Get Everything Done

Fun idea!

Best when you know you need a change, but you don't know what it is:
How to Make your Dreams come True, Mark Forster

Best for Goal Setting: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day, Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

Best for life advice: 4000 Weeks, Oliver Burkman

Best Little-Known book: Making it All Work, David Allen

The book with the greatest padding : useful content ratio

The Five Second Rule, Mel Robbins

(The rule appears as 3 paragraphs in Steve Peters' The Chimp Paradox)

For the neuro-diverse folks I've been really enjoying this one:

Order from Chaos: The Everyday Grind of Staying Organized with Adult ADHD By Jaclyn Paul

It is mostly GTD type tips but she presents some really helpful and thought provoking stories about how some of us think differently.

Brent

(Apologies for post length; this is a revision of a blog post I wrote)

For a book that made me think differently about tasks and productivity, I'd suggest skimming _Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More_ by Elizabeth Emens.

The book has helped me see the admin in my life–and who does it–differently. So while I can’t say it was a great book (I skimmed and skipped whole sections of it), I can say it was a very *useful* book and it has affected how I think about and approach the work I–and others–do.

_Life Admin_ is a book for the normal people who have never heard of and don’t care about GTD or Pomodoros or Bullet Journals. It’s a book for people like the author: an overworked, overbusy, single working mom who faces a world of administrivia and wonders, “How do people *do* it all?”

Emens’ chief innovation, for me, was separating the idea of “admin” as a concept and type of work all on its own, from the tasks that it supports. Grocery shopping is a task; figuring out what the meals will be this week and creating the grocery list is the admin. Admin is the work *around* the work.

For instance, she breaks household projects down into three key parts: “planning/research, decision-making, and execution.” Most people think of the execution as the task, but that's usually the least of it; what winds up happening is all of that work usually falls to one person.

She writes: "If you want to share a project, decide who does each part. For instance, one person can do the front-end research, and the other can do the back-end implementation. You can make the decisions together or make one person the decider."

This quote illustrates one of the key differences of Emens’ book from typical productivity tomes. The latter are focused on how the individual can organize and optimize their environment. But _Life Admin_ focuses on how people deal with admin while in relationship to other people, and how some partners -– no matter how they feel about admin -– bear the burden of domestic admin, child care admin, meals admin, bill-paying admin, etc. These are mainly women in heterosexual unions, but even in gay or polyamory relationships, Emens makes the point there is typically one person who does the admin.

Emens discovers in her surveys and focus groups, and in her own life, people vary in their emotional reactions to the idea of admin, from dread to denial to grim stoicism to not-a-big-deal to actual enjoyment. Each person in a relationship needs to understand how their partner views admin so they can set their expectations of each other (and the task( accordingly.

Somehow making that admin visible -– or seen as relevant –- to partners who deny or simply don’t care about the importance of admin, is also a key theme of the book.

I resonated with Emens' point about how admin can be “sticky”: whoever does a particular admin chore first is often stuck with the job whether they like it or not, whether it’s dealing with the landlord or planning the kids’ play dates. In my own life, my wife did all the admin related to the utility bills because they were in her name when I moved in with her. I now also consciously take the lead, for example, in helping with meal planning and grocery-listing when I realized how much I was taking that admin for granted and how frustrating my wife was finding it.

Avrum -

I just officially finished "Order from Chaos". It had lots of familiar stuff but my top two take-a-ways were 1) the importance of keeping things visual and not "out of sight out of mind" and 2) the pros and cons of hyper-focus and how to break out of it if it isn't meeting your goals.

Sometimes being able to focus on a single project for long hours is considered a "super-power" and can produce some amazing results. Sometimes that hyper focus can be a take us further away from our goals. I'm frankly fascinated by the focusing subject lately and have been searching around to learn more about it. So far, I think my approach to go deeper on that topic has been a healthy one :) but who knows....

I have found more practical help on this forum and Mark Forster's blog than in any one book.
Some of the books that have been mentioned here I have read and enjoyed.
However, the more the book is a complete system I find the more difficult it is to implement.
If the author uses peculiar language unique to the particular system, the language needs to decoded. This is perhaps necessary at times.
I find David Allen's books to be intellectually satisfying, and as a framework it is useful, but it is difficult to implement all at once. It is like a beginner learning to play tennis by reading a book written by a Wimbledon champion, or learning to play piano from a book written by a concert pianist describing his advanced techniques.

The methods here such as Simple Scanning, No-list, FVP, and dynamic lists are easier to understand and implement, and can be combined. This is enough to get started and it can keep evolving. The forum has hacks and tips that are concrete, but are perhaps too much so to be put in book form. I have recently read through previous posts, and will come across tips that I have adopted and continue to use. I have used some version of a long list for about 10 years. I also use a No-list, FVP, and dynamic list when I feel the need, and then I return to the long list. Scheduling timeblocks to focus or brainstorm (a la Cal Newport) hasn't worked for me, and I might pick an afternoon to do what comes to me, unscheduled. One gets better at it too, and I have found myself devising workarounds, and combining long list with other methods.

Perhaps Mark Forster's best ideas are his most recent ones on the blog and forum since his books have been published. (?)

The book "Making It Work" by David Allen has been mentioned in posts in this thread.
I own the book, and I have been re-reading it lately.
I also have the book "Getting Things Done for Teens". This book has charts and pictures and graphs to make more appealing to teenagers.
I am impressed with these books, and David Allen is good at explaining, and is comprehensive - he doesn't seem to have left anything out. As a intellectual framework it is very good, and can be inspiring and motivating and give mental order to the process. He likely has had much experience in coaching which has sharpened his understanding and communicating and given it a comprehensiveness which is awe-inspiring.
However - what is presented is an ideal that is perhaps never achieved but only approximated. It is at an advanced skill level, which probably needs years to learn, about something that is done. It is not just an intellectual system like a philosophy or theology. It results in activity and productivity. So for a beginner or novice, GTD might be overwhelming and discouraging. I don't know that is David Allen's fault though. He likely has on his website a lot of help to climb the mountain. Many of these books are alike in that the reader must decide if and how to implement the advice given. There might be other ways to conceptualize the process, and explain it, from a different perspective, that might be more agreeable to one's personality, however, it still has to be translated into action, and the book can't do it, but it is up to the reader.

So one can read all the books every published on it, but in the end each of us has to do it.
Perhaps someone who keeps a long list up for a month and using Simple Scanning can organically evolve their method into something more, so that once the car is started and moving it can steered. I have found it difficult to implement David Allen's flowchart, or other flowcharts - the work doesn't flow.

The art of taking action by Gregg Krech - http://www.thirtythousanddays.org/product/the-art-of-taking-action-lessons-from-japanese-psychology/

The best books on goal setting I've read are:

"Release Your Brakes!" by James W. Newmann

This book is BTW the original source of the concept of the "comfort zone", you may have heard of that a couple of times.

The other one is

"The 10X Rule" by Grant Cardone

In terms of "system" both of these books are almost the same.

These books are also written for people who mean it, who really want to reach their goals and not just dabble in "self-help" lit.

These books are very compatible to Mark's DREAMS method.

Also, in his "Secrets of Productive People" book, Mark says a few very useful things about goal setting.

Finally, Michael Hyatt's "Your Best Year Ever" contains a solid approach to planning your year with personal goal-setting.

Just searched my local library for "Release Your Brakes" and it came up with a train driver's manual.

Oh well.

Looking at the Goodreads reviews though I think I have to read it so just ordered a copy.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Avrum,

Glad your copy arrived anyway. My first order turned out to be a scam and for my second attempt the supplier has used a carrier notorious for "losing" stuff and according to Amazon it was being delivered by 8pm 3 days ago. Wish Amazon would let the buyer choose the carrier.

Ian

I own this book order from chaos by Davenport. This book describes what I would call a complete system in which all the tools that are described are then shown how to interlock with one another. However the author uses her own terminology to describe these tools and it gets to be confusing. It is hard to start from scratch and implement a complete system like this. There are other books that are like this too. In this case and GTD one might proceed and just take one tool and try to get good at it and use it before adding another one.

Naveen, just read the art of taking action last month. Loved it. It got me going in a way similar to Mark Forster's methods. It less based on a method, and more philosophical in just taking action.

Cricket, I second Decluttering at the Speed of Life. Another good vlogger is Clutterbug on YouTube. She has some good tips that are a bit different than Dana's.

Mark H. you said, "I have used some version of a long list for about 10 years." Oh how I envy you. I wish with all my heart that I could stick with a system. I switch about weekly, and it is extremely frustrating for me to not be able to stick with one system. I often go back and forth between simple scanning and GTD—

I LOVE the simplicity of simple scanning at the start, but often feel scatterbrained after a bit. But I'd love to stick with it long enough to see the benefits of little and often over months or perhaps years.

I LOVE how clear my mind feels after emptying my inboxes via GTD method, but I find myself procrastinating on the next actions and get paralysis. My head feels clear initially with GTD, but after I start working on the next actions, I just get this feeling that I'm perfecting the art of completing less-meaningful minutia at a slow rate. I don't know how to describe it other than that.

Mark H, could you give me some insights on how you've managed to stick with say, simple scanning, for so long? Has it been easy to use it for a long time? Have you felt like you've been able to get all your work done on time even though it isn't "organized" as neatly as GTD?

I can't bring myself to try any of the other long list systems (I need to react to urgent stuff at the end of my list often and need a system like system scanning that allows me to get there sooner.) Maybe your testimonial could give me the motivation to give it a try.

Looking forward to your response. Thanks.

Cameron,

Regarding a long list:

For at least the last 4 years, I have used a composition book, the type that school students use. I can buy them at a dollar tree store in the U.S. for a little more than a dollar. There are 100 sheets, which makes for 200 pages. I use one book for a month, and start another book the next month. Usually there are several blank pages left, but I have found it more convenient for future reference to have a book for each month. This gives me some motivation to close out a month, which might take a few days.

I create a calendar of the month (Nov) on the first page, and on the last two pages a calendar of the next month (Dec.) to write in items for that month, and when the Dec. notebook starts, I transfer the items to the new notebook. I also have a small pocket planner for the year 2024, for dates farther in the future, which I transfer to November, when the November notebook begins. After the first page, I create a weekly spread for each week, 7 days on 2 adjoining pages, that I write routines that repeat once a week, or tasks that need to be done on that date.
Then on page 12, I start writing my long list.

I used to use Moleskine notebooks that I used for several years, which would take me 2 and half months or three months to complete. But they are expensive, at least 20 dollars, and although they are portable, the size of each line is smaller, which makes it harder to scan quickly.

I tried for some time before that to put the Autofocus list on computer. I liked it that instead of crossing out and rewriting, I could just move the item from one "page" to another. However, there were times I couldn't use the computer, so I have only used pen/pencil and paper for years now. Also I have tried a spiral notebook, thinking that I could rip out pages that are done, or index cards. But a composition book keeps all the pages together.

I used to mix up pages of notes, and no-lists, with my long list, but I have been keeping them separate. I would have 8 pages for one day, and the mixing up slowed the scanning of the long list. So, I keep my notes in the back of the book, working backwards. I might put a page number referring to a note in my long list.

It is much faster to scan when the long list is contiguous, with nothing in between.

I also have an appointment book. It seems to me that the format is all important to keeping up a long list for a long time.

For me the main difficulty is how to deal with the increasing length of the long list. I have tried several ways to deal with this. I think there needs to be some limit to the long list. I have placed the cutoff of 7 days - any item that is more than 7 days old that is not yet crossed off, either gets deleted or transferred to another list. So, if today is November 11, all items on Nov. 3 automatically get taken off the list. I write them on another list, and either they die or go through purgatory, or worse. Sometimes after some purging, they do get done, or get back on long list, or stay neglected. But I don't consider active, they are in a state of limbo, but I know where they are. Otherwise, the long list becomes so long that they cannot be reviewed every day, and it can sap one's motivation.

The method that has been working best for me I started about 3 weeks ago. I had 324 items on my long list. I gradually, perhaps over a week's time, got it down to 144 items. I number each item, and if the items get rewritten, I rewrite the number, but if the item gets deleted, I rewrite the number, but the line is blank. I only write a new item on a blank line with a number. This has been keeping me from writing many new items, and is limiting the number of items.

I sometimes will try alternating between one item on the most recent 4 days, an item on the oldest 4 days. I have been proportionately working more items the older the date is. So for example

Nov. 11
Nov. 10
Nov. 9
Nov. 8
Nov. 7 - cross out 1/4 of the items remaining - 6
Nov. 6 - cross out 1/3 of the items remaining - 2
Nov. 5 - cross out 1/2 of the items remaining - 3
Nov. 4 cross out all items - 3
Nov. 3 - take off the long list - 0.
I attempt this, and don't always succeed, but it brings to my attention that the older items need to be dealt with, and gives me more motivation to weed the list, and delete items. I might cross out the item, and rewrite at the end of the list.

I also will spend time, perhaps at least a minute, scanning each page, and put the date each time I scan it, to make sure I do it. I find it better to have a shorter list that I can always get through in one day.

I consult the week list every day, and the appointment book every day.

This is perhaps too much maintenance for some people. I find as I go, I add tweaks here and there, or give up tweaks that no longer interest me or take too much time.



I used to have as many as 5 or 6 pages a day, but am now averaging 2,3, or sometimes 4 pages a day.

Some more tips:

I try to be flexible in using a long list.

1. If I am in a hurry, and need to do a task(s) that I know to be on my long list, but don't have time to find it, I might enter it at the end of the list, and later find it on the list, and cross it off.

2. I try at least once a day to scan the entire list. This is a good time to work from the list, so I will do one or more tasks on a page before moving on to the next page. This takes more time, but one will examine the page more.

3. Someone on the forum recommended the use of flags. I use post-it arrow flags. I might scan the entire list, and put a flag by an item that I would like to do, but wait until I finish scanning the entire list, and then do them. I might try to do them in order, or choose which to do next. Working the list a page at a time can take a long time, and in this way one can scan the entire list in a short period of time, and flag the items on the side of the page and then do them. This is good if one has a short time, but certain items are immediately urgent.

4. An alternative to this is cross out and rewrite items at the end of the list BEFORE doing them.
That way they are all together - one can do FVP on them.

5. Or put a no-list at the end of the long list, and do FVP on them.

6. Have some time away from the list, when one is not looking at it, and not working from it.
One can come back later and maintain the list if one completed items.

The idea is to gamify the list. Mark Forster is a good example of this.

Thank you Mark H. for your insights. There are too many things to respond to each individually, but a couple of things that stood out to me:
-- Keeping the list well weeded sounds like something you've perfected. This is one of my main problems. I only ever cross something off if it hasn't moved for months.
-- Most of the time I'm working on one or two main projects at work that span over weeks. I need to devote 3/4 of my day to these, but I find I usually don't get to them when I'm working little and often on the other stuff. I probably need to give my brain better instructions, but I've not found a way yet.

I've really come to appreciate that there is no one right universal system for every person. Personalities vary, and as such, systems vary too. I read many people on this site that successfully use Mark F's systems, and I also read many people on the GTD forum that love that system and works well for them. How could both work? I guess personality based.

I've also come to appreciate that each system has strengths and weaknesses by nature. I don't think there is one perfect system, but rather whatever system works the best for you is the best.

Regardless of the system, I think little and often, next actions, tiny habits, etc. are all getting at a similar principle that we should make our actions bite-sized enough to not resist them, and over time their cumulative effect will be great.

Thank you for your responses.

For introduction/best productivity books I usually recommend
- Covey - First Things First (which was already discussed above)
- and Perman: What's Best Next, which is clever synthesis of GTD/Covey/value-based goal setting and author own ideas.

To Mark H.:

thank you for your generosity in sharing your system. Question: could you possibly clarify this portion with an example?

" I number each item, and if the items get rewritten, I rewrite the number, but if the item gets deleted, I rewrite the number, but the line is blank. I only write a new item on a blank line with a number. "

T.O.,

Thank you for your interest in my post.

The object is to limit the long list.
I have decide on a limit of 99 items ( I count each line as a separate item), so that there is no number with more than two digits.
Right now I see that I have 12 lines without a number, so I am now over the limit by 12. So I need to cross off 12 items to return to 99.
So, it took about 5 minutes to find 10 lines to cross out. I still have 2 items without a number. So that indicates that I have about 101 items on the list. If there were let's say 2 numbers on a blank line, then I have 97 items on the list.

So for example:

1. Coffee.
2. Buy toothpaste.
3. Charge phone.
4. Check the weather.
5. Mail birthday card.

I make a cup of coffee, and drink it. (I tend to keep an item on the list if it was done today, and then if I repeat it the next day, I will then cross it out and rewrite it dated today.) But let's say I cross it out. I can write the item with the number like this:


2. Buy toothpaste.
3. Charge phone.
4. Check the weather.
5. Mail birthday card.
1. Coffee.

But let's say I don't rewrite the item. I would rewrite the number like this:

2. Buy toothpaste.
3. Charge phone.
4. Check the weather.
5. Mail birthday card.
1.

Next I do 4. Check the weather.
I can rewrite it at the end:
2. Buy toothpaste.
3. Charge phone.
5. Mail birthday card.
1.
4. Check the weather.

I can rewrite it with number 1, like this:
2. Buy toothpaste.
3. Charge phone.
5. Mail birthday card.
1.Check the weather.
4.
and I rewrote the number 4 on a blank line.

I often keep the same number when rewriting an item. But the number is immaterial.

I will use the same method on a short list when I want to limit the number of items on the list.

I hope this helps explain it.

If I am entering a new item on to the list with 99 items, I look for a number with a blank line, and enter it there. But if not, I might enter it on a separate list, and wait until there is room before doing it.
Any items that is 8 days old I cross out and might rewrite another list.

I thought I would give another example of keeping track of the number of items on a long list.

I have set a limit of 99 items on the long list. However, I had several days in a row where either I wasn't in the mood or was sick and not working, so I did not number items or maintain the list.

So today-

1. I used a different color ink pen. I gave a number to each item on the list that was not crossed out. If the item had a number, I give it a new number, and if the item on a line had no number, I give it a number. I might put the number on the far right side of the line. I assign the numbers in order from 1 to the end of the list.

2. What is the last number written? That is the number of items on the list. I had 209 items on the list.

3. Now go back over the list. It might take several passes to reduce the list.

4. Cross out items that have been done and don't repeat. But rewrite the new number on a blank line at the end of the list. I write in the far right side.

5. Look for duplicate items, and cross them out, but rewrite the number only.

6. Cross out items one has decided not to do, but rewrite the number.

7. When you finished one pass, add the numbers on the far right side with no item, and subtract that number from the total items, and then cross out the numbers. On the first pass, I had 38 numbers, and crossed out all 38 numbers, the second pass 14, and the third pass 4. So now I reduced the total from 209 to 154.

8. If one hasn't done so already, go through the list and look for recurring items that have been done, but need to be rewritten - but rewrite the new number that was the different color. I date the pages on the long list, so if the item has been done again on any later date than written, I rewrite it. So let's say the item is on Wed. Dec. 4, and had the new number of 50, I did it again on Dec. 8, I cross it off Dec. 4, and put it on today's list Dec. 10 at the end of the list with the number 50.

9. Try to not put new items on the list yet, but work to reduce the list further. One could make a list of new items ready to put on. When putting a new item on the long list, try to delete another item beforehand, and then assign that number to the new item.

10. If one does not have time to find one to delete, one can write the item at the end of the list, but without a number. When an item gets crossed off without being rewritten, that number can now be reassigned to the new item.

11. Keep track of the total number of items. If there are lines with a number but are blank, then that line is free for a new item.

It doesn't matter what number an item has, but :

1. Avoid giving the same number to two lines. Each line has a unique number.

2. When writing a new item, either find a item with a number to delete, and assign that number to the new item. Or for the time being, write it without a number. However, if you do assign it a number, if you are continuing to rewrite numbers, then that number will be the next number above the limit that you have set. So, now you know you are going over your set limit.

3. Try to have several blank lines with numbers ready to put on new item on them.

It is good to work through the list at least once a day.
But if you have repeated an item that you know is previously on the list, you can rewrite it at the end, and later when going through the list, cross it out, and assign the previous number to the repeated item.
One can make a list of new items, and add to the long list when they are ready to be done.
One can have a catch-up-time daily, when you maintain the list. Any items without a number should be dealt with.

Unfortunately, I notice that there's a flaw in my numbering system, in case anyone is going to notice(?) If let's say you start with 230 items and eliminate let's say 50 of them, it is likely there are items with number above 180, so that you cannot tell how many items are.

What I've done before was whittle it down to 99 items, and then renumber them once again, so there are no numbers with 3 digits, like 100 or above.

Another way to do it is number the first 99, let's say, and work the rest of list into the 99.

The advantage of even doing this, at least on paper, you get to know precisely how large the list is. I've tried other ways like the number of pages, number of days, etc.

When I used Autofocus on a computer, the program kept a total. But the lists could be 400 or more items. I am even finding more than 200 items too large to review on a daily basis. Also, I have come to the conclusion the long list should include only items that currently being worked on, or ready, or immediately urgent. Autofocus was a catch-all list, but it just clogs the list with too many items that will have to dismissed anyway. Any new items can be kept on another list, and reviewed quickly. I find many of these new items take care of themselves, either I've lost interest, or did it without referring to it.

In case this might be useful for anyone:

Today, I am continuing to try to reduce the number of items on the long list. I had 230 yesterday, and ended yesterday with 154. On the first pass today I found 10 more to cross out, the second pass 5, and the third pass 4 - so I now have 135 on the list.

I am trying to avoid adding new items.

However, I yesterday added "pray" without a number, so today I looked for an item that I could delete and transfer the number. "No. 36 Reflect on Sunday sermon" - unfortunately I didn't go to church on Sunday, so I moved that to next Sunday, and gave No. 36 to "pray". I added yesterday "drink water" without a number, and found "47 Wash Hands" which I didn't think I need a reminder for that, so I deleted it and put No. 47 with "Drink Water".
I drank tea this morning, and rewrote "133 Coffee" and put "133 Tea (Coffee)" .
I consolidated other items.
It is cold outside today and a neighbor told me that she could not start her this morning, so I added "Start Car?" without a number, because I thought I would do it soon, and delete it soon, and would not need to be maintained on the list.