Discussion Forum > An Autofocus clarification question
Gordon, I'm glad you asked this because I've been wondering the same thing. I was under the impression that you work on only one page until every item on that page is either crossed out or dismissed, but then I saw comments here about "cycling" through several pages a day and became confused.
90% of the time I like sticking to the one page at a time rule, but at those times when I'm at particularly low energy it seems counter-productive to dismiss half a page of tasks just so I can get to something tolerable on a later page. Sprinkling in more light tasks would help here, but sometimes it's impossible to pre-plan what tasks pop up.
Thanks for the good question!
90% of the time I like sticking to the one page at a time rule, but at those times when I'm at particularly low energy it seems counter-productive to dismiss half a page of tasks just so I can get to something tolerable on a later page. Sprinkling in more light tasks would help here, but sometimes it's impossible to pre-plan what tasks pop up.
Thanks for the good question!
January 18, 2009 at 5:42 |
Emily
Emily
Hi Gordon and Emily,
For me it helped to draw a flow chart ... the instructions are confusingly written (sorry, Mark ;-).
Assuming you have written a list of items:
1) You start on the top of page one.
2) You scan quickly
3) You read slowly
4) You wait for one item to "speak to you" that it wants to be worked on ;-)
5) You work on it
6) IF it is completed, you cross it off
7) IF it is not completed, you:
... A) Write it again (possibly reworded) at the end of the list (last item on last page)
... B) Cross it off where you saw it when you worked on it
8) You then start over ON THE SAME PAGE, doing steps 2 and 3
9) When no task speaks to you:
... If you have done a task on that page this time, GOTO the next page
... If you have NOT done a task on that page this time, Highlight the items on the page and mark that page COMPLETED
... ... IF there are no open pages BEFORE this page, give this page another mark indicating that it is the LAST completed page (so you know not to look at pages before this one for open items.
10) All through the process you continue to add new items to the bottom of your list.
EMILY:
Let's take the extreme of that case ... you are in the dumps this morning so you can't face doing anything ;-) You pick up the list and see nothing there to work on. Firstly, why pick up the list if you feel low energy? Take a break, ride on a Merry-Go-Round, have an ice cream cone! ;-)
But if you realize your state, don't feel slavishly bound to the "rules". Just scan the whole list for something to do. OR when you scan a page, ask yourself if there is ANYTHING you can do to START on one of the items. Suppose an item is: "Conquer the World". That might seem like too big of a project to do before breakfast so you might think: "Well, I could call Joe and ask him the phone number of his arms dealer." So you do that, cross off "Conquer the World" and add it to the end of your list. Now you HAVE done something on that page and there is no need to dismiss everything on it.
The principle, as Mark calls it, is "Little and Often", I guess. I call it "chunking down". You keep breaking down a task into smaller and smaller pieces until you are not overwhelmed. If calling Joe to ask for the phone number seems overwhelming, you could, instead, "Get phone book to look up Joe's phone number." You can break down any task to some level of action that you feel able to do.
And you are right about sprinkling in light tasks ... you don't want to do that. The idea is to just add whatever comes to mind as something you want to do ... you don't plan or preselect what goes on the pages. You deal with such problems in the execution of the list.
For me it helped to draw a flow chart ... the instructions are confusingly written (sorry, Mark ;-).
Assuming you have written a list of items:
1) You start on the top of page one.
2) You scan quickly
3) You read slowly
4) You wait for one item to "speak to you" that it wants to be worked on ;-)
5) You work on it
6) IF it is completed, you cross it off
7) IF it is not completed, you:
... A) Write it again (possibly reworded) at the end of the list (last item on last page)
... B) Cross it off where you saw it when you worked on it
8) You then start over ON THE SAME PAGE, doing steps 2 and 3
9) When no task speaks to you:
... If you have done a task on that page this time, GOTO the next page
... If you have NOT done a task on that page this time, Highlight the items on the page and mark that page COMPLETED
... ... IF there are no open pages BEFORE this page, give this page another mark indicating that it is the LAST completed page (so you know not to look at pages before this one for open items.
10) All through the process you continue to add new items to the bottom of your list.
EMILY:
Let's take the extreme of that case ... you are in the dumps this morning so you can't face doing anything ;-) You pick up the list and see nothing there to work on. Firstly, why pick up the list if you feel low energy? Take a break, ride on a Merry-Go-Round, have an ice cream cone! ;-)
But if you realize your state, don't feel slavishly bound to the "rules". Just scan the whole list for something to do. OR when you scan a page, ask yourself if there is ANYTHING you can do to START on one of the items. Suppose an item is: "Conquer the World". That might seem like too big of a project to do before breakfast so you might think: "Well, I could call Joe and ask him the phone number of his arms dealer." So you do that, cross off "Conquer the World" and add it to the end of your list. Now you HAVE done something on that page and there is no need to dismiss everything on it.
The principle, as Mark calls it, is "Little and Often", I guess. I call it "chunking down". You keep breaking down a task into smaller and smaller pieces until you are not overwhelmed. If calling Joe to ask for the phone number seems overwhelming, you could, instead, "Get phone book to look up Joe's phone number." You can break down any task to some level of action that you feel able to do.
And you are right about sprinkling in light tasks ... you don't want to do that. The idea is to just add whatever comes to mind as something you want to do ... you don't plan or preselect what goes on the pages. You deal with such problems in the execution of the list.
January 18, 2009 at 11:54 |
Mike
Mike
Gordon
There is no contradiction in the instructions.
Yes! When you finish working on an item, you go back to the same page and continue on other items on that page. You only move on to the next page if and when no item on that page stands out.
Likewise, Yes! If only one item on a page stands out, you are quite free to move on to the next page after doing some work on that one item.
Emily
The instructions do not say you are to move on to another page only if all items are either crossed out or dismissed. The other option is to move on if nothing "stands out".
Furthermore, you are not invited to dismiss half a page of tasks just to get on to something tolerable on a later page. Items are only dismissed if, after a number of passes, they fail to stand out.
One of the strengths of AF is that it encourages us to give each page a fair go and not to move on for impulsive or ill-considered reasons.
There is no contradiction in the instructions.
Yes! When you finish working on an item, you go back to the same page and continue on other items on that page. You only move on to the next page if and when no item on that page stands out.
Likewise, Yes! If only one item on a page stands out, you are quite free to move on to the next page after doing some work on that one item.
Emily
The instructions do not say you are to move on to another page only if all items are either crossed out or dismissed. The other option is to move on if nothing "stands out".
Furthermore, you are not invited to dismiss half a page of tasks just to get on to something tolerable on a later page. Items are only dismissed if, after a number of passes, they fail to stand out.
One of the strengths of AF is that it encourages us to give each page a fair go and not to move on for impulsive or ill-considered reasons.
January 18, 2009 at 12:23 |
Jim (Melbourne)
Jim (Melbourne)
Mike:
I think your paraphrase of the instructions is incorrect is one, or possibly two ways. The problem is at step (8), where you say "You then start over on the same page, doing steps 2 and 3" (emphasis removed, as not relevant to my points here). First, as I read them, the instructions don't call for a repeat of step (2), the quick scan, after working on an item. (That is, that's not an action you're required to take at the point. Mark has said – in response to a question of mine in an earlier thread – that you should feel free to perform quick scans more often than the instructions require if you feel that you need to in order to have the items on the page – or the items on the list as a whole – in the back of your mind.)
Second, this way of putting things doesn't make it clear that you're supposed to continue the slower, item-by-item reading from the next (uncrossed off) item on the page – that is, the next one on the page after the one you've just been working on – and not from the top of the page. (Indeed, the phrase "start over" suggests going back to the top of the page, which isn't the idea. See posts 11, 12, and 14
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/623643
on this topic.)
I think your paraphrase of the instructions is incorrect is one, or possibly two ways. The problem is at step (8), where you say "You then start over on the same page, doing steps 2 and 3" (emphasis removed, as not relevant to my points here). First, as I read them, the instructions don't call for a repeat of step (2), the quick scan, after working on an item. (That is, that's not an action you're required to take at the point. Mark has said – in response to a question of mine in an earlier thread – that you should feel free to perform quick scans more often than the instructions require if you feel that you need to in order to have the items on the page – or the items on the list as a whole – in the back of your mind.)
Second, this way of putting things doesn't make it clear that you're supposed to continue the slower, item-by-item reading from the next (uncrossed off) item on the page – that is, the next one on the page after the one you've just been working on – and not from the top of the page. (Indeed, the phrase "start over" suggests going back to the top of the page, which isn't the idea. See posts 11, 12, and 14
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/623643
on this topic.)
January 18, 2009 at 15:30 |
Martin
Martin
Whoops...my last sentence should have read
"See posts 11, 12, and 14 in this thread:
<link>
on this topic."
"See posts 11, 12, and 14 in this thread:
<link>
on this topic."
January 18, 2009 at 15:40 |
Martin
Martin
And here's the thread where Mark writes about the option of performing quick scans more often:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/623260
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/623260
January 18, 2009 at 15:42 |
Martin
Martin
Thanks for the clarification everyone. I think I finally get it.
If I'm working on a page and suddenly nothing jumps out at me, I do NOT start highlighting at this point. I just move on to the next page. It's only after I cycle back from the last page (possibly several times) and not a single item on the page stands out during the initial read-through that THEN I highlight the remaining items as dismissed. Is that right?
Mike, the Merry-Go-Round and ice cream cone sound lovely! Learning when to put the notebook down may be my biggest challenge with the system. :P
If I'm working on a page and suddenly nothing jumps out at me, I do NOT start highlighting at this point. I just move on to the next page. It's only after I cycle back from the last page (possibly several times) and not a single item on the page stands out during the initial read-through that THEN I highlight the remaining items as dismissed. Is that right?
Mike, the Merry-Go-Round and ice cream cone sound lovely! Learning when to put the notebook down may be my biggest challenge with the system. :P
January 18, 2009 at 19:29 |
Emily
Emily
Hi Emily
That sums it up very well. You may find it helpful to add a few tasks like "eat lunch" or even "ride on a Merry Go Round" to your list. I kept forgetting to stop for meal breaks the first week - and sometimes since!
The way it works, by not just allowing you to "do what you want to do" but actually making it a rule, really does help to increase the energy levels because the tasks that you are doing just start to flow more easily. Don't be surprised by the items that you initially feel prompted to do but let your intuition guide you. You will soon get the feel of how it works - and get to the Merry Go Round task!
Good luck!
That sums it up very well. You may find it helpful to add a few tasks like "eat lunch" or even "ride on a Merry Go Round" to your list. I kept forgetting to stop for meal breaks the first week - and sometimes since!
The way it works, by not just allowing you to "do what you want to do" but actually making it a rule, really does help to increase the energy levels because the tasks that you are doing just start to flow more easily. Don't be surprised by the items that you initially feel prompted to do but let your intuition guide you. You will soon get the feel of how it works - and get to the Merry Go Round task!
Good luck!
January 18, 2009 at 22:49 |
Christine B
Christine B
I do the first pass, something stands out. I go back for my second pass and select an item. I complete the item. Now what? Do I go back to the same sheet, or move to the next one?
You say "Once you've finished with the last page, re-start at the first page that is still active", so you have a number of active sheets. But you also say "Don't move onto the next page until you complete a pass of the page without any item standing out" and "If you go to a page and no item stands out for you on your first pass through it, then all the outstanding items on that page are dismissed without re-entering them. "
Sorry for being dense, but I am confused. When I go Back to my list after completing or working on and then re-entering, do I have to go back to the same page, or am I permitted to move to the next page if I desire, once I have completed at least one item on a page?
This may sound silly but the instructions were unclear to me on this - at least, they appear to be conflicting.
By the way, I would happy to offer editing services to remove "Britishisms" from you text. Not that they are bad, but for those unlike myself who don't enjoy a cultural "stretch" when reading, they do get in the way at times. There are phrasing differences which might be more easily understood if adjusted slightly.
-Best Wishes,
Gordon