Get Everything Done

I am finding that my usage of the Autofocus system is to process the
last page and then return to the active page. This is probably a leftover from the Do It Tomorrow approach and having a daily closed list. I find it more practical to review the entries writen for the today (and yesterday) searching for items that need to be done that day. Once I have attended to these items, I can return to earlier pages.

An example, I am at home and think of things to do at the office the next day, for example, make a phone call, post a letter, buy something at lunchtime,
and send a document to person X. I write these items on the WORK list.
When I get to work the next day, I review this list for items to do that day,
and once they are out of the way, I can revert to the active page.

I wrote before how I created a list of things to do that day by reviewing
earlier pages and transferring these items to the last page.

Do other people follow this sort of processing?

Charles

Charles, I think this is a brilliant idea! I have so many pages that there are days that I am stuck on earlier pages with the backburner projects. Then there are days that I don't quite make it off the last page. I am going to give this a try!

I tried something similar in one of my "experiments" to get urgent stuff done but switched back to plain AF with a list of urgent items to do only if vital. The danger with the above approach is that you risk getting caught up with current items which "seem" more important because they are current but are not getting the benefit of the sifting process. It can take me up to a week to get through my list and I always find that many of the items on the last pages will have been done by the time I first get to them but without the resistance I find when working "out of order" or by rationally determining the urgency and importance of my tasks.

Having my "urgent items" list on view (which I have in the form of a Mindmap) seems to be sufficient to enable most of the related tasks to stand out automatically (and therefore with low resistance); the rest either get done under the common sense "do it now" rule or else I realise they were not as "urgent" as I thought.

So far I really like starting with the last page and then returning to the last active page and working forward. I am interested in the backward approach, too, but I want to test one change at a time. I understand what you're saying, Christine. I have lots of hair-brained ideas on the last page that left sitting for several days will not be actioned. But there are other tasks that aren't getting actioned frequently enough. You mentioned you have email tasks on every page? I could try that approach versus starting with the last page, but so far so good for me. Honestly, if I go off list, the in-the-moment tasks that would be added to the last page get actioned anyway. At least now I'm making my approach legitimate. My problem is when you have many pages and you're starting at the beginning, it can take a long time to get back to the frequently done tasks on the last page. I know one of the most attractive aspects of AF for me was Mark's report of doing tasks like checking for forum comments several times a day. I rarely experience that benefit with the traditional approach. Others have suggested putting these tasks on a routine list and scheduling them. Have tried these approaches for years to no avail. AF (when I'm getting to the last page at least once a day) has helped me stay on top of repetitive tasks better than anything I've tried. Having no dirty clothes in the laundry closet in a house with 8 people is a miracle! LOL

For me, AF is about outsmarting our irrational side. Freud would call it our id. I can keep my id in line if it thinks it's in control. If I tell my id that she has to do laundry at least once a day, she says forget it! If I tell id she gets to choose from any tasks on a page (even if that's always starting with the last page), she's happy and she ends up doing what I wanted her to do anyway. Ids are child-like. One of the aspects of AF that appeals to id is the surprise aspect. In a way, doing AF is like playing a board game. Sure, I've looked at everything on the list, but I don't remember what's on a given page. Each page is a bit of a surprise. Will it be something I'm dying to do? Or will it be filled with tasks to dismiss? It keeps the process interesting and fun for my irrational id.

Well, my id would like to keep blabbing, but lunch break is over. ;-)

Hi Mel

I'm sure our id's could chatter away together for hours :-)

I've actually been doing something a little different today - it wasn't meant to be "yet another experiment......" but has sort of turned into one! I had a backlog project that had gotten to critical stage and the little and often approach meant that I wasn't addressing the root issue, so today was "bite the bullett" day. A couple of days ago I started adding these backlog items and today reached the first of those pages (54) Up until now I have dutifully refused to mark off items done on a later page until I got to the page but as I am adding items at a rate of knots with this "project" it was getting ridiculous, so I have ended up working on pages 54 to the end. Not something I want to do regularly but it is enabling me to manage and keep control of the project - and to make more progress on it than I would have thought possible. So far today I have added 105 items to the list - that is somewhat exceptional! It'll be interesting to see whether my number of active items have gone up or down by the end of the day :-)

I am still treating Page 54 as my current page but as each item then generates two or three others, some of which then get actioned over the course of the day, it makes more sense to work on this basis just until I get to the last page "properly".

How many pages do you have?? When I have a project like the one you're describing, I quit using the list and just finish it. Of course, I do a few other things that are on the list, but I don't look at the list. I wonder how that will work for you? I'm really wondering if you have a lot more than 54 pages! That's a bunch! I'd love to have a small number of pages, but since I use my AF list for everything and I do a lot within that everything (writing, video projects, church tasks, homeschool stuff, housekeeping, and on and on), the pages have stayed between 15-26. That's especially true because of the repeating household tasks. I don't use it for my regular daily chores, but I do for weekly chores and less frequent tasks that need to be repeated. I just keep adding it to the list even if I don't *need* to do it for a week or longer. That helps a lot in dealing with my lazy id. ;-)

Hi Mel

I'm currently on page 61 and have now added 140 new items to the lists today - the most in a day since starting AF. However this particular backlog has been causing problems since day 1 and needed to be addressed. The interesting thing is that, although I can't exactly say it has been fun, I genuinely haven't had the major resistance issues to it that I have been having to this issue since before day 1. There is a boredom factor but that is about all - I really feel that I will have this under control and that then my lists will really start to reduce :-) My other backlogs are dependant upon this "first stage" and I will be able to identify new procedures to avoid a repeat performance in the future.

What is also interesting is the way in which AF is managing this backlog. I would never have advocated just dumping the volume of stuff into AF that I have but it really is handling it and I feel in control. To be honest I don't think I would have had the confidence to try such a drastic step at an earlier stage of AF - it would not have felt a sensible option, but it has worked and worked well. My biggest frustration is the fact that I have little or no discretionery time tomorrow - as it is of course Frantic Friday - and I just want to carry on and finish. Working all night wouldn't be the sensible option ...... :-)