Discussion Forum > Simple Scanning vs No-Dismissal AF1
I suppose there is a clue here:
Alan Baljeu had asked,
<< How about Simple Scanning BUT: If you want to back up and scan a page again, you may. >>
Mark Forster replied:
<< Actually that's permissible under Simple Scanning. Since the rules don't require you to do any tasks on a scan, you can just move directly to anywhere you like if you want to. However if you were to make a regular practice of it you would be in danger of reducing the first three criteria: fast, flexible, comprehensive. >>
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/10/4/thoughts-on-the-long-list-preliminary-what-system-to-use.html#comment21787096
In other words, you can always just jump wherever you want in the list, but it's better to have a habit that takes you all the way through the list regularly. It recently became very clear to me why that is so important. (As posted here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2725827 )
Thus the problem of cycling through a page vs. not doing so, is far less important than the overall need to cycle through the whole list and maintain a strong intuition for its overall contents.
Alan Baljeu had asked,
<< How about Simple Scanning BUT: If you want to back up and scan a page again, you may. >>
Mark Forster replied:
<< Actually that's permissible under Simple Scanning. Since the rules don't require you to do any tasks on a scan, you can just move directly to anywhere you like if you want to. However if you were to make a regular practice of it you would be in danger of reducing the first three criteria: fast, flexible, comprehensive. >>
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/10/4/thoughts-on-the-long-list-preliminary-what-system-to-use.html#comment21787096
In other words, you can always just jump wherever you want in the list, but it's better to have a habit that takes you all the way through the list regularly. It recently became very clear to me why that is so important. (As posted here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2725827 )
Thus the problem of cycling through a page vs. not doing so, is far less important than the overall need to cycle through the whole list and maintain a strong intuition for its overall contents.
November 20, 2018 at 6:56 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
Interestingly enough I have just finished experimenting with ways to overcome this very problem. One of my ideas was that on finishing a task one didn't scan forward from that task but from the task three tasks before it. I hope that makes sense.
The result was interesting. I found myself going backwards through the list!
This relates to a phenomenon which I mentioned a couple of days ago - that every time one scans a task one reduces one's resistance to it. This is fine except that it removes the fast scanning through the list which is a feature of Simple Scanning.
So on the whole I think with Simple Scanning it's best to leave the rules as they are, but to make an exception when it's obviously the right thing to do.
Interestingly enough I have just finished experimenting with ways to overcome this very problem. One of my ideas was that on finishing a task one didn't scan forward from that task but from the task three tasks before it. I hope that makes sense.
The result was interesting. I found myself going backwards through the list!
This relates to a phenomenon which I mentioned a couple of days ago - that every time one scans a task one reduces one's resistance to it. This is fine except that it removes the fast scanning through the list which is a feature of Simple Scanning.
So on the whole I think with Simple Scanning it's best to leave the rules as they are, but to make an exception when it's obviously the right thing to do.
November 20, 2018 at 14:56 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
The other difference between AF1 and SS is that SS doesn't use pages. That's a big deal when you aren't in paper, and/or are using paper scrolls.
This scanning thing also applies to speed reading. I'm not practiced at it. Normally I read books very slowly. I learned though that if I first glance at the paragraphs of a page and then read the page, for some reason I'm naturally inclined to blitz through it, probably because the text is familiar ,in rough detail and in direction, so is easier to understand quickly.
An alternative to scanning back 3 is to scan ahead 3. Say you select a task to do, read on 3 more tasks then do the selected task. When you resume, you are primed ahead for the next tasks already.
This scanning thing also applies to speed reading. I'm not practiced at it. Normally I read books very slowly. I learned though that if I first glance at the paragraphs of a page and then read the page, for some reason I'm naturally inclined to blitz through it, probably because the text is familiar ,in rough detail and in direction, so is easier to understand quickly.
An alternative to scanning back 3 is to scan ahead 3. Say you select a task to do, read on 3 more tasks then do the selected task. When you resume, you are primed ahead for the next tasks already.
November 20, 2018 at 20:03 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Like Seraphim, I like using FAF/AF1MD because of the clumping effect as he described above. However, I just realized that, to fully use the clumping effect, you do not need to go back to the beginning of the page, you usually just need to go back to the beginning of the nearest block of unactioned items. I am trying this now instead of AF1MD and it seems to be working just as well.
November 21, 2018 at 5:26 |
nuntym
nuntym
- With Simple Scanning, you always scan forward to the next task
- With No-Dismissal AF1, you keep cycling around on each page till nothing stands out, and then move on to the next page
Mark, you seem to prefer Simple Scanning. I was wondering if you can elaborate on that.
I suppose the main advantage is that it's faster?
For myself, "clumping" makes me want to keep cycling on a page, rather than continue forward. "Clumping" causes several related tasks to appear together on a page. Often, it's the second or third or fourth of these tasks that "stands out". This makes me mentally primed to want to handle those other tasks as well. But the Simple Scanning rule says to always scan forward.
This is the one remaining area of "compulsion" with Simple Scanning.
Of course I can ignore the rules and do whatever I want. But I like to maintain consistency, otherwise I find it harder and harder to keep trusting the system.
------------------------------
Some background in case anyone is interested:
I've been reading some older posts -- especially the shift from No-List back to Catch-All and Long-List starting here...
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/3/25/catch-all-revisited.html
... which ultimately arrived at Simple Scanning about 1 year ago:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/2/simple-scanning-the-rules.html
Once or twice, there was mention of No-Dismissal AF1. Some more searching made me realize we had discussed this concept many times. For example:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/1690127#post1693046
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/3/25/catch-all-revisited.html
But I couldn't see any clear reason why Simple Scanning was ultimately chosen as the default Long List system, rather than No-Dismissal AF1.