Get Everything Done

I just experienced a particular thrill today, as I realized that by treating my work with one page as a "closed list" I become very motivated to cross off the last item. Being able to take that last step to eliminating the entire page makes me want to tackle that last item in a way I have not experienced before. It is a definite feeling of success and progress.

Now the question: Would this dynamic be affected adversely if I were to take that item and add it to the last page as a means of "cleaning up" my system (i.e. getting as many undone tasks on as few pages as possible), say as preparation for the weekend? This could also be considered "putting it off", so I think the answer is important.

-Gordon

Actually Gordon that would be a disaster - what you would find would be that you eventually get left with a list so full of high resistance items that you will want to run screaming for the hills and never come back!

The way AF works is that, if you have that one item (or actually any number of items) on a page that you do not feel like actioning on the first pass, then they are dismissed. The reasoning behind that is that by that point you will have reviewed the relevant item/items several times and decided not to action it/them. If you still have resistance to a task that you do not wish to dismiss then look at other options - the following thread on high resistance items may be of help....

http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/623288

Good luck!

Don't do that!

For years I used to have a system of "mega lists": my list of things to do was written on a sheet of A4 paper in two columns in tiny writing, so I could get about 120 tasks on the list. I usually had between 45-70 things still to do. When the page got full, I would copy all the old tasks onto a new page, make a mark to show the end of the old tasks and then start writing new tasks at the end.

Although there was a certain amount of impetus to get some tasks out of the way before I copied it over, there was definitely no 'thrill' to completing a page. I'd often have tasks which had been copied over 3, 4 or more times, but there was no sense of achievement associated with finishing off an old list.

I'm with what all of you have said for a different reason that I've been wanting to share with everyone here. There's a lot said in personal development literature and courses about the difference one's context makes in their experience of life (in this case meaning where you are coming from in your head). Two people can have very different experiences of the same event or type of event based on the context they are coming from. A simple example: Criticism from a parent could be experienced as "stop nagging me" or "wow, my parents really care about my success" depending the context from which one operates.

How this relates to Autofocus: I've been using GTD on and off for quite some time, and have yet to get the full hang of it - it's a tough system to use. I've got more thoughts on that that I'll share in a different place in the forum. But for this post here's what I've noticed. What I was present to when I would look at my next actions list in my GTD application was a long list of things I hadn't done yet. In Autofocus, by leaving the checked off items on the page, what I'm present to when ever I look at my lists is how much I've gotten done or moved forward. The context is success, rather than what I haven't done yet. I find the former to be a much more motivating and empowering context :-)

@Sam - great observation! I've noticed the same effect.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback. I will retain the last item on the page, on that page until it is done. At the very least, it gives the the feeling of "why not tackle that last item?" in addition to some of the other motivational cues you have pointed out.

Much appreciated,
Gordon