressure on the oldest items and accelerate action or dismissal.
August 16, 2016 at 17:03 |
Caibre65
Caibre65
Thanks Caibre65 for the response. The system's doing well considering I've been using it for a few days. I like how logical it looks and feels that all tasks not done yesterday are considered Backlog by today.
Considering your own tweak, I would surmise that it considers every page aside from the last as Backlog since a page usually has 25-35 lines? Interesting idea although I don't see how the dismissal process would work there. And wouldn't that feel as though the Backlog feels too much like an Open List?
Considering your own tweak, I would surmise that it considers every page aside from the last as Backlog since a page usually has 25-35 lines? Interesting idea although I don't see how the dismissal process would work there. And wouldn't that feel as though the Backlog feels too much like an Open List?
August 18, 2016 at 6:45 |
nuntym
nuntym
Don't think I explained my tweak very well.
Your own variation encourages a larger closed list and a small open list. But within the closed list you have segments that are individually dated for a timed dismissal like DWM. So the system encourages you to spend more time on things that are more than a day old.
My tweak was intended to solve the "problem" from the other end. By having a much smaller closed list that pushed you into actioning or dismissing older items more quickly than the original AF4 rules.
Say I have a list of 60 tasks or projects. I would count forward from the beginning of the list and draw a line under the twentieth. I now have a closed list comprising items that have been on the list for a while. These items are more likely to be stuff I'm avoiding compared to the nice shiny stuff a the end of the list. After working the list in the normal AF4 way I'm likely to be in a dismissal situation more quickly than if I'd drawn a line at the end of the initial 60.
When the closed list items are done or dismissed I then redraw the line after the next 20 active tasks.
I suppose the main difference from Mark's AF4 rules is that, apart from when you draw a list up from scratch, the items that are in the closed list have already been pre-filtered.
Your own variation encourages a larger closed list and a small open list. But within the closed list you have segments that are individually dated for a timed dismissal like DWM. So the system encourages you to spend more time on things that are more than a day old.
My tweak was intended to solve the "problem" from the other end. By having a much smaller closed list that pushed you into actioning or dismissing older items more quickly than the original AF4 rules.
Say I have a list of 60 tasks or projects. I would count forward from the beginning of the list and draw a line under the twentieth. I now have a closed list comprising items that have been on the list for a while. These items are more likely to be stuff I'm avoiding compared to the nice shiny stuff a the end of the list. After working the list in the normal AF4 way I'm likely to be in a dismissal situation more quickly than if I'd drawn a line at the end of the initial 60.
When the closed list items are done or dismissed I then redraw the line after the next 20 active tasks.
I suppose the main difference from Mark's AF4 rules is that, apart from when you draw a list up from scratch, the items that are in the closed list have already been pre-filtered.
August 18, 2016 at 17:20 |
Caibre65
Caibre65
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2009/9/5/preliminary-instructions-for-autofocus-v-4.html
I used AF4 continuously for months before, and I know its main weakness intimately, which was the longer you use it the greater items accumulate in the Active List, leaving less time and thus less pressure to do the Backlog. It just shows the main weakness of all Catch-All systems: the inevitable bloat of things to do. However, it seems that AF4's bloating is unbalanced in that the Active List can grow too much, which can overwhelm the Active List's task choosing protocol (to pass through the list only once) and leaving the Backlog's more robust task choosing protocol (going back to the Active List only if you go through the whole list from the beginning not choosing anything) under-utilized.
So I thought, why not tweak AF4 so that the task bloat is in the Backlog, not the Active List, but not to the point that the Backlog feels like an "Open List" (to use the terminology used years before)?
So here is the whole system with the tweak I thought of, borrowing heavily from the original AF4 instructions and using some ideas from DWM. Of course it is entirely possible that somebody else had thought of and used this tweak before, and if there are I would want to hear their experiences on it.
1 . Draw up your list of things to do with one task per line. (If you already have a list you can continue to use it). You don’t need to put everything on the list at this stage as you can add other tasks as and when you think of them.
2. Draw a line at the end of the list, and write the date seven days into the future to the right. Everything before this line is known as the Backlog. As you think of new tasks add them after the line. Everything after the line is known as the Active List.
(NOTE: If you are using an old list that is quite long, you may want to draw the line somewhere two-thirds to three-fourths down your list. You will see why later.)
3. You start with the Backlog. Look through the tasks in the Backlog in order and work on any tasks which feel ready to be done. Delete each task when you feel you have worked on it for long enough, and re-enter it at the end of the Active List if you need to do more work on it.
4. When you come to the line, do not go into the Active List. Instead return to the beginning of the Backlog and continue to move through it in it doing any tasks which feel ready to be done. Keep circulating in this way, until you have done a complete pass through the Backlog without any tasks being done.
5. You now cross the line into the Active List. Move through the Active List in order working on any tasks which feel ready to be done.
6. When you reach the last task on the list, you then go back to the beginning of the Backlog and repeat the process from Step 3 until the end of the day.
7. At the beginning of the new day, close again the list by drawing a line at the end of the list, and write the date seven days into the future to the right. Everything before this line is the new Backlog, and everything after this new line is the new Active Log. You may mark the old line with a symbol like x's to avoid confusion. Also, dismiss all the undone tasks above the old line that is dated the same date as today by drawing a diagonal line over the section/s. Go back to Step 3.