Discussion Forum > Consciously limiting active pages to get rid of that one item left?
Hi Jacqueline,
This is something that has arisen for me too. Last Friday I felt a little "strung out" in my workbook and did a small spreadsheet of #open items per page and graphed it, to gauge where I was really at. This was both illuminating and a little daunting.... 30+ active pages, 34 a page layout, about 8 pages of which were down to less than five items. I have not been cycling through the workbook daily as I would like and this showed it clearly, and at the same time there are pages that are getting near to closure...but need a push.
Since then Ive made a concious effort to move more quickly through the workbook, tackle those remaining items and wield my dismissing Highlighter with more vigour :) . It's working in finishing off those so-nearly pages. It's also highlighting that I may have too much work.... Results so far is that some long-running tasks with fiddly dependenices have been tackled and closed...AF got me through that persistant procrastination after many many reviews :)
So... not a physical limiting, but a bottom-up feeling that there is an approrpriate limit which is worth tackling. Yes, the push to remove the piddly items gets there, and forces a "you've seen this enough times now so just do it or delete it" decision.
Jonathan
This is something that has arisen for me too. Last Friday I felt a little "strung out" in my workbook and did a small spreadsheet of #open items per page and graphed it, to gauge where I was really at. This was both illuminating and a little daunting.... 30+ active pages, 34 a page layout, about 8 pages of which were down to less than five items. I have not been cycling through the workbook daily as I would like and this showed it clearly, and at the same time there are pages that are getting near to closure...but need a push.
Since then Ive made a concious effort to move more quickly through the workbook, tackle those remaining items and wield my dismissing Highlighter with more vigour :) . It's working in finishing off those so-nearly pages. It's also highlighting that I may have too much work.... Results so far is that some long-running tasks with fiddly dependenices have been tackled and closed...AF got me through that persistant procrastination after many many reviews :)
So... not a physical limiting, but a bottom-up feeling that there is an approrpriate limit which is worth tackling. Yes, the push to remove the piddly items gets there, and forces a "you've seen this enough times now so just do it or delete it" decision.
Jonathan
March 11, 2009 at 18:16 |
Jonathan in London
Jonathan in London
Hey Jacqueline... No I have not consciously limited the number of active pages I have going (currently 11).
Yes I have pushed myself to get things done because I have one stinkin' little item left, but I think that's the purpose a closed list. When I've pushed but found too much resistance, I've dismissed the item.
Just today I've made a tweak based on one of Mark's recent posts. He said, "I spend most of my time chasing the end of the list, and only revisit the earlier pages once every two or three days." I realized I was putting only 'significant' items (in my mind) on my list, but spending a lot of time away from my list on the quick or easy or supposedly urgent items I was not listing - quick check of email, quick check on some website, etc. But this caused me to avoid my list and I was feeling bad about not working through my list once/day.
So far today I've put 'everything' on my list, am getting a lot done, and have a renewed sense of accomplishment. I'm thinking that this higher velocity movement will help me when I get to the older active pages.
Maybe I got off topic a bit there but I've had the same feeling of 'pushing' and being 'sick of', and this little tweak (more closely following the original guidelines) seems to be helping.
Yes I have pushed myself to get things done because I have one stinkin' little item left, but I think that's the purpose a closed list. When I've pushed but found too much resistance, I've dismissed the item.
Just today I've made a tweak based on one of Mark's recent posts. He said, "I spend most of my time chasing the end of the list, and only revisit the earlier pages once every two or three days." I realized I was putting only 'significant' items (in my mind) on my list, but spending a lot of time away from my list on the quick or easy or supposedly urgent items I was not listing - quick check of email, quick check on some website, etc. But this caused me to avoid my list and I was feeling bad about not working through my list once/day.
So far today I've put 'everything' on my list, am getting a lot done, and have a renewed sense of accomplishment. I'm thinking that this higher velocity movement will help me when I get to the older active pages.
Maybe I got off topic a bit there but I've had the same feeling of 'pushing' and being 'sick of', and this little tweak (more closely following the original guidelines) seems to be helping.
March 11, 2009 at 19:04 |
Zane
Zane
Does it REALLY matter if none of your pages have not been completed in toto? If your average completion % is 80%, that means eight of your ten pages are the equivalent of completed pages (ceteris paribus for length/complexity of items). Must one become so obsessed over that last item or two when it is the overall "efficiency/effectiveness" which is really important?
Personally, i tend to look at the overall performance, but taking due cognisance of Dismissed for Review and Defer to Do Later items.
Personally, i tend to look at the overall performance, but taking due cognisance of Dismissed for Review and Defer to Do Later items.
March 11, 2009 at 20:59 |
Roger J
Roger J
Wait a minute: how can a single item survive a pass of the page?
Surely if you look at it you MUST either:
- do something to get it moving and delete from the page (rewriting on the current page if not complete) OR
- dismiss it
Or am I misreading the instructions?
For me, this is one of the key distinctive features of the system: it rigorously forces a crunch decision on everything that doesn't flow easily.
Surely if you look at it you MUST either:
- do something to get it moving and delete from the page (rewriting on the current page if not complete) OR
- dismiss it
Or am I misreading the instructions?
For me, this is one of the key distinctive features of the system: it rigorously forces a crunch decision on everything that doesn't flow easily.
March 11, 2009 at 22:23 |
Will
Will
Will I think you're right. If you come to a page with only one outstanding item, and you don't feel like doing it right then, you dismiss it. (Possibly adding a different but related item to the very last page, if you can't forget the task completely.)
Roger J -- that's some vocabulary you have there. ;)
It's rare that I will come to a page more than three times. I do probably 60% on the first pass, 30% on the second, and then those remaining sticky ones I tend to dismiss -- or do in some minimal way just so I can cross them off and get that action moving again.
I think the fact that you don't need to finish a task is crucial. Don't only start tasks if you think you can finish them. If you feel you could usefully spend 5 minutes on the task, do it and see where it gets you.
Roger J -- that's some vocabulary you have there. ;)
It's rare that I will come to a page more than three times. I do probably 60% on the first pass, 30% on the second, and then those remaining sticky ones I tend to dismiss -- or do in some minimal way just so I can cross them off and get that action moving again.
I think the fact that you don't need to finish a task is crucial. Don't only start tasks if you think you can finish them. If you feel you could usefully spend 5 minutes on the task, do it and see where it gets you.
March 11, 2009 at 23:14 |
David Barnes
David Barnes
I think the best metric is total number of open items, counted at the end of each day. (The below applies only after your initial AF startup. I've found the number of tasks jumps around quite a lot during the first few weeks, mostly jumping upward in spurts till it finally reaches some kind of stability, and you can't draw too many conclusions from those metrics till they start to stabilize.)
If the number of open items is always going up, it means you have too many commitments, and need to start saying "No!".
If the number is stable, but you feel overwhelmed, I'd guess it means that you have too many backlogs, or other source of TM constipation. If the backlogs are at home, maybe plan a couple days vacation to get them cleared. If the backlogs are at work, maybe put in some overtime if possible, or plan an "Offsite Working Session" for a day or two, to get them cleared; or just dismiss the lot and see what happens.
If the number is stable or declining, and you feel in control, then you've found Time Management Nirvana and wouldn't be asking questions about number of active pages. :-)
If the number is stable and declining, but you still feel overwhelmed, out of control, or worried about urgent items, then I'd guess you either (1) need more experience with the system till you learn to trust it, or (2) need some tactic to deal with bursts of urgent items.
For the latter, the best method I've found is to write down all the urgent pressing things that are bothering you onto your last active page, then jump straight to that page and start working it as normal. This does break the rule that you should progress through the pages sequentially, but that seems much less disruptive to the overall AF flow than doing things like having a separate index card for urgent items, marking or tagging urgent items with some special marker, etc. It also allows you to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes.
If the number of open items is always going up, it means you have too many commitments, and need to start saying "No!".
If the number is stable, but you feel overwhelmed, I'd guess it means that you have too many backlogs, or other source of TM constipation. If the backlogs are at home, maybe plan a couple days vacation to get them cleared. If the backlogs are at work, maybe put in some overtime if possible, or plan an "Offsite Working Session" for a day or two, to get them cleared; or just dismiss the lot and see what happens.
If the number is stable or declining, and you feel in control, then you've found Time Management Nirvana and wouldn't be asking questions about number of active pages. :-)
If the number is stable and declining, but you still feel overwhelmed, out of control, or worried about urgent items, then I'd guess you either (1) need more experience with the system till you learn to trust it, or (2) need some tactic to deal with bursts of urgent items.
For the latter, the best method I've found is to write down all the urgent pressing things that are bothering you onto your last active page, then jump straight to that page and start working it as normal. This does break the rule that you should progress through the pages sequentially, but that seems much less disruptive to the overall AF flow than doing things like having a separate index card for urgent items, marking or tagging urgent items with some special marker, etc. It also allows you to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes.
March 11, 2009 at 23:27 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I like the push that comes from one or two items left active on a page. The system says - Either you do this now, or you review it in a month. Make a decision! It is a great bump. But I ended up with a lot of active pages yesterday, and spent a lot of the day focussed on trying to close off the smaller pages.
March 12, 2009 at 0:12 |
DrCris
DrCris
Will is right, as I said in my post, I wasn't doing the system properly for too much of the time, especially w.r.t. dismissing - I can only blame bad weather on so much. :-) Having said that, as Roger J said so eloquently, I got a lot of **** done nevertheless. A lot more than I would have achieved without the system.
The reason why I was thinking I could possibly limit my number of active pages is because I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew at home. My measly 6 active pages at work is TM Nirvana, now if I can only reach that happy state at home.
Seraphim, your idea of taking vacation to do these things is a good one, and I may do that at some point - although I do like to use my vacations for literally vacating - getting away from everything. Weekends are too short...
Oh well, we're all learning something about ourselves, and that's a good thing.
The reason why I was thinking I could possibly limit my number of active pages is because I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew at home. My measly 6 active pages at work is TM Nirvana, now if I can only reach that happy state at home.
Seraphim, your idea of taking vacation to do these things is a good one, and I may do that at some point - although I do like to use my vacations for literally vacating - getting away from everything. Weekends are too short...
Oh well, we're all learning something about ourselves, and that's a good thing.
March 12, 2009 at 2:36 |
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
Hi Seraphim
Excellent post - you have a real gift for summarising so clearly. There are a number of key points there:
"If the number of open items is always going up, it means you have too many commitments, and need to start saying "No!"." That's very true - not always easy (or possible!) to achieve but at least AF enables you to see the true position.
"If the number is stable, but you feel overwhelmed, I'd guess it means that you have too many backlogs, or other source of TM constipation." LOL - Again very true - backlogs do have a massive impact on AF and until they are cleared will continue to affect those statistics.
"If the number is stable or declining, and you feel in control, then you've found Time Management Nirvana" Knowing that the system is working gives such a sense of relief after all of the systems that promised so much but didn't deliver - or to be fair the systems that may have delivered for others but not for me - because they did not address the way I work. Despite the occasional blips when I panic about my backlogs and try (usually unsuccessfully) to tweak the system I feel so much more in control, despite having over 40 active pages. I do have limited discretionery time but still AF works. I am only able to cycle through my pages about once a week, but still AF works.
I think the key to any crisis management action is where you say "It also allows you to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes." If you action the immediate items in the way you describe then it keeps them within the system and enables action. I do something similar in that I do write out my immediate tasks at the end of the list and then work on them but with one difference - I don't ever consider myself to be working on that page but continue on my existing page. I know that when I reach that page I will be able to clear a lot of items, which is encouragement in itself, but it avoids the danger of jumping around the pages. regardless of what system we use for cris management when needed the key is just that - "to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes"
Excellent post - you have a real gift for summarising so clearly. There are a number of key points there:
"If the number of open items is always going up, it means you have too many commitments, and need to start saying "No!"." That's very true - not always easy (or possible!) to achieve but at least AF enables you to see the true position.
"If the number is stable, but you feel overwhelmed, I'd guess it means that you have too many backlogs, or other source of TM constipation." LOL - Again very true - backlogs do have a massive impact on AF and until they are cleared will continue to affect those statistics.
"If the number is stable or declining, and you feel in control, then you've found Time Management Nirvana" Knowing that the system is working gives such a sense of relief after all of the systems that promised so much but didn't deliver - or to be fair the systems that may have delivered for others but not for me - because they did not address the way I work. Despite the occasional blips when I panic about my backlogs and try (usually unsuccessfully) to tweak the system I feel so much more in control, despite having over 40 active pages. I do have limited discretionery time but still AF works. I am only able to cycle through my pages about once a week, but still AF works.
I think the key to any crisis management action is where you say "It also allows you to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes." If you action the immediate items in the way you describe then it keeps them within the system and enables action. I do something similar in that I do write out my immediate tasks at the end of the list and then work on them but with one difference - I don't ever consider myself to be working on that page but continue on my existing page. I know that when I reach that page I will be able to clear a lot of items, which is encouragement in itself, but it avoids the danger of jumping around the pages. regardless of what system we use for cris management when needed the key is just that - "to flow right back into the normal sequential rhythm as soon as the crisis passes"
March 12, 2009 at 8:48 |
Christine B
Christine B
David, I follow that same kind of pattern in my work as you indicate that you follow in terms of % of work done, but for some reason, I'm more of a 1-2 item person at home. I will make more of an effort to stay on the current page at home longer. The discrepancy of my AF experience at home vs. work is very confusing to me and I want to get to the bottom of it.
March 13, 2009 at 13:25 |
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
When at work I have only a few goals I need to think about, and I'm in more or less the same "state" all day. Nearly all of my work tasks are basically similar: sitting at a computer typing or reading.
At home I am far more influenced by mood. I also have tons of different goals on my mind: enjoying myself, learning, church work, being a good husband, house care. This means that on any given page I'll have a wide variety of different tasks, requiring different kinds of energy and suited to a different mood. So I also find I flick through the pages leaving most tasks undone. I am happy with that -- I think I usually do the right things.
At home I am far more influenced by mood. I also have tons of different goals on my mind: enjoying myself, learning, church work, being a good husband, house care. This means that on any given page I'll have a wide variety of different tasks, requiring different kinds of energy and suited to a different mood. So I also find I flick through the pages leaving most tasks undone. I am happy with that -- I think I usually do the right things.
March 13, 2009 at 13:35 |
David Barnes
David Barnes
I was thinking about this further, and wondering how, if one were retired, you would use AF. I think I would become involved in a couple of bigger projects and work on them like I do at work.
But in the meantime, I'll try to figure out how I can work at home like I do at work. I think I would have a better quality of real home tasks time and real leisure time, feeling that I've earned my leisure at home.
But in the meantime, I'll try to figure out how I can work at home like I do at work. I think I would have a better quality of real home tasks time and real leisure time, feeling that I've earned my leisure at home.
March 17, 2009 at 22:31 |
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
Just wanted to update that I'm down to 5 active pages (I think that will be down to 3 active pages by the end of this weekend at home and feeling great about it.
The push of having those 1-3 items on the old pages led me to dismiss a lot of them and buckle down for a weekend and do the rest. And it wasn't an "I don't want to do this, so I'm forcing myself" kind of weekend - it actually was enjoyable. Like one of those days where you just move through a to-do list item by item and do them in order - like Mark's "will do" / DIT kind of list, I guess? No thinking about it, no wondering if I should pick this vs. that, just getting the things done.
The push of having those 1-3 items on the old pages led me to dismiss a lot of them and buckle down for a weekend and do the rest. And it wasn't an "I don't want to do this, so I'm forcing myself" kind of weekend - it actually was enjoyable. Like one of those days where you just move through a to-do list item by item and do them in order - like Mark's "will do" / DIT kind of list, I guess? No thinking about it, no wondering if I should pick this vs. that, just getting the things done.
March 26, 2009 at 13:15 |
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
Seraphim (and Christine B)
"For the latter, the best method I've found is to write down all the urgent pressing things that are bothering you onto your last active page, then jump straight to that page and start working it as normal."
This is very close to operating AF within the rules. Rewriting a task on an urgent last page can be counted as an action on the page you take it from. If there are no such tasks on pages as you cycle through then, you only have to pick a 5 minute task and do that. Shouldn't take you long to get to that last page with the urgent stuff on it.
"For the latter, the best method I've found is to write down all the urgent pressing things that are bothering you onto your last active page, then jump straight to that page and start working it as normal."
This is very close to operating AF within the rules. Rewriting a task on an urgent last page can be counted as an action on the page you take it from. If there are no such tasks on pages as you cycle through then, you only have to pick a 5 minute task and do that. Shouldn't take you long to get to that last page with the urgent stuff on it.
March 27, 2009 at 12:27 |
Dm
Dm
Dm, I don't think it will be quick for them to cycle through as I believe Christine has something like 50+ active pages now - that amounts to 4 hours of cycling at 5 minutes per page. I think Seraphim has quite a large number of open items / active pages as well.
I'd be getting my highlighter out. :-)
I'd be getting my highlighter out. :-)
March 27, 2009 at 13:19 |
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
Having too many days of skipping pages if I couldn't do something on them right then or not feeling like doing something on one of those pages, but not dismissing properly, or pushing to get just one thing done on the page has left me with a lot of active pages with only one or two things remaining on them.
My other question is if you've just pushed yourself to get these things done no matter what, because you're just sick of having an active page with one piddly little item on it?