Get Everything Done

I am copying this from a blog post, and the thread is so long that this might not be seen, so I am posting it here.

This is the blog post:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/2/23/overcommitment-and-the-catch-all-list.html

In the blog, Mark Forster is reviewing the catch-all list.

And he gives these tips on avoiding overcommitment using a catch-all list.

1. Authorized Project List
2. Stringent evaluation of tasks before writing them down
3. Limit on the number of tasks on the list
4. Limit on the estimated time it will take to do the tasks on the list

This is my comment on the above:

On number 4, I am not sure I understand the meaning of this, but what I think it means is not the total amount of time for every item on the list, that would be difficult to measure, but how long an item remains on the list. So in DIT, after 4 days there would be audit. In DWM, the time limit would either be 7 days or 30 days.

I am trying to have a limit of 7 days, after which the item gets crossed off, so I could ask myself before adding an item whether I think I will take action on it in the next 7 days.

On number 3, I am trying to limit the list to 150 items.

This would imply that there needs to be some processing at the front end before entering an item, and not just at the back end with dismissal.

However, this blog post by Mark Forster on overcommitment on a catch-all list was written back in 2016. In the year 2017, he wrote a blog post on The Natural Selection of Tasks, and developed that year another long list method called Simple Scanning, which used intuition and "standing out". By 2022 though he admitted that using Simple Scanning the list had grown very long, and it felt oppressive and boring.

I don't know if his thinking on Simple Scanning or on long lists developed since 2022 or not.
However, he did not implement the tips that he gave to avoid overcommitment on the catch-all list when he developed Simple Scanning, and perhaps it was because he wanted to use the natural selection process. I am not sure that there was a procedure, other than weeding the list, to prevent one from taking on more work than one had time for.

Examining his tips, it looks like he used them before:

1. Authorized Project List - in the Secrets book, DIT?

2. Stringent evaluation of tasks before writing them down - DIT?, no-list, Secrets book?

3. Limit on the number of tasks on the list - as in the No-list methods of 3 items, 5 items, a short list.

4. Limit on the estimated time it will take to do the tasks on the list - as in DWM where the items remain on the list for either 7 days or 30 days; or DIT where after 4 days an audit is performed.

Perhaps one or all of these can be used with a catch-all list to help control the length of the long list.