Discussion Forum > The AutoFocus 2 Algorithm is winning for me
What do you think is the main reason AF2 is working for you where other approaches were not?
May 29, 2021 at 21:50 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Aaron,
I think it is simply working backward after a full read through the list at the beginning of the day. FIFO does a great job of keeping me on top of the most recent things but the morning review LIFO gives me an intuitive boost to some of the older things. I don't stricly work either FIFO or LIFO but I favor leaning FIFO.
The dismissal rule is something I 'm honoring as well. Although I have noticed that to avoid dismissing someting I simply do a little bit on it so it moves forward and goes to the end of the list. I have dismissed a few items but not many. I've actually pushed some along. Having said that, I'm only dismissing items on the paper list as of yet.
I think it is simply working backward after a full read through the list at the beginning of the day. FIFO does a great job of keeping me on top of the most recent things but the morning review LIFO gives me an intuitive boost to some of the older things. I don't stricly work either FIFO or LIFO but I favor leaning FIFO.
The dismissal rule is something I 'm honoring as well. Although I have noticed that to avoid dismissing someting I simply do a little bit on it so it moves forward and goes to the end of the list. I have dismissed a few items but not many. I've actually pushed some along. Having said that, I'm only dismissing items on the paper list as of yet.
June 1, 2021 at 17:31 |
Brent
Brent
AF2 like all systems (so far) has its good and bad points.
Good:
It is brilliant for urgent stuff and for keeping the momentum going on tasks and projects which you have started.
Not so good:
It concentrates on the last part of the list, and requires a conscious effort to start work on stuff near the beginning.
Bad:
Too long a list will either slow it right down or result in the early part of your list being entirely neglected.
Overall:
To make it work well, keep the list well trimmed and take the dismissal process seriously. The dismissal process is unique to this system and is designed to give some motivation to scanning back to the beginning of the list on occasions.
Good:
It is brilliant for urgent stuff and for keeping the momentum going on tasks and projects which you have started.
Not so good:
It concentrates on the last part of the list, and requires a conscious effort to start work on stuff near the beginning.
Bad:
Too long a list will either slow it right down or result in the early part of your list being entirely neglected.
Overall:
To make it work well, keep the list well trimmed and take the dismissal process seriously. The dismissal process is unique to this system and is designed to give some motivation to scanning back to the beginning of the list on occasions.
June 2, 2021 at 13:02 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Brent:
<< FIFO does a great job of keeping me on top of the most recent things but the morning review LIFO gives me an intuitive boost to some of the older things. >>
Did you get that the wrong way round?
<< FIFO does a great job of keeping me on top of the most recent things but the morning review LIFO gives me an intuitive boost to some of the older things. >>
Did you get that the wrong way round?
June 2, 2021 at 13:05 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark,
Yes! I did swap my FIFO LIFO acronyms. Whoops.
I tend to agree with your assessment of good, not so good and bad. I am learning that dismissing is hard but necessary. Another thing I'm noticing is that I am succeeding better with a smaller pocket notebook. Even though the rules state that pages of a notebook are no longer treated as units in the algorithm, subconsciously, a page with only one or two remaining items on it stands out differently. With smaller pages this happens more often. My notebook has 15 lines per page. It sort of gamifies it for me to dismiss or do the items on the older pages because I can stop reviewing the page all together.
Having said that, I just started using the notebook with front to back being personal items and back to front listing work items. keeping them combined made it harder to remove a page from the process.
Brent
Yes! I did swap my FIFO LIFO acronyms. Whoops.
I tend to agree with your assessment of good, not so good and bad. I am learning that dismissing is hard but necessary. Another thing I'm noticing is that I am succeeding better with a smaller pocket notebook. Even though the rules state that pages of a notebook are no longer treated as units in the algorithm, subconsciously, a page with only one or two remaining items on it stands out differently. With smaller pages this happens more often. My notebook has 15 lines per page. It sort of gamifies it for me to dismiss or do the items on the older pages because I can stop reviewing the page all together.
Having said that, I just started using the notebook with front to back being personal items and back to front listing work items. keeping them combined made it harder to remove a page from the process.
Brent
June 2, 2021 at 18:36 |
Brent
Brent
Until this week.
I have been following AF2 rules this week and I really quite like it. It holds up to interruptions quite well. and is actually a good way to do multiple list processing for me as well.
While I'm doing this with a main paper notebook, I am using the AF2 algorithm on multiple lists. My email "list", a digital project list and the paper notebook list. I'm treating the paper list as the "home-base" list that will have a task that says do email list or do digital project lists. When ever I'm done working with a task, I start back at the paper list and it directs me as needed.
This flexibility and algorithm seems to be working quite well for me because I spend a lot of time with interruptions, emails and project plans. It is nice to have a base point each time I start.