Get Everything Done

Hi all. I've been rereading through the old posts and have been intrigued by some of the other systems besides simple scanning. I haven't brought myself to try any yet though. I've been persuaded by Mark's "top ten reasons simple scanning may be the best system of all", and have been using that for a while.

It got me thinking though, is there a system that has been discussed or presented that uses some sort of algorithm like this:
- Write down everything you want to or need to do, like normal.
-At the start of each day, draw a line at the end of the list. Everything before today's line is backlog. Everything after the last line is the active list. (Today's active list that isn't finished will be absorbed into tomorrow's backlog.)
-The active list is worked on using simple scanning, round and round the active list, until one pass is completed without selecting anything.
-Then you move to the backlog, moving through it only once, making sure at least one item is dotted. If it still has work to be done, rewrite it on the active list.
-After one pass of the backlog, move back to the active list and repeat.

There will be more details, but that gives you the idea.

The thought is that with simple scanning everything is scanned equally, which I'm not so certain is always optimal. Maybe scanning to-do items weighted more toward the more recently worked on things will keep the momentum going on those until they finish? But items can be brought in from the backlog and "activated" quite often. I haven't tried it, but have been thinking about it. So, does something like this exist already?

Cameron, what you are describing sounds very much lke Mark's "Ultimate Time Management System" or maybe some versions of SuperFocus.

I'd say the only other AF versions that are as good as Simple Scanning are either FV or the original Autofocus.

I read through the UTMS. It seems to have similar attributes to my systems except that I swap the rules for the old list and the new list. The new list get worked on more often, and the old list gets the once-through treatment. Is it just me, or do many of Mark's systems emphasize backlogs more than newer stuff?

Seraphim, I did think that this sounded somewhat familiar to serial no-list. I can see the draw to such a system. Strikes a balance between starting fresh each day and having some sort of a backlog when you need it. I think it's a little too unstructured for me, but may work for some.

The link to the inverse AF4 had an interesting comment from Mark. "A constant theme of mine is that the best source of energy is to be completely on top of one's work." I was baffled when I read this because it seems an impossible goal, unless there is some serious limiting of the incoming work. I suppose DIT is all about this, but it just doesn't lend itself to my line of work.

I've decided that long lists are wonderful because they offload the task of remembering to something external. But they are not wonderful in that sometimes they feel like a taskmaster.

Mark also wrote in the link provided "Very early on in my time management experiments I found that there was an immediate increase in concentration and purpose if one just wrote down what one was going to do next before starting to do it. A No-List of one item in fact." I love this system because I don't feel the weight of the long-list and anything is fair game. But then the downfall is I have to start remembering the things I need to do.

Still not sure what I'm going to settle on for lent...