Get Everything Done

My latest experiment is to use No-List in a notebook. Start a new left-hand page every day, and start the new No-List there. Previous pages are not visible unless you specifically go review them.

My personal variant of No List is simple. Start with a blank page. Write down all the things that come to mind. Then scan and do whatever stands out. Sometimes I use a "Simple Scanning" approach, sometimes more like FVP. The list is so short, it doesn't really matter.

The idea is to keep it light. Treat the list as a throw-away, "dynamic list". In the past, this is literally what I would do. Write the list on a scrap of paper, and frequently throw it away and start over. Or even better, write the list on my whiteboard, then erase everything except the top 2-3 items. Erase and start over whenever I want. Very light, very dynamic.

This current experiment takes the same attitude, but doesn't actually throw away the old lists. They are still there in my notebook. But I generally don't look at them while I'm working. The main rule is never to START with the old lists. Start the day FRESH, with whatever is currently top-of-mind. Only look at the old pages during downtime, or maybe at the end of the day.

Here is what I am finding so far:
-- I am able to keep a very strong intuition for my whole context, all the time.
-- This allows me to get to the heart of whatever I really need to be doing, quickly, and stay focused on it.
-- Retaining the old pages prevents me from forgetting important details and deadlines, without the need for supplementary lists. This is a big improvement over my previous runs with No-List.
-- I don't collect a lot of administrivia / recurring tasks. Those mostly take care of themselves, or quickly become routines. (No-List always seems to have that effect.) This is in contrast to Long List systems, which seem to accumulate a lot of these kinds of tasks.
-- Overall I feel much more engaged with my WORK and whatever is in front of me -- rather than with my LIST. It feels light and nimble, focused, engaged, fresh, aware, responsive.
-- Retaining the older pages also somehow seems to keep me a little more grounded, compared to previous runs with No-List. Previously could start going so fast that I'd wear myself out. That doesn't seem to be happening now. Not sure why, exactly, since I almost never even look at those older pages.

Some background on why this new experiment.

For most of 2017 till mid/late 2018, I was using a system roughly based on DIT with some elements of Theory of Constraints woven into the process to help with focus and to deal with overload. It was working well, and I liked it, but also liked what I was hearing with Mark’s roll-out of Simple Scanning. So after returning to work after a long vacation, I decided to start fresh with Simple Scanning.

But I soon ran into my old friend - the list growing out of control. As Mark wrote, << The big limitation with any catch-all system comes as the list grows faster than you are capable of actioning it. >>
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/7/25/answer-to-the-puzzle.html

Reflecting on this, it seems the critical reason to cycle through the list quickly, is to maintain a strong intuition for the list as a whole. You need this so things will Stand Out the way they should. You also need this so you know what you can delete.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2725530
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2725827

So next I tried finding ways to accelerate cycling through the list. Sometimes it works, simply to tell your intuition to cycle faster; i.e., not to allow things to stand out too easily. But that breaks down for me after a couple days of meetings and minor emergencies. I just can't get through the whole list reliably.

So I tried experimenting with combining Randomizer into the process, to speed up processing of the older pages.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2728961

But ultimately the randomizer approach left me feeling even more out of touch with the list as a whole, so when I tried using Standing Out on the most current pages, it just wasn't working.

Then Jane said something about her success with No-List that prompted some reflection on the fact that No-List also maintains a very strong intuition for one's whole context.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2728605#post2729856

And that led to this latest experiment.

Here is perhaps a simpler way to describe what I’m doing. Think of it as a variant of Simple Scanning:

(1) You have a notebook with all your tasks.

(2) At beginning of the day, open to a new left-hand page so no older tasks are visible. Write today’s date at the top of the page.

(3) Write down whatever is top-of-mind, whatever you really need or want to do, whatever really needs to get done.

(4) Scan through today’s tasks repeatedly, doing whatever stands out

(5) Cross out and re-enter tasks as usual

(6) Add new tasks as usual

(7) Keep cycling through today’s tasks until nothing stands out

(8) When nothing on today’s list stands out (which rarely happens in practice), cycle back to the beginning of the list and follow the usual Simple Scanning rules till you eventually return to today’s page, at which point, continue from (4)


Hopefully this rewrite of the process doesn’t remove the No-List feel of the process. Today’s list is like a No-List, and the previous days’ pages are like an archive of old No-Lists that are interesting to keep around but don’t have a lot of pull.

Nuntym, can you clarify what you mean? I honestly can’t figure out what you are trying to say. :-)

Ah, today it seems clear. Not sure why I couldn’t understand it yesterday.

But still, I’m not sure why you wrote that. I’ve never had the mentality that you have to do everything in a Long List. I’m not sure where you are picking that up from, in anything I’ve written above.

Or maybe I’m still misunderstanding you.

Can you clarify some more?

Happy new year Margaret!

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I was taking nuntym’s comments as directed at me personally. I was just trying to understand better. Perhaps you are right, maybe it was just a general observation that some people feel obligated to complete everything on a long list.

Mark himself has gone back and forth on this. Compare the title of this site ("Get Everything Done") with articles like this one: http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/10/9/thoughts-on-the-long-list-making-everything-easy.html

This method has been working even better than I had expected, as I describe here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2731416#post2731492

Two thoughts:

-- I've been treating this method (and all my other ideas for the past several months) as "experiments" rather than "new methods". The nice thing about experiments is that I am expecting them to fail, at least sometimes. I am doing the experiment not so much to "have the perfect system" but simply to LEARN. It's been great, I've been getting so many new insights into HOW and WHY these systems work the way they do. But there's a side benefit -- this approach just seems to help the method itself work better. There is no sense of "breaking the rules" or any kind of obligation. I'm just experimenting. It helps keep it light and fresh.

-- This method is kind of like an inverse AF4, with no dismissal.

AF4 is described here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2009/9/5/preliminary-instructions-for-autofocus-v-4.html

AF4 has a "Backlog" and an "Active List". You cycle through the Backlog till nothing stands out. Only then do you move forward to the Active List, and you make only one pass through it, acting on whatever stands out. Then you go back to the Backlog. If nothing stands out on your first pass through the Backlog, you dismiss the whole Backlog, your Active List becomes your new Backlog, and you start a new Active List.

Thus AF4 keeps a lot of attention focused on the older, unactioned things, and puts pressure to make sure those things get actioned or get dismissed.

This new No-List method I am using is almost the opposite. You start a new Active List every day. You cycle through it till nothing stands out (which rarely happens). Only then do you go look at the old stuff. When I review the old stuff, I usually do it in reverse order -- first looking at yesterday's No-List, then the day previous, and so on, back to the oldest page with uncrossed items. There is no dismissal and no pressure of any kind.

Thus it keeps attention focused on the stuff that's currently moving and active, and takes you back to the older stuff only when you are ready for it, and there is no pressure at all. I find I don't need any pressure -- it only causes problems. The work itself has plenty of intrinsic motivation behind it, especially when it gets the right level of focus and can build momentum without needless distractions.

Bernie -

<< The method you've just described is pretty similar to what I'm doing, except I'm combining my No-List with the day's schedule and calling it a Day Page >>

Yes, I can see many similarities.

I think there are also a lot of similarities with the AF2 variants that are being discussed over here:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2730544

A common thread seems to be keeping a strong focus on the most active and current work, and revisiting older tasks only when there's a lull in the active/current work.

Alan Baljeu -

<< Seraphim, I'm persuaded to try this. >>

Great!


<< My one amendment is that I want to start the day late the evening prior and choose an urgent (per Forster) task to start the list, and also check for scheduled items. >>

Sounds reasonable! I don't do it like that myself - it seems to bias me toward whatever I wrote the previous night. I prefer to start the day with a blank page and no external promptings. After I write down whatever is top of mind (which takes a minute or two), I double check for urgent and scheduled items I may have missed. It will be interesting to find out if your experience is similar or not.


<< One question: suppose something comes up that you don't intend to do today? Do you write it down and just not do it? Trust it will come up another day either spontaneously or in your idle backscan time? >>

I usually just write it down and trust it will come back by itself or during a backscan. If there is time pressure of some kind (like a deadline), I might also set an Outlook reminder for it.

Looking forward to hear how it goes for you!

Alan - thanks for reporting back!

I'm not really sure what you are saying here, though. It seems to me the first two clauses are contradictory (so I am sure I am misunderstanding something!).

Starting with a blank page leaves you stuck, but it works for you to write a bunch of things in the no-list?

But doesn't the no-list begin as a blank page?

Here is how it works for me. The day starts with a blank page. I begin the day by sitting down and writing out whatever is on my mind. I cycle through these items -- re-entering items that are unfinished -- and adding new items that come up during the day -- until I feel like I need a break, or nothing stands out.

That's why the first two clauses seem contradictory to me.

Perhaps this method is easier to understand as a kind of inverse AF4 (version 1). (Cf. http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2009/9/5/preliminary-instructions-for-autofocus-v-4.html )

1. At the beginning of each day, start a new page. This is the Open List.
2. All previous pages together comprise the Closed List.
3. Start the day by writing everything on your mind that needs to be done on the Open List.
4. Cycle through the Open List repeatedly, working on whatever stands out.
5. Re-enter unfinished tasks on the Open List.
6. As new tasks come up during the day, add them to the Open List.
7. When nothing on the Open List stands out, scan through the Closed List in reverse order (most recent pages first), working on whatever stands out.
8. After you complete one scan through the Closed List, you then come back to the Open List, and repeat from (4.)

I've been using this method for a full month now, so I posted some observations and questions here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2733307