Get Everything Done

After getting into a real mess again with my tasks I returned to the comfort of simple scanning with one list.

A benefit of returning to a long list after a lay off is asking myself how I could make it work better for me.

I have been doing the following, i has been working well. Of course it could be the novelty of a new (to me) method however I have been tearing through my list so felt it worthy of sharing. I don't know if it has been covered before but I wanted to share it in case it helps:

1 -- When starting on the list for the day or after a break, select any task that you would like to work on (dot it as usual).

2 -- When you have done enough on that task, score through it, then,

3 -- The next open task below the one you have just worked on becomes the reference task BUT it is not dotted (i.e. as in FV variants where the first open item on the list is the reference task -- Mark calls it something else I think but can't recall the name right now).

4 -- Then scan through the list, asking 'what to do before X'?

5 -- Dot the item that stands out next and work on that. (It could be the reference task if, after scanning the list, it is the reference task that stands out). Then return to step 2 (unless it is the next day, or after a break in which case return to step 2).

Hope this is of some use, as always respect to Mark Forster for the core concepts.

Sorry, correction: 5 -- Dot the item that stands out next and work on that. (It could be the reference task if, after scanning the list, it is the reference task that stands out). Then return to step 2 (unless it is the next day, or after a break in which case return to step 1).

Good point Alan, I guess the next one could be selected and worked on if it immediately stands out which would probably make the method even more effective.

Updated instructions:

Step 1 -- When starting work on the list for the day or after a break, select any task that you want to work on (dot it in the usual way). When you feel that you have done enough on that task for now, score through it, rewrite it at the end of the list if necessary, then:

Step 2 -- Scan to the next open task. When the next task DOES stand out, then put a dot next to it and work on it. When you feel that you have done enough on that task for now, score through it and rewrite it at the end of the list if necessary. Then scan to the next open task. Repeat step 2 if the next open task stands out, or:

Step 3 -- When the next open task DOES NOT stand out to be worked on now, then it becomes the 'reference task', or 'X'. It is NOT dotted but is compared against other tasks as you scan the list (similar to the FV and FVP benchmark task variants which are normally at the start of the list). Scan through the list, asking 'what to do before X'?

Step 4 -- When you arrive at the item that stands out, dot it and work on that. When you feel that you have done enough on that task for now, score through it, rewrite it at the end of the list if necessary. Then:

Step 5 -- Return to step 2 (unless it is the next day, or after a break, in which case return to step 1).

Well, to me it is different because you use the next open tasks as a reference to work from instead of (as in simple scanning) scanning without a reference task. The only difference being (for efficiency and common sense) that you can work on the reference task immediately if it stands out.

* sorry, should be 'task', not 'tasks'.