Get Everything Done

I find myself performing minor tasks, usually ones that take 10 minutes or less, rather than listing them, simply because they seem too trivial to bother writing down. I'm not intentionally avoiding my list but I wonder if I'm undermining the AF process by doing this.

Any thoughts from anyone? I'd especially appreciate hearing from Mark, of course, and from Christine.

Yes Elizabeth, that is certainly what I have found. I deliberately put what seemed like trivial tasks into the list to see what happened. Some of those items may not continue to stay in AF because they will just get done automatically (such as stacking the dishwasher) but for others i have found that AF has made me either question how I am doing them or in fact whether I need to do them at all. For me the real strength of AF has been the AutoFOCUS element - I feel more focused in how I am doing things which actually "feels" more important to me at present than what I am doing. Let's face it - if Autofocus enables me to clear all of my trivial items which I would have previously used to procrastinate then i won't have a choice BUT to think more about what is really important to me! :-)

PS And without the distraction of my procrastinators!! :-)

What about the opposite of this?

I mean, if you've added "stack the dishwasher" to the end of many-page list. It's after dinner time and you want to stack the dishwasher. BUT, it's at the end of a many-page list. Do you just go ahead and do it? (My instinct is "of course"). But then what does the do to your list?

ds

I specifically put "stack/unstack the dishwasher" on my list for three very different reasons.
1 - I wanted to see what AF did with it
2 - It was part of a larger task to tidy/clean/restock the kitchen - which I did not want to do
3 - I had previously used making a cup of coffee the time to empty or stack the dishwasher but still felt some resistance to the task

What I found was that I did the task when it felt right to do so, with no effort and no enforced time (eg coffee making time). Doing it automatically progressed clearing the kitchen.

Since then I have not re-added it to the list as it has just automatically fitted into the normal flow of things (usually when making a cup of coffee!) but without resistance because I am not being "told" when to do it.

What I am now doing with such tasks is just treating them as part of the process of life and not putting them on the list as Mark says, BUT if I have an item which I feel should be part of that process and feel a resistance to it, then I put it on the list and wait for AF to sort it out.

ds,

I think Christine's answer to my question about ironing might be of interest, too. You 'll have to scroll the page and hers is a long post.
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/625242?lastPage=true

Christine,

You see how requested you are in this forum!

Thanks Silvia! I'm really learning a lot from the Forum as I go along - and can't believe how many other tasks I'm getting done as well !!! I'd always intended to set up my own website but had been resisting it - fear of the unknown I guess - but your, and others', encouraging comments make me think I should look at that more seriously.

Of course now I will get all of the "don't even consider it" comments :-)

Thanks again!

Excellent suggestions, all. Thanks!

ds

Go for it, Christine B! There's plenty of GTD sites out there. Yours could be the first AF related one (and I'm sure you have more to say on other subjects as well).

Thanks Jim!

The website idea has grown a lot in the last week (goodness is it only a week!) and I have researched several options and had ideas for several articles. I would never had been at that point without AF. Maybe this week...........?

I will add my voice to this thread. Yes, go for it. And please let us know how you get on with fitting in the various tasks associated with running a website. I've considered it, had a bash and, like so many other projects, given up through lack of time. Hope yours goes well. I sometimes feel thoroughly frustrated that I can't get much beyond the routine tasks of life!

Regarding minor tasks, I'm just doing those as they need doing and only putting them on the AF list if they are things that I resist so don't tend to get done very much. That can be very minor things indeed, such as, and I'm consulting my list now, getting old books ready a couple at a time for the charity shop. I've decided to declutter gradually. One large tidy up has never worked for me, so I'm taking a couple of books several times a week to the charity shop with the idea that I will be able to safely access the spare bedroom at some near point in the future!!

Hi Sandy

Thanks for the encouragement - I will let you know how I get on!

And yes, do put anything and everything on the list (but not all in one go!) If an item is a recurring you may find that you will do it and relist it, other recurring tasks may just naturally find their way to a set, or even a new, routine and those tasks will just wander off the list all on their own! You may find yourself surprised by when you do those tasks under AF - I was certainly not expecting the order in which routine items jumped out when I first started using AF.

Christine B.,
It is a little bit difficult to find where I did post on this forum. That's why only now I am answering you. I have been clicking on your name just in case you have already your website. Please, I ask you to make a new post when you have one.

So far, I have used Scrapbook, a Firefox extension to collect posts or pieces of post to read and re-read in order to better assimilate AF .

Hi Silvia

Not sure what form it will take yet but I will let you know - will probably post an article on the experience of setting up a website to start with!