Get Everything Done

Here are the rules of my new system. It's been working great for about six weeks, and I've posted on it a couple of times:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2795256
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2787870#post2795150

I have re-named it "Results That Matter (RTM)" -- since that is what it is helping me accomplish, consistently, reliably, with focus, and without overwhelm or lists that grow out of control.

Here are the rules.

-- Start with a notebook and split it into three sections of approximately equal size. (This can also be done electronically; I've had great success implementing this in Asana for work tasks.)
-- The first section is for your "New Tasks", the second section is for your "Recurring Tasks", and the third section is for your "Unfinished Tasks".
-- On the first page in the "New Tasks" section, write down about 10-20 tasks that are on your mind. As you think of other tasks or they arise in the course of your work, add them to this list.
-- Cycle through each page on the "New Tasks" section for as long as you want. Work on whatever feels ready to be worked on, for as long as you feel like working on it.
-- If you finish a task completely, cross it off the list. If it's a recurring task, re-enter it on the "Recurring" list. If you haven't finished the task, start a new page in the Unfinished section, and enter this task as the title of the new page.
-- THIS IS IMPORTANT: each task in the New and Recurring sections typically takes up one line. But in the Unfinished section, each task takes up a WHOLE PAGE.
-- When you are done cycling through the New Tasks, proceed to cycle through the Recurring Tasks, following the same rules.
-- When you are done cycling through the Recurring Tasks, proceed to cycle through the Unfinished Tasks. The rules here are different. Each unfinished task has its own page. Use the page to break down your task into steps; write notes or phone numbers or other data; make notes of progress made; whatever will help you get that task FINISHED. Don't cross out and rewrite the Unfinished Tasks -- just leave them on their original page. Cross it out only when it is completely finished.
-- When you are done cycling through the Unfinished Tasks, start again from the beginning, cycling through the New Tasks, then Recurring, then Unfinished.

When starting up at the beginning of the day, I find it best to start with the Unfinished Tasks. This has the same effect as DIT's rule to start each day with your Current Initiative -- you make significant progress on your most important work. After you've spent some time here, move on to your New Tasks and then your Recurring Tasks, and then cycle back to Unfinished, and so carry on with your day.

There are no rules that compel you to get anything done in any particular order, and no automatic dismissals or deletions. It generally works best to cycle from Unfinished to New to Recurring then back again to Unfinished, as described above. But feel free to move around the list as needed. For example, sometimes I read through the New List carefully and methodically, but other times I jump to the end where I know the most urgent tasks are waiting.

This method automatically puts repeated focus on the unfinished work till it is done. This helps optimize the overall workload -- it causes you to start large new tasks only when you are really ready and have the available bandwidth to carry forward a new commitment. It naturally optimizes your workload so you have good focus, good progress, and good responsiveness to new and urgent things. It also helps sort your daily routines; this also happens more-or-less automatically.

Sorry for the slow reply, I’ve been traveling the last 36 hours or so and just attended the first session of the annual TOCICO conference.

<< I'd be especially interested to know how many tasks you have in each section at the moment, and what the normal work flow volume for each of the three sections is. >>

I have two different notebooks, one for work and one for personal.

The work notebook is implemented in Asana. The task count breaks down as follows:
⁃ 40 new
⁃ 28 recurring
⁃ 13 unfinished

The personal notebook is a simple Moleskine paper notebook:
⁃ 74 new
⁃ 24 recurring
⁃ 16 unfinished

I probably have at least a dozen new urgent tasks show up on each New list every day, and those get taken care of in short order.

The recurring tasks tend to be fairly stable. Sometimes, if i find myself resisting some recurring task (it lingers on the list even after everything else on the page has been completed), this prompts me to consider whether or not I actually need to do it on a recurring basis. This leads to me re-factoring and improving my basic systems and routines. This has been very useful and fruitful.

The unfinished tasks are generally a combination of a few important initiatives that are going to take me several days or even a week or two to finish, combined with other medium-sized tasks that will get done within a day or two. Sometimes these latter tasks are unfinished only because I am waiting on somebody else for something. It works great. For the larger initiatives, it gives me a great sense of how much work I’ve currently got going right now – how many plates I am spinning – and ensures I make a good consistent progress on them. For the smaller unfinished things, it ensures that I get closure on quickly and efficiently.

The new tasks generally don’t stand out, unless they are urgent, or unless my unfinished tasks have made good progress, and I’ve opened up some mental bandwidth to deal with something new. And when that happens, I usually already have a pretty good idea of what new tasks should be activated, since I have been reviewing them repeatedly.


<< Do you find that RTM overcomes this problem, and is capable of dealing with this volume of tasks? Or does it naturally restrict the number you are actually engaging with at any one time? >>

It naturally restricts the number of tasks. This happens automatically, without any conscious effort. The system keeps me aware of my total current workload and total current backlog of tasks waiting to be started. The system causes me to consider any new ideas that come along within that context.

DIT had a similar effect, but I think it’s even more pronounced and more effective with this new system.

I’m still open to new ideas, but much more selective about them. I find myself automatically evaluating new ideas and new opportunities within the context of everything I already have on my plate.

Perhaps surprisingly, I think it’s actually improving my creativity. It seems similar to the positive effect that constraints and boundaries (even artificial ones) can have on artistic creativity.


<< I think this would be very easy to implement in Roam Research and similar. No need for individual pages - just put any comments, background, sub-lists, phone numbers, etc, in as collapsible bullet points. >>

Yes I think that could work very well!

vegheadjones - Glad you like it! Thanks for pointing that out! It seems to solve lots of problems like that.

Jacqueline -

It was interesting to read those posts from the early AF days -- we had so many interesting discussions.

Yes, I can see how RTM feels similar to the A-book / C-book method. The Unfinished list tends to collect the "A" tasks, and the Recurring and New collects the "C" tasks. It's helpful to keep them separated.

Yes, I like how RTM gives clarity on your overall workload. And it just arises naturally.

Yes, Autofocus Condensed seems similar to Serial No List. I even found one of my own old posts in that thread, where I was doing a Serial No Listy kind of thing with AF1 -- just turning to the last page and entering whatever tasks were on my mind, and starting from that.

I still do that with RTM, if I have been away from my list for a couple days for whatever reason. I just do a mind dump onto the New list, and then start scanning Unfinished to start my day as usual.

This might create duplicate items on the New list that are already on the Unfinished list, but that's OK -- it's easy enough to delete the new item when I eventually get to it. The act of writing down whatever is on my mind helps prime the scanning process, so when I see those duplicate items, they really jump out at me.

Margaret1 -
<< I'd be very interested to know what you believe are the similarities and differences between Serial No List and RTM. I think perhaps RTM makes you more accountable about finishing what you've started. >>

Interesting question -- I have been asking myself the same thing from time to time. :-)

The nice thing about SNL is that it is always fresh and engaging, since it is just capturing whatever is top-of-mind and helping you focus on that.

Usually this corresponds to the Unfinished and the Urgent.

But RTM is better at follow-through and completion. With SNL, if I neglected some unfinished task for 2-3 days (because of other new priorities or just interesting new ideas or whatever), that unfinished task would start to fade into the background, and I would lose momentum on it -- mentally and physically. RTM is better at keeping those unfinished things in the forefront and prompting me to complete them.

SNL is very good at getting things STARTED. If I have some new urgent task or new idea, I can just write it down on the today list, and get going with it. But SNL is not very good at gauging the impact of this behavior on the rest of my WIP. It just pushes the other WIP into the background. And maybe that isn't the best thing.

RTM always puts a little time buffer in between capturing some new urgent task or idea, and actually taking action on it. I always start my day with the Unfinished tasks, even if I have captured some new or urgent things on the New list. I am confident I will get to them early in the day, so if they are really urgent, they won't get missed. But by starting with the Unfinished, I get a stronger sense of being "grounded" with my existing commitments and focus. And then when I do review the new tasks, I can assess them intuitively and naturally in that larger context. They often don't turn out to be as urgent or as interesting as they first appeared.

There is an occasional problem with RTM -- if I am away from the list for an extended period, because of all-day meetings or illness or whatever -- it can start to feel kind of stale, and it can be hard to re-engage with the list. So in these situations, I borrow the idea from SNL of just writing down whatever is top of mind -- writing all this on the New list. This starts getting my intuition engaged and flowing again. Then I start up the day with the Unfinished list, and it all starts to come alive again -- having been primed by the mind-dump activity. When I do come to reviewing those mind-dump tasks on my New list, I find many of them are duplicates, so I just delete them. They served their purpose -- to get me started and re-engage my mind and intuition.

So I guess the main thing about both of these methods is the idea of keeping things alive and engaging to the intuition. It is the energy that fuels both systems. But RTM is better at directing that energy to the Unfinished list, which is usually where the most impactful work is sitting. SNL directs that energy to whatever latest idea comes into my head -- which can be useful but also distracting.

Ians -
<< Seems like a very good way of germinating emergent goals >>
Yes! It is very good at that.

<< Going to give it a go anyway. >>
Great! Please let us know how it turns out for you.

Haha, maybe Remember the Milk is why nobody has grabbed the moniker Results that Matter before now.

Alan Baljeu -
<< Am I the only one who can't help but think Remember the Milk? >>

I was having a discussion about RTM with ChatGPT and it forget what RTM stood for. It started calling it "Real Time Management", as in "real-time" time management, as in the system adapts "in real time" to whatever is going on in your life. Pretty good name actually. Also contrasts nicely with "fake" time management, whatever that is. Hahaha

Margaret1 -
<< I haven't tried RTM yet because I can't decide what kind of notebook to use >>

Haha, I had the same struggle. It's amazing how these little things can create becomes such large obstacles.

I was talking with my wife about how my work implementation of RTM (in Asana on my laptop, since we use Asana for everything at work) sometimes creates a conflict with my personal/home implementation of RTM (in a Moleskine notebook). Explaining this conflict out loud made it sound kind of silly, just like you were describing. :-) But it led to a good discussion about doing a "hard stop" on Asana at the end of the work day, and how we can check in with each other to keep each other on track.

Mike Brown --

Are you giving RTM a spin? Would love to hear any feedback you have!

Alan -

<< Okay I am adapting this to my context and we'll see if it has a positive impact >>

Great! I am excited to hear what comes of it!

Jacqueline --

<< I didn't split out the sections as instructed in the beginning, but can see why it is best to do so >>

Yes, AF4R originally just had you create new pages as you needed them, of whatever type (in AF4R it was New, Old, Recurring, Unfinished). But then the pages would be all mixed together and you'd have to flip pages a lot. "Discombobulated" is a good word for it. :)

I discovered by accident how much more visible it makes the flow (and problems with the flow) when you actually keep these things in their own separate sections. It's especially helpful for the Unfinished. It's not just less page flipping, but a lot more clarity as to what is happening with your WIP and overall flow of work.


<< I really REALLY like it >>

Very glad to hear it! This system continues to grow on me, I am really enjoying it myself. :)


<< I really like the daily recurring to be split out >>

I really like that idea, it makes a lot of sense.


<< Love the agenda of the TOCICO conference Seraphim - it sounds like a lot of fun and hope you can share some insights from your sessions! >>

It was great! I've been kind of obsessed with TOC (Theory of Constraints) since I was first introduced to it in ~2016. A lot of the principles are actually implicit in RTM -- the idea of limiting WIP, throttling new work to ensure it stays apace with your system's constraint, buffers, flow, etc., as well as eliminating all kinds of conflicts.

This was the first time I had attended the TOCICO conference in person, though I have attended virtually several times. I'll have to write more about it -- and hopefully you can write more about your "stock activities". :) I really enjoy options trading -- it is a great experiment in epistemology and self-discovery, and even profitable sometimes! :)

"If you don't know who you are, the stock market is an expensive place to find out" - Adam Smith, "The Money Game"

Voluntas --

Thanks for the trip down memory lane! It was interesting to re-read that discussion.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2782266

There was quite a bit of discussion there about "how to get sharp focus to bring things to completion, while maintaining awareness of the overall demands on our time and attention". This was exactly the thing that was bothering me that caused me to latch onto RTM when I realized it addresses this problem straight on. RTM's three lists capture all the different aspects of this problem and make it all very visible.

It's so interesting to see how these things have developed over time, and how relatively small changes to a system can have powerful emergent properties.


<< In particular, I noticed that your Unfinished section only contains items that *could be finished* at some point! … I just scanned my own system and found 0 tasks that could potentially be finished ever. >>

Yes, I remember the first time I tried AF4R -- which has a separate list for recurring tasks -- I was astonished how many of my tasks ended up on that list. It really seemed like a lot of overhead. It made me want to reduce those down, and get more focus on the "stuff that matters", that will really help drive improvement and accomplishment. When they are all mixed in with all the other tasks, it's much harder to see the impact they have.

Now that the recurring items are kept separate, it's much easier to see the larger percentage of time that gets devoted to them. Another interesting thing -- with RTM, I tend to gravitate toward these recurring tasks when I want to take a break and do something easy and routine. It's kind of relaxing (unless they turn into a backlog).

So I can see why I would gravitate to them in a system that has one undifferentiated list. The rest of the list has all the challenging stuff full of problems and conflicts. It's much easier to clear out my email or take out the trash than try to resolve those conflicts.

I think this is one reason it is so effective for me to split out these things onto the three separate lists.

Alan Baljeu --

<< those mega tasks that never will finish >>

What kind of tasks do you have in mind here? The only thing I can think of is maybe something like ongoing professional development, or learning a language, or something like that (not connected with a specific class or book).

It seems like almost all of my recurring routine tasks are things like email, laundry, dishes, small household maintenance tasks, prep for recurring meetings, etc. I wouldn't call any of them "mega".

I'm not saying "mega" is invalid -- I'm just trying to get a better sense what kind of things you would put in that category.

Manuel Gurrola -

<< I created two lists: Tasks and Habits. Habits is what I called your 'Recurring' tasks. >>

<< What I'm trying to do here is create a balance between doing old (difficult, high resistance) tasks, new (emergent, urgent) tasks and the daily chores of life. >>

It seems like many of us have struck upon these same themes.


<< And since I'm using Evernote, all tasks are actually notes with "infinite" space to put updates and information. >>

I've often used OneNote in a similar way, though right now I am using a Planner Pad for home, and Asana for work.


<< My system works fine but sometimes I still encounter big resistance and low energy/willpower. >>

I haven't run into that yet with RTM. Sometimes a prescriptive set of rules -- even simple rules like a scanning algorithm -- can generate some of this resistance. The rules conflict with what we intuitively know needs to be done. That's why I wanted to have a general idea of how to scan my list (starting with Unfinished, then New, then Recurring, then cycle from Unfinished again), but the system should specifically allow you to float around the lists however you feel you need to.


<< I'm going to try your system. >>

Glad to hear it! Let us all know how it works out for you!


<< Specially for my personal life, because at work I have not much decision over priorities and what I work on. >>

Interesting that you should mention that. Several people have commented (here and in personal conversations) that they need a time management system for all their personal stuff, but at work it's much simpler and they don't need it. I don't remember this theme being so prominent before.

Alan Baljeu -

Thanks for the examples and clarification. I will try to answer!


<< I am trying to clarify the meaning of Recurring and Unfinished… >>

Let me start by saying that, in general, I try not to think ahead of time where the task will eventually land, or whether it will be Unfinished or Recurring. Everything just starts out as an item on my New list. After I am done working on it, if it is something that I need to repeat indefinitely, it goes onto the Recurring list. If it is something that has an end, that can eventually be called "done", but I didn't finish it yet, then it goes on the Unfinished list. The rules are really that simple.

Sometimes I put something on my Unfinished list, and later I realize it needs to be a regular repeating routine. So I refactor it into the appropriate recurring tasks.

Sometimes the opposite happens. I realize I don't want to keep doing something indefinitely -- I want to bring it to some kind of conclusion. I either want to get it done and never do it again. Or I want to make the thing into an automatic habit that doesn't need to be on any of my lists.

It all tends to emerge over time very naturally.


<< I would suppose that Going to Work, Volunteering, Specified time with relatives, your big hobby commitment would all qualify as Recurring, and ultimately everything that needs regular attention and is roughly scheduled and routine. >>

I have a few things like that:

"Lunch with Aunt M." - this went on the recurring list for awhile, but now we just set the next lunch date at the end of our lunch, so there is no need to track a task for it.

"Help D. with homework" - I did have something like this on my recurring list, but eventually dropped it, because it just became automatic. If some topic needs special attention, it goes on my New list.

The other things (volunteering, work, etc.) -- I don't feel a need to prompt myself to think about them. The tasks and tensions that I write on my list, all emerge naturally during the course of the activities themselves. If I were afraid of forgetting about them, then yes I could see the utility of adding a recurring task to make sure I remember.



<< Understand I am coming from my LAPS system, whose key elements I am not abandoning, and specifically I mean to keep explicit attention on each of the major areas of your life. >>

I went back and re-read some of your posts on this topic:
-- http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2793036
-- http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/5/guest-post-how-to-pursue-all-your-goals.html

Here is how I would handle some of the kinds of things you listed:

=== Unfinished ===
Here are some of the things you listed, which I would put on the Unfinished list:
-- Resolve issues with weight, low energy, persistent inflammation
-- Get finances in order
-- Expand and improve my social engagement post-COVID

I would want to *complete* all these things at some point -- bring them to a level of success that I can call them "done". They might also spin off additional tasks and routines that would end up on the Recurring list until they become automatic habits.


=== Recurring ===
Here are some things you listed:
-- << Chores - things that need to be maintained regularly. Dishes. Email. >>
-- << Better Life - where I review the balance of all my Life Areas, and how I feel about it all. Make sure there’s enough fun and meaning in life, and that my goals are serving me. >>

As you noted, I put individual chores on my Recurring list. I also have one or two recurring items like "walk around the house", where I literally just walk around the house a bit and see what I can do to put things in better order.

I also have some things like "Better Life" on my Recurring list. For example, I have something called "Think about the Big Picture". When that task stands out, I take a few minutes and write down larger goals and ideas that occur to me. I put some of them on my New list for consideration.

I used to have something called "Weekly Review", where I would go over my list and think about whatever conflicts and problems are arising there. But I found this recurring task to be kind of artificial. Instead, I have found it more natural to address the conflicts and issues when they actually arise:
-- If some of the Unfinished items seem to be getting stuck, I write down a New task like "Refactor Unfinished" or "Unfinished is stuck", or maybe I just write down some of the specific things that are bothering me about it. When those stands out, I try to get a sense where things are going wrong. Maybe I started some tasks that really don't need to be finished. Maybe I need to break them down differently, or refactor them. Maybe one of them is too big, and I need to break it up into smaller pieces. Maybe I just need to delete a couple of things. It helps me think about how it all ties together and relates to my larger goals.
-- If the New list seems to be getting too long or stale, I do the same thing -- I usually call it "Refactor the New List". I try to see if there are any patterns. I try to see what larger commitments and goals are behind the tasks, and see if some of these could / should be pruned. Once, I just "declared a backlog" and started a brand-new New list, and put everything else onto a backlog. Reviewing that backlog went onto my Unfinished list, until I had processed everything and decided what to do with it. A lot of stuff got deleted. I ended up with much more focus and clarity about my larger goals.
-- If the Recurring list is getting stuck -- spending too much time there, or some tasks just resisting any action -- then I do the same thing, add "Refactor Recurring" to New. When that stands out, I think through it, follow my intuition, try to decide what the problem is. Often this leads to improving some basic systems or routines, or just cancelling some altogether.

One specific example -- reading material. I was putting work-related books and articles onto my New list (in Asana, which I use for work). But they were becoming too numerous and cluttering up the list. When I did my "Refactor the New List" task, it became clear I needed a different way of handling the reading material. I ended up creating a completely separate list of reading material, and a new recurring task "Do some background reading". The reading list is also organized into "New" and "Unfinished" groups. Articles and shorter things usually stay on this Background Reading list. But when I start a new book, it goes onto my general Unfinished list. This new system works quite well. It keeps my general New list sharp and focused; it gives me an orderly way to work through the articles that grab my attention; and it helps me actually stay focused on 1-2 books at a time and go deeper into each of them, rather than scattering my attention across 15-20 books at a time like I used to do.


=== New ===
You mentioned a "Miscellaneous" category -- << a place to throw all those tasks that don’t have a defined goal >>. I'd just enter all those onto my "New" list".


=== Not clear / "it depends" ===
<< Software development for business prospects is advancing too slowly. Get back on track and make concrete advancements >>
If this is a one-time thing to "get it back on track", as you say, and get it jumpstarted, then it would end up on the Unfinished list, where I'd work through it till it's done. That might result in some new specific Recurring tasks to KEEP it on track.


<< Grow in my faith -- put it into action >>
If this something that needs new specific focused attention -- to get some new habits established, to get it back on track -- then I'd handle it like the Software Development, above.

If things are already on track and I just want to have some regular tickler to think about these things, and I don't really see that this process would ever finish, then I'd put it on my recurring list.


<< How good do I feel? >>
I think you are referring to the process Mark describes here:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/25/the-most-important-thing-ive-ever-written.html

Whenever I use that process, it's generally for a temporary period when I am feeling off kilter about something and want to get in tune with my intuitive sense of the situation. So it would end up on the Unfinished list, until I am feeling better about things and don't need to ask this question anymore.

If I wanted to make it a part of my ongoing routine with no intention to drop it, then I'd put it on Recurring.


<< Process -- I review how well the system is functioning and to adjust; not only the system above, but all systems in my life, rules, and how I apply them. >>
As I wrote above, this usually emerges naturally in the course of things getting stuck. When things get stuck, or something about my life or systems or routine is bothering me, I write out that tension as a task on my New list. Sometimes it is surprising that I can clear a tension like that in one sitting, but if not, it would end up on my Unfinished list, and stay there till I get it sorted out.


Does that help?

Brent, Erin, Alan -

Glad to hear that you are giving it a try!

Please let me know how it works out for you!

It's great to see all these updates! I started a new thread in case anyone else wants to report how RTM is working for you.

http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2795750

Jacqueline -
<< dropped to 13 items from 17 a couple of weeks ago since the system forced the question of why I was doing some things this regularly or at all >>

Yes! I have been doing the same thing. The system prompts you to refactor / rethink some of your basic routines like that. Whenever something gets stuck on the recurring list, this seems to just happen automatically after awhile.

Arneo K --
<< I am trying the RTM System. >>

Thanks for giving it a try! Let us know how it works out for you.


<< But also curious how do you keep track of your Daily/ Weekly/ Monthly/ Quarterly and Yearly goals Seraphim. >>

Good question. I usually just put my goals onto my list and see what emerges.

Sometimes I like to use this exercise of Greg McKeown:
http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140715134701-8353952-the-most-important-hour-of-your-life/

Here are the steps, quoted from the article:

Step 1: If possible get out into nature where you can feel the natural pace of the earth and not the hyperactive and inhumane pace of modern life.

Step 2: Write down the question “What would I do if I only had a week left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

Step 3: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a month left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

Step 4: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a year left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

Step 5: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had five years left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

Step 6: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a life left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

Step 7: Finally, take 10 minutes to reread all of your answers while asking yourself, “How can I design my routine this week to more closely align with these answers?”


This helps put things into the proper perspective.


Also, Alan's approach seems very reasonable! I might give it a try. :)

Arneo K:

<< One roadblock I am hitting on RTM is that once I move to Unfinished Tasks section, I start writing any other task that might come to me mind at the moment I am on a particular page of an Unfinished Task. >>

I'd say you are using the system incorrectly. Each page in the Unfinished Tasks section is intended for working through the specific unfinished task, not for catching unrelated new tasks.

Unrelated new tasks should be captured in the New section.


<< Also, the physical act of moving from one section to other feels like a "resistance" in itself. >>

Yes, page flipping can be a distraction. But you can try to reframe this into a positive instead of a negative. You can use the resistance to help you focus on one area at a time (Unfinished, Recurring, or New).