Discussion Forum > AutoFocus - What to do with daily repetitive actions?
Pascal:
In answer to your questions:
1) The turnover of the list is quite quick in my experience. In other words most pages get worked on at least twice in the day. So with the type of item you mention simple re-entry is the answer.
2) As it says in the instructions, you need to put this sort of item in a reminder system of some sort. I use the Task reminders in Outlook, but there are many other ways of doing it.
3) If you are delegating to team members you would probably want to make definite appointments for the reviews. So these would go in your schedule or diary.
In answer to your questions:
1) The turnover of the list is quite quick in my experience. In other words most pages get worked on at least twice in the day. So with the type of item you mention simple re-entry is the answer.
2) As it says in the instructions, you need to put this sort of item in a reminder system of some sort. I use the Task reminders in Outlook, but there are many other ways of doing it.
3) If you are delegating to team members you would probably want to make definite appointments for the reviews. So these would go in your schedule or diary.
January 5, 2009 at 13:22 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Many thanks for' the quick answer: you do well with AF!!!
Another question for delegation: so, imagine I schedule review with each member of my staff. Where do I put their delegated tasks? In the AFMS list or "someway" I have to imagine in the scheduled slot?
This is a tricky question for me, as I might want to accelerate some reviews sometimes and also because some delagated tasks were delagated to me by my boss!
BTW: if some French translation of AFMS is needed, I'll be happy to participate.
Thanks
Pascal
Another question for delegation: so, imagine I schedule review with each member of my staff. Where do I put their delegated tasks? In the AFMS list or "someway" I have to imagine in the scheduled slot?
This is a tricky question for me, as I might want to accelerate some reviews sometimes and also because some delagated tasks were delagated to me by my boss!
BTW: if some French translation of AFMS is needed, I'll be happy to participate.
Thanks
Pascal
January 5, 2009 at 14:29 |
Pascal D.
Pascal D.
Re: item 2 - anniversaries or follow-ups etc. I love my computer but I haven't got my head around electronic calenders and so forth. Instead I have a separate diary (I call it a Task Diary) which is purely for things that I need to do on a particular date or reminders to follow things up. Works for me.
January 5, 2009 at 18:51 |
Shelley
Shelley
I am a housewife with a very tiny home based business. I'm using this system 99% for household duties, many of which are repeated daily, or should be done daily, such as make the bed. I probably have 50 daily tasks such as this. I also have other tasks that I need to be reminded to do on a routine basis such as water the houseplants or mop the floor. Is there a way for me to list them without having to rewrite them all the time?
January 5, 2009 at 20:16 |
Nancy
Nancy
Here's one simple system that might work with every-day-routines. It requires only ONE typing if You got computer with printer. Write or type the days to horizontal, then the tasks vertically. Whenever You get the task done make a cross to the point where the day and task meet ( it helps if You use matrix or grid of Excel etc.). You can then spot where the cross is missing (in this case Your dog might be wondering around...) and focus to those tasks.
X= Done, (Blanco) = Undone
..........................Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
Make the bed.....X
Water plants.......X
Feed the dog.....
Mop Floor...........X
Task 5.................X
Task 6.................X
X= Done, (Blanco) = Undone
..........................Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
Make the bed.....X
Water plants.......X
Feed the dog.....
Mop Floor...........X
Task 5.................X
Task 6.................X
January 5, 2009 at 20:49 |
AT
AT
At first, I'd like to say that I'm really excited about the Autofocus system, and that I've already started implementing it today!
Well... I also thought it was kind of weird to put the daily repetititve tasks into the system for the same reasons that our friend Pascal said. So I came up with the idea of having a different task list, specifical for those kind of activities.
To avoid rewriting the same things everyday, I'm using the "Google Tasks" application (it's a really simple online software, that works at the gmail system). I think it will work fine for me, since i don't have too many daily activities, but i'll tell you later my thoughts about it.
Another idea that i come up with: at the back of the page where the list is written, i write some reference material, that might be useful to complete the tasks (telephone numbers, or where the objects needed to doing the activity are, for instance), this way, things are always near, if i need to check some information I don't remember. I think it's a useful add-on!
Oh yes, and i'm so happy with the system that i've already started translating the indications to Portuguese. (I'm from Brazil).
Thank you very much, Mr. Foster!
Well... I also thought it was kind of weird to put the daily repetititve tasks into the system for the same reasons that our friend Pascal said. So I came up with the idea of having a different task list, specifical for those kind of activities.
To avoid rewriting the same things everyday, I'm using the "Google Tasks" application (it's a really simple online software, that works at the gmail system). I think it will work fine for me, since i don't have too many daily activities, but i'll tell you later my thoughts about it.
Another idea that i come up with: at the back of the page where the list is written, i write some reference material, that might be useful to complete the tasks (telephone numbers, or where the objects needed to doing the activity are, for instance), this way, things are always near, if i need to check some information I don't remember. I think it's a useful add-on!
Oh yes, and i'm so happy with the system that i've already started translating the indications to Portuguese. (I'm from Brazil).
Thank you very much, Mr. Foster!
January 5, 2009 at 20:57 |
Thiago Cruz
Thiago Cruz
Nancy:
In spite of AT's and Thiago's suggestions, I would still recommend putting your daily tasks into the system and re-entering them - unless they are time specific such as preparing meals. The system will give you a much better feel for what really needs doing, when and how often. Frankly 50 daily household tasks sounds an awful lot, and I think it might be good to expose them to Autofocus!
In spite of AT's and Thiago's suggestions, I would still recommend putting your daily tasks into the system and re-entering them - unless they are time specific such as preparing meals. The system will give you a much better feel for what really needs doing, when and how often. Frankly 50 daily household tasks sounds an awful lot, and I think it might be good to expose them to Autofocus!
January 5, 2009 at 21:06 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I'm going to try handling daily repetitive tasks by keeping checklists in a different system (I use MyLifeOrganized, but Outlook, RememberTheMilk or Index Cards would do I think), and each new day, emptying the contents of the appropriate checklist into the Autofocus list. I will then work purely from the Autofocus list.
January 5, 2009 at 22:09 |
Iain Gray
Iain Gray
For reminders, especially repeating reminders, I use Backpack [backpackit.com]. I get the reminder as a text on my phone and as an email (on the day and time I scheduled it). Reminders can be scheduled as far in advance as you want - I added one to get my driver's license renewed and set it a few years out. (There is much more that can be done with Backpack. You can try it out free for 30 days. A 'solo' account is $7/month.)
January 5, 2009 at 22:33 |
Zane
Zane
My own experience has been to put all routine tasks in, even if they are trivial, such as empty dishwasher, as the system somehow provides the incentive to do them more easily. For some reason emptying the dishwasher had become a chore but having it on the list it just got done. The only thing/s I am not detailing at present are individual emails, as there would be too many, but as my email backlog is down to 30 "problem" emails I can see a point at which I may well list those left individually.
January 5, 2009 at 22:49 |
Christine B
Christine B
My experience has been exactly the same as Christine's. I put the most tiny of routine tasks into the list and the result is that they have been transformed.
Bear in mind that Autofocus has the effect of completely changing your attitude to anything you put in it. So my advice about daily tasks is don't have a separate list of them - chuck them into the system and let them fend for themselves!
Bear in mind that Autofocus has the effect of completely changing your attitude to anything you put in it. So my advice about daily tasks is don't have a separate list of them - chuck them into the system and let them fend for themselves!
January 6, 2009 at 9:03 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I'm using DIT successfully for a while now, and I wanted to be one of your beta-testers for AutoFocus. I started this morning, as explained, but I'm struggling with some tasks (or tasks' types):
1. I used to have a kind of check list to perform every day (like Clean Inboxes, Control Life Notes, and so on), rather first thing in the morning - and it could be my mistake!
How do you handle that in AFMS? If I put this on the list, when done, I'll add in the last page of the list for let's say tomorrow and it is quite possible I have several pages to perform before, therefore I'm not sure the daily routine will stay daily.
> Do I have to set up this type of tasks on the calendar/Time scheduled instead of on the AFMS list?
2. Anniversary/yearly dates/ ...
Again, If i put these "tasks" -reminders would be more appropriate- on the AFMS list, I'll copy every day the same tasks for... a year?
> Same question: do I have to set up this type of tasks on the calendar/Time scheduled instead?
3. Delegated tasks
As a manager, I delegate a lot (that's the principle to be a manager, I guess...), but I want to follow how things go, in order to meet due dates. Some 'managees' of mine need strong followup, some others are quite 'well time oriented' and achieve their due dates without more moto. I used to have some daily or weekly or monthly review with them (again, depending on the follow up needed) about their delegated tasks.
How do I handle this in AFMS? Any suggestion?
Again, thanks for the system.
Pascal