Get Everything Done

I decided to do some metrics on my Aufofocus list, since I still have the feeling that I'm not going fast enough, and am always lacking a sense of awareness of what's on the whole list.

Jan. 5 - start, added some tasks, but didn't work the list
Jan. 6 - added more, still didn't start doing any tasks
Jan. 7 - added more, still no action
Jan. 8 - finally started, added 105 new tasks, completed 61 tasks, total 142 open tasks at EOD
Jan. 9 - Added 119 new, completed 44, total open 188 at EOD (none dismissed)
Jan. 10 - Added 169 new, completed 21, total open 259 at EOD (none dismissed) (I haven't EVER dismissed any... there's always something that "stands out" and says "DO ME!", even if just a baby step to move the task ahead a bit)
Jan. 11 - Added 140 new, completed 31, total open 407 at EOD
Jan. 12 - Added 74 new, completed 53, total open 516 at EOD
Jan. 13 - Added 25 new, completed 2, total open 537 at EOD
Jan. 14 - Added 103 new, completed 36, total open 604 at EOD
Jan. 15 - Added 0 new, completed 0, total open 604 at EOD (killer headache all day!)
Jan. 16 - Added 85, completed 29, total open 660 at EOD
Jan. 17 - Added 11, completed 0, total open 671 at EOD
Jan. 18 - Added 37, completed 19, total open 689 at EOD

And so it goes... always adding far more tasks than I am able to complete.

At first, I figured this is just how the system starts out, with a sharp increase in the number of tasks. But I was expecting it to level off at some point! :-)

Is this a sign that I'm just overcommitted or something?

I guess I'll just keep working the system, and hope I get to the point where it levels off. If the number of open tasks just keeps on growing, though, I'm not quite sure what to do about it! :-) I can brainstorm new ideas and tasks a lot faster than I can complete them, it appears.

Anyone else facing this problem?


Thanks!

Also, the size of my list makes it difficult to run through the whole thing at the beginning of the day, to get an idea of the list as a whole. At 1 second per item, it would take about 10 minutes, but I can't keep my concentration up on such a wide variety of apparently one-off, unrelated tasks. They all start to blur together and it puts me to sleep -- I either start focusing in, spending more time reviewing each tasks (which can turn it into a 30-minute or longer review); but usually I just can't take it any more, I always hated the GTD "review", it was just so tedious and mind-numbing, and all the momentum of starting a new day starts to dry up. So, I stop the review, and get back to acting on the items on my current page.

I feel this call for decision :

Don't you ever get (at this rate) pages where you're left with nothing to cross (you know there are more important outstandings some pages further) ? Items to dismiss !

If not, put in AF an item : "Find a way to reduce my daily item level"
When it stands out, you look at what willingly dismiss (and why), what to delegate, what to organise differently, page size to shorten, etc : decisions !

I had a look at the numbers of items you are adding versus the numbers of items you are doing: there has never been a day when you did more items then you added.

Also when you look at the numbers of items you have added on different days (169, 140, 119, 105, 103, 85, 74, 37, 25, 11, 0) and then compare it to the numbers of items you have completed on different days (0, 2, 19, 21, 29, 31, 36, 44, 53, 61), you will see that most days you add more items then you have ever completed on a single day. No wonder your list is growing so fast!

I haven't read the Autofocus documentation, so there might be an answer in there. But it seems to me that you should go through the list and look critically at the different items (I know reviewing!), with the intention of dismissing a significant number (100-300). They are probably all good and valid things to do, but the way you should be looking at them is "is this a good and valid thing for *me* to be doing in the next week/month?"

You don't have to review it all at once, maybe spend ten minutes looking at the first page, then later ten minutes looking at the second page etc.

Mark Forster has said in various places that no time management system can cope if you have more to do then time to do it, but that seems to be your underlying problem.

Another answer : Granularity !

Your figures tell that items you enter would be on average five minutes each !
Then you'll never play little and often, because all is always little.

I call this "The micro-management syndrom" :)
I would be lost also, and not live it well (too many things left out or to drop).

I guess many of your items refer to a same concern, a same commitment or deliverable.
Couldn't you write your items as : "What is my next objective related to this" ?
Then you wouldn't write down so many todos, because most would be obvious for you when you go for that objective.

If not, you could clip or link a note (what to not forget when I'll work for that).

Like errands : you wouldn't create a todo item for each thing to buy ! You just point to your shoping list.

Seraphim

When I read your post I was initially amazed at the number of items being added so looked at my own experience. Like you I haven't yet dismissed any items and currently and at EOD yeterday had 321 open tasks. Like you I had been concerned about the level of open items and the fact that the number is still increasing slightly but I do think that will eventually settle down. I think there are a number of factors at play - (1) the mind is more able to throw out all the odd ideas and "things" to do (2) we have somewhere to put those ideas and (3) a lot of those items will be coming from a position of backlog. I really do believe that will settle down to a more consistent level and growth but think that point in time will be different for all of us as it is dependant on so many variables.

What is of note however, is that whilst there is a big difference to the numbers of tasks added and the number of tasks done there are days when the numbers of tasks done are significant and days where a minimal number of items are added. That may seem to be irrelevant but I find that sometimes on days where I am away I still have thinking time and am adding to my lists without being able to do any tasks, and invariably when I am in a position to "do" that very act of doing also generates new thoughts, ideas and tasks.

From a practical point, and to avoid overwhelm on the numbers of open items, I would suggest the following:

Make sure you are using the "one page at a time" rule. By all means review the list in full once or twice a day as feels appropriate, but in that review extract any time critical tasks and use the index card approach as Mark recommended.

Look at the tasks you are listing - if there are "shopping list" type items, consider the use of a separate list. If all of the stages of all of your projects are listed individually you may want to set up a task to review your project management and reporting systems. For example, I have a separate AF list for my Family Tree, which includes emails, follow ups, research etc. I just have "Family Tree" as a task and therefore only use that project list when I am working on my Family Tree. Those tasks do not distract me when working on my main list but the "Family Tree" task can call to me whenever it feels like it.

Also remember that Mark pointed out that most of the action takes place at the end of the list and also that you only *have* to do one item per page. What I did when I started to be concerned about the number of open items was to do just one or two items on the early pages and move towards the end more quickly. I am now working about three pages from the end of my list and finding that the first sweep on those pages is clearing up to 75% of the items. I also find that the items I am adding now are smaller (short time requirement) items so am moving more quickly. I can see that I did get bogged down by volume by looking at the pattern of outstanding items - my first few pages have very few items remaining, the next pages have significantly more, and the later pages are now down to a lot less than that middle batch. For me that provides a visual example of the evening out process (as in even rather than "putting on the glad rags" - although that sounds good too!) I am trying hard (not always easy I admit) to try to step back and see where AF is taking me without too many preconceptions. I think though that if the system itself starts to generate a concern, or a feeling that something is wrong, it is often that our intuition is highlighting to us an issue in our working practices (resolved by a "look at x system" or "review handling of project x") rather than the fact that the system is not working.

Hope that helps .....

Mark, youv'e just inspired me to do something, anything, on my first page items ..........!

Mark, thanks for the advice and the suggestion. I don't *feel* unfocused -- actually I feel much more focused using AF, than I have ever felt with any other system. I do feel somewhat slow, and often feel somewhat out of touch with my list as a whole, but not unfocused.

I do feel that AF is helping me get to the most important things -- I think it's working as designed. I'll probably be forced to dismiss some things once I cycle through the pages a few more times.

I will try your suggestion of dismissing the earliest pages -- keeping a fixed page limit -- if my pace of completing tasks doesn't start to catch up with the pace of adding new tasks. But since that gap is already beginning to close, I think I'll keep pushing forward and see if it doesn't balance out by itself.

Seems like a lot of task can you give a few examples. I always thought there is a trick to how you write things with AF. Are some of these longer lists like books to read, or are they possibly lots of Someday maybes ala GTD?


I have 4 pages about 35 per page so 140 task with about 25 open. I have not dismissed a single task since this is a work notebook, it is pretty much what needs to get done. I have not spent much time on the personal notebook.

Mark, I have to say that your comment about recommending a maximum number of pages did panic me somewhat. Whilst I did and do want to clear the last few items on my early pages, I am learning that one of the factors of being new to the system is the need to learn how to balance it.

Ok, so I was up and running pretty quickly, crossing off items and adding new ones. Being more focused those thoughts and ideas were coming thick and fast and then I hit the days when I had very little discretionary time, was not at home and could not action my lists but still had my "travel" notebook so was able to add to them.

I think your advice about the action taking place at the end of the lists is invaluable - although my time has again been somewhat limited in being able to to action my lists, I am still clearing a lot of items easily and things are flowing.

I am currently on Page 21 with no pages dismissed yet. I know the reason for that is that I am not moving through the lists as quickly as i would like. However I really believe this will settle down as I start to balance out the lists with my available time. I know I will reach that balance point and like Seraphim am not going to worry about the number of active pages at this point. My numbers of outstanding tasks have balanced out so I can see that the tide is turning .......

Thanks Mark. I realised that was a "circumstance specific" suggestion but it made me think about my position with regard to the fact that had a lot more open pages that I believed (rationally) that I should. That was actually a good thing - if there is one thing I am learning from the system it is that a reaction to something is usually an indication that something is going on in my subconscious that needs to be looked at. I don't think I've ever been able to identify the root of things so easily as with AF - it's quite a strange phenomenon, and a little unnerving.

The reason for the reaction to the comment (and my first comment about doing those last few items was a solution but a rational one as opposed to intuitive) was down to the fact that I had been feeling a little uneasy about the number of active pages, anyway. In fact your comment actually unlocked the reason for that feeling, which occurred at about the time I hit the 15 page mark. In several posts you have used 15 pages as an example. You have never said that was a maximum number, or given any indication that there was a maximum number. However, that figure had obviously attached itself somewhere to a belief that the number of active pages should not exceed 15; consequently conveying itself as an underlying unease that something was not quite right when I got to that point.

Until that point I had happily worked through my rationality saying I must be missing things, or that I wouldn't complete tasks "on time" so it was a bit disconcerting. I guess that is one issue you would not have had to work through yourself as you wouldn't have had any preconceptions on number of pages. Mind you I wasn't even aware I had one myself ....... :-)

Thanks again Mark

Ahhh. A light just went on.

"The system is NOT intended to enable you to get everything done. It is intended to help you to focus on what is important, and to reject the rest." -Mark

So throw lots at the system - ideas, tasks, reminders, ticklers - and feel good about dismissing items. Some items will disappear because they should, some will be tweaked and reentered. Dismissing is the act of focusing, not admitting defeat.

Mark/Zane, brilliantly put! Your comments Mark and Zane's post sum up the system absolutely for me. it is this very decisive act of dismissal of an item in a positive way, i.e. I made a choice to not do it as opposed to my previous life where I would avoid addressing, considering, touching items because of overwhelm or resistance etc and therefore they were never considered, addressed or dismissed and so so just added to the huge pile of things to do which made me feel ever worse.

Mark, AF has truly changed my life at a very tough point, and whilst I still have a number of significant challenges to deal with, professionally and personally, I am aware of what they are and I am not shying away from them. They are all on the lists (@Work and @Home) and I am taking the small steps that mean progress, if not completion, when the time is right to do so.

I have continued to feel in control of my life, am more confident in my decision making and have learned to say NO in a confident and assured and objective way to certain tasks, deadlines and requests. This previously was a huge issue for me and added to the overwhelm/procrastination/missed deliverables cycle both personally and professionally. Now I look at everything on the list in the context of my life as a whole and where I want that life to be, at what is important to me and my family's beliefs and objectives, I do not feel beholden to the task, the job or a pushy individual trying to impose their timetable or objectives onto me. I add the request or item/task to the list and it's considered and addressed.

I have to say it has it's tough moments, but it's not the system that's tough rather the long ignored issues or tasks which need to be (at long last) addressed and the associated emotions that the very act of writing them on the list (i.e. accepting that they exist) or doing or dismissing them (i.e. understanding and accepting the reasons I made or make those choices)

Sorry for what has turned out to be a long post but I wanted to share what I feel to be for me the reasons I am discovering the system can work at different speeds for different people and also some of the effects and output from the test.

I just wonder whether some of us have not evolved enough to be able to cope with a system at this level. Maybe you need to write a book outlining a very basis system, Mark. Even Get Everything Done is fairly complex.
Speaking for myself I do need to get everything done and I may well not have the luxury of dismissing tasks. How do ordinary people with ordinary full time jobs outside the home organise their time so that they can push their lives forward a bit, being able to rise above the routine tasks of life? That's my basic question and so far I haven't really found an answer.

Sandy, I can't imagine that you don't have some tasks to dismiss. What if you died and couldn't do them? Would life go on? Of course I realize that people employed outside the home must complete certain tasks to remain employed and others like filing taxes are required to avoid fines and imprisonment. But most tasks aren't 100% required. They can be declined, renegotiated, passed on to someone else, or just not done. The funny thing is so many of us DON'T do tasks sometimes for years that we still insist HAVE to be done. Of course, I don't know what your tasks are, but if you are struggling, you might want to do more of a DIT look at your commitments. Best wishes!

Sandy

Another interesting question you can ask yourself along the lines of what Mel was saying is "what's the worst that would happen if I NEVER did this?"

Sometimes it's most surprising when we ask questions like that since the answer isn't always what we've been imagining it to be. I think that we often overload ourselves with things we perceive MUST be done but never actually ask what would happen if we CHOOSE not to do them. By putting things off we are choosing not to do them but often don't perceive that as a choice...

Good luck