Get Everything Done

I'm currently reading "How to Make Your Dreams Come True" for the first time and find the ideas really attractive. (About halfway through.) I'm curious how the ideas presented in the book tie in with one of Mark's many productivity system, for example simple scanning. Does the vision provide the road map of instructions to the subconscious mind that allows for the "right things" to stand out while simply scanning, so that you make progress toward your dreams?

I remember Mark writing something about sometimes we need to give our subconscious mind better instructions. Is the "dreams" method, one way of doing this?

Right now it seems to me that at the time Mark was writing the book, he was using a no-list method—just doing what he felt like doing because that's what his dreams were suggesting he should do—but not necessarily using a written list. Perhaps I'm wrong.

>> Does the vision provide the road map of instructions to the subconscious mind that allows for the "right things" to stand out while simply scanning, so that you make progress toward your dreams? <<

Yes, and also the "right ideas" appear on the list (Well, in your mind and on your list if you write them down then.)

Pull-Mode is a real thing. I felt it. You will know when you feel it. Sisc is a good system for combination with the Future Vision/Current Reality Exercise.

"What's Better?" also proved to be powerful to me. It made me leave my last job. People there were too negative, I couldn't relate to them anymore. It makes happier.

Cool stuff!

I just have tasks on my list: "review vision", "update vision and current reality", "What's Better?"

Hi Mark,

I'm curious about the mix of Simple Scanning and Dreams. I have been using Simple Scanning and in the last week or so picked up the exercises in Dreams again. The Dreams exercises are tasks on my Simple Scanning list. I had thought that the Dreams work would inform my intuition when it came to what stood out on the list. Do you think they would actually interfere with each other or conflict on some way?

Many thanks

Matt

Thanks Mark,

Glad to hear you never tried it and rejected it for some reason.

So far I love the introspection and intention of Dreams and the comfort of having everything remembered on a long list. I'll keep going and see how it goes.

Matt

I am currently using FVP alongside the Dreams exercises. I think the slight structure of FVP will keep me out of drift mode until my goals are defined clearly enough for me to get to Pull mode.

Matt I would be very interested to hear how Dreams + simple scanning work for you, maybe we ca check in on a weekly basis?

Hi vegheadjones,

Likewise I'm curious how FVP and Dreams work for you. I think, ultimately, I'd love to find Pull mode and be able to live in flow without any other sort of system.

I like the idea of keeping in touch from time to time but I'm reluctant to agree to a regular check-in. Not because I'm not interested, but because I'm not sure I want to add another accountability to my list. I think the spirit of what I am trying to do, or we're both trying to do, suggests I should check in or add to this thread when I have the intuition to do so. I have plenty of other obligations to judge the success of this way of working against :-)

For what it's worth, here is how things are for me right now:

- I use Simple Scanning. Currently I put everything in here, even retrospectively. I have it electronically so I can use it wherever I go, since my phone is pretty much always with me. This gives me the peace of mind of knowing I have things remembered.
- I work either intuitively or from the list. This means if I have a strong feeling to do something right now, and it's not just goofing off, then I'll do that and retrospectively update my SS list. Sometimes this leads to me drifting on to other things. When I realise I have drifted I go back to the list.
- When I work from the list I feel fairly productive. Sometimes I worry that I am avoiding the big stuff. This can lead to me wanting to plan or schedule important things as a kind or reaction to the unstructured way of working that the list represents. I sometimes actually do this by making a plan or a schedule in my calendar. I rarely follow the plan or the schedule, usually going back to the list and just being more aware of what I am doing. It seems the planning alone is enough to ease my concern.
- For me, I think I am hoping that Dreams will allow me to understand what I want in the longer term. This will then prevent my periodic planning and scheduling panics because the long term perspective will inform what stands out for me on my list and so I will feel both productive and feel I am growing towards my desired future self.

Let me know how you're getting on, vegheadjones, and all being well I'll drop updates on here from time to time.

Matt

Hi friends.

I'm using Dreams along 5T, from "Secrets of Productive People". Mixing the time management method, questioning techniques and Dreams is a good method for me.

Hi,

I thought I would post quickly on my dreams process (or lack thereof).

I had created and revised my future vision and present reality over a few day period and had done two “sessions” with my future self and then kinda freaked out.

Upon reflection, I realized that I was not yet ready for pull mode. I need to get back from drift to push mode and work within the system that I am in. At the same time I am keeping up with a “what’s better” daily practice and doing simple scanning on a pretty exhaustive list whenever I have unstructured time.

I am hoping this combination will lead to me getting to the headspace I need to go full on “dreams” again :)

Mark, thanks for your response. And to others for your insights. Matt, we appear to be similar in nature. I use simple scanning because I love having everything out of my head and in a single system. But I have felt the need to focus on getting clear on my goals and dreams for life. I also have had some stress lately that I feel like I'm not focusing on the big stuff and sometimes abandon my simple scanning to work on that. I think sometimes I worry that the minor stuff that stands out is going to take away from the most important stuff that needs lots of time dedicated to it. I think for me it's coming down to a question of "does the item need to be on my list at all?" This is a very hard judgment call to make sometimes.

One more thought...

I've just gone done perusing some previous posts from years ago. I came across the three-tasks system which seems to focus on completion. I think one of the main reasons I've struggled to use simple scanning consistently for long periods of time is that I have a hard time actually completing items on the list. I have tried some forms of "completion-centric" systems over the years, and have enjoyed that feeling of completion.

I couldn't get the link to three-tasks time management system to work. But it appears that it can be used with any system. I'm curious how to use three-tasks with simple scanning. In the past I've tried using basically a Kanban system, where I scan through my "backlog" using simple scanning until something stands out. Then I move it to a different list (digital) that only has three items in it. I then treat the three-item list as a simple scanning list, and move through it doing what stands out. But it seems that the three-tasks list you keep the three-tasks on the original list, and just dot them? Then move through them without rewriting them until they are done?

I'm a little concerned about three-tasks being able to react to urgent items though, but I suppose the current three-tasks need to be bite-sized enough to allow for urgent tasks to be worked into quickly. Thoughts?

Hi all,

Some rambling thoughts below :)

I find these comments thought-provoking. I often think of Mark's push-pull-drift description too, Vegheadjones. These days I tend to think of it as the balance between insecurity and security. There are well-meaning parts of us that fear the unknown and the changes in life and want to control them through trying to push the world around. Then I think most of us will have experienced, at one time or another, a deeper, calmer, more connected sense of being relaxed and at home in the world. In this place the unknown is OK, and changes are just fine, and we seem to have the capacity to navigate life more smoothly and effortlessly. Another way I have heard it put is that sometimes we are sailing before the wind and sometimes we have to knuckle down and row. This, I think, is the balance we have both mentioned, Cameron.

In terms of Simple Scanning and the Dreams work I am still mixing the two. For a while they seemed separate exercises but now I am deliberately bringing the images, feeling and ideas of the vision into my list. That means my list has some quite big, vague, touchy-feely things on it. But it also means that I see them frequently and they form part of my list of daily possibilities, rather than a separate dream written in a journal somewhere.

Another analogy, sorry. I'm thinking of my list as sewing seeds. Some will grow and some won't but I feel no need to filter, I just sew the seeds and see what happens. This analogy stretches to the nature of the tasks on my list. Because I have this image of the list as a garden, I'm less tempted to plant weeds. For example, as escape activities I used to have things like 'TV' or 'Netflix' on my list. But just sitting in front of the telly generally feels a bit meh after a while. So now, if I am interested in a specific program it goes on my list, but generally watching TV doesn't. Gradually the contents of my list grows more and more positive. (a beneficial side effect is my Netflix sub is sometimes cancelled and only activated when I actually want to watch something)

I still freely use the options of doing something now if it feels right to do so and adding things as appointments to my calendar if that seems appropriate. This, I think, keeps the urge to 'push' under control.

Hope all that make some sense

Matt