Get Everything Done

First,my thanks to Mark Forster for the wonderful tool that is AF.
My productivity has greatly increased thanks to AF.
However I've found with standard AF that structured procrastination means I am procrastinating on important things and am forced to dismiss them when I dont want to.(My bad!)So I cheat and leave them on the list without dismissing and the flow of things and trust in the system goes to pot.
So I did some research on Structured procrastination and went to Stanford philosophy Professor John Perry's site.
www.structuredprocrastination.com

I now create an arbitrary task at the top of each page that is NOT critical to achieve but artificially elevate it's priority and frame it in a way that makes it hard to perform and give it a deadline which is hard to attain.eg" clean out garage and rearrange all remaining items there neatly by this weekend"-something I know I will definitely resist!
This is to cheat my die hard stubborn mind:and guess what-the remaining items on the page tend to stand out more.
I know I'm cheating,but it seems to work at the subconscious level.

Just thought I'd share

Jay

Interesting idea! You are absolutely right that not dismissing items and leaving them on the list will definitely throw things out. It seems that the issue may not be so much with the procrastination as such but with the reason/s for that procrastination. If you are procrastinating on tasks that are genuinely important then there will most definitely be a reason. The more we try to find a way around "the system" all we succeed in doing is hiding from ourselves what that reason is.

Reasons can vary, from fear of conflict, financial issues, emotional issues linked in some way to the task, being in the wrong job, resenting the obligation of the task or even just plain boredom. What I have found with other systems is that I could avoid those reasons by means of procrastination and then blame my "habit of procrastination" for failing to do those tasks. AF removes that luxury BUT it creates a safe environment to examine those reasons.

With any other system there is the perception (perception not being equal to fact) that identifying the reason for that procrastination means that we have to deal with the issue. In some ways that is true because we will not longer be able to use "procrastination" as an excuse. However with AF we can acknowledge the reason (which our subconscious will be very well aware of and inform us of if we so allow) without having to act on it. We will still have the option of "just doing" the task, or of dismissing it, both of which are within the rules of AF so there is no implication of "failure". Once we allow ourselves to acknowledge the reason, there will come a point in time at which we feel ready to act on that knowledge. Until then we can still operate perfectly effectively within AF, and, it is also probable that the resistance will lessen to a degree as the issue is not hidden any more, even though it may not be dealt with until a later time.

To use a practical example, if you realise that you are resisting certain items because you are in the wrong job, you are unlikely to respond by immediately handing in your notice. Therefore the tasks will still need to be done. However you may well start looking at alternative options, and knowing that you are putting steps in place to change the situation, those tasks will become less resistant. Alternatively, you may decide to stay in the job. Again the resistance is likely to decrease because you will recognise that you have made a conscious choice to accept those tasks.

Hope that may help ..... what you are seeing as a problem is actually the system working in the way it should ...... :-)

Interesting idea, Jay! I now dismiss tasks that I know I will or must eventually do. In fact, I think dismissing them sometimes makes them easier to do because subconsciously I am thinking I don't "have" to do them. I know that's very convoluted. LOL

Mel, I'm amazed sometimes at how many times I'll dismiss a task, run through my dismissed items a month later and see how many I've actually completed - without putting them back on the list.

@Jay:... and measure productivity by value to others rather than quantity for yourself?

"procrastination is a battle between an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system and a relatively younger part known as the prefrontal cortex." -

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/are-you-procrastinating-more-blame-the-pandemic?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20210304science-procrastinationpandemic::rid=&sf243640304=1

Maybe it helps to know this?