Get Everything Done

Laurence made an excellent point about "Trust the System" in another post. I have been using AF since day 1 of beta Testing and I can honestly say that the best piece of advice anyone can give is to Trust the System.

There have been a lot of tweaks suggested and I have also developed a "tweak" which has been working excellently for me BUT it is working because I "Trust the System". I have been reluctant to post it because I think it is really important to get to know how AF really works and in my opinion that can only be done by doing it exactly as Mark has produced it. Having first heard Mark speak at a conference soon after he published his first book, I have developed an immense respect for his work in Time Management, and his determination to keep looking at improving everything - including his own work.

My initial reaction to the AF instructions on day 1 of Beta was "Huh? That can't possibly work" I was actually pretty disappointed because I was so excited about the fact that Mark was bringing out a new system and I really had hoped it would somehow revolution my life. Pretty tall order I know but I was desperate! :-)

Anyway, BECAUSE of my respect for Mark I decided to give it a go and to follow the instructions to the letter. And guess what I found? Did it work? ABSOLUTELY! And I am not exaggerating when I say that, looking back now after nearly 4 months that it genuinely has revolutionised my life, in that (a) I have stayed with the same system for longer than any other system (b) my productivity has improved beyond all recognition (c) I have caught up on areas that had been backlogged for years (d) I am making real progress with backlog issues that I had all but given up on (e) I have become more focused on the things that are genuinely important in my life, rather than constantly struggling against backlogs and the resultant crises.

Like everyone else I came up against the questions as to how to deal with projects, how to deal with routines, how to deal with urgent items, how to manage cycling through lists with lots of pages, how to run with AF with erratic or minimal discretionery time etc etc. I have to say that I perhaps disagree slightly with Mark on one small point - Mark quite correctly points out that AF works with discretionery time. However I believe that AF works anyway, perhaps not if there is a total absence of discretionery time (which I doubt applies to many people) but certainly works with the smallest amounts of discretionery time. It is how we manage that discretionery time - and also how we manage our non-discretionery time that is important. As someone coming to AF with a massive backlog position, serious deadline issues as a result, extremely erratic discretionery time and being on the verge of burnout, if it can continue to work for me then I really believe "the system" can work in any environment.

So what then does "Trust the System" really mean? It is not just a blind faith, that writing a task down on a piece of paper "magically" causes your life to be transformed instantly, every problem to disappear, world hunger to end and the Easter bunny to provide you with an unending supply of chocolate! What it means is investing the time needed to learn the system, obeying the rules and making the effort to examine "why" on those occasions when the "system" appears contrary to what you believe to be common sense - in other words those occasions when "the system" appears to place a different level of urgency on tasks than you believe rationally that it should. That is not always easy to do - our rational mind says "well it is still me making the decision" and that is true. The best way I can describe of allowing the system to work is in treating the system as somehow separate to yourself, for example it is not you "deciding" to go and watch TV, it is "the system" telling you that is the best thing for you to be doing at this point in time. That may sound a little weird but it does make it easier to be more objective in looking at the reasons for what "the system" is saying. There is a big difference between "I must want to watch TV because I am a lazy so-and-so" and "you should watch TV because you really need to take a break from xyz for a half hour".

So why have I "created" a tweak if the system is so perfect? I think the answer to that is that it is because the system works but I have some limitations (well quite a lot actually!!) and my "tweak" enables me to use the system to it's full potential with my limitations (which in this case are deadlines, backlogs, many many pages and limited time). I suspect I would not need the tweak if my limitations were not there but I think that when we feel the system is somehow not meeting our needs at a point in time then, before looking for a way to change things just for convenience, we need to identify what is the root cause. My tweak manages my "problems" rather than changes the system but is not at the expense of identifying what those problems are. I think there is a very real danger that, if we just look for the latest tweak or change to the system, then we run the risk of missing some of the lessons that "the system" has to teach us.

I wanted to use the system as written - with the ability to spend as much time as "felt right" on any given task, without having to artificially rush through the pages. I didn't want to feel under pressure to dismiss items in order to clear items more quickly if there were still items I felt I could and wanted to do on a page, but felt pressured to move on from. I wanted to be able to action current urgent tasks within deadlines without fear that I would not reach the "right" page. I can now manage that effectively, with over 50 active pages and close to 500 active items, and still have time to write this post - because the tasks that last week I was concerned about completing, in time for today's month end deadline, were completed on Tuesday!

I truly do not understand these long posts about AF and tweaking it or otherwise.

I also don't understand this notion of "discretionary" time. All time is discretionary. This is one of the strengths of AF: no matter how "urgent" something appears to be to me or someone else, ultimately I am the one making the choice to act on it. If I am not, it becomes clear I am choosing not to and then I have a few choices to make in regard to that task.

Not trying to be sophistic, but some of these discussions border on the Scholastic.

My experience shows that keeping close to the rules and not wringing my hands too much when I judge it is the best to deviate from them has allowed me to get more done in months that I ever thought I could have.

I still don't understand this long post.

What is your tweak Christine?

Norman,

Discretionary time to me just means time that is not specifically allocated to a commitment of some sort (eg. the hours I spend at a job when I look at the context of how much discretionary time I have to do personal tasks). Otherwise, I tend to find as you likely do that most of my time is completely discretionary and that most other people's (office workers) could be more discretionary if they chose.

As to being overly concerned with minutia (if that's what you're saying), it probably has to do with a fascination with understanding why the system can work so well when other things haven't???

I understand your concerns Norman, but I, for example, really don't have much "discretionary time" in my job. I'm an elementary school ESOL teacher. from 9am until 11:15 am I am with scheduled classes. From 12:20-3:10pm I am with scheduled classes and then have a scheduled duty from 3:15-3:45. I can leave at 3:50. That means I have only "discretionary time" for a while in the morning (depending how early a day I want to make it) and at my lunch/"planning" time. Oh, and after 3:50 if I want to stay late. It takes a lot to plan and grade all of these classes, let alone the paperwork and misc. meetings and conferences and other stuff that comes up.

Oh, and I don't like to take my work home as I would rather be with my daughter and wife there (AND work on my graduate degree).

So that is an example of not having much discretionary--meaning "unscheduled"--work time in which I like having a system like AF to help me stay on track with what I need to be working on at any given moment in those few precious "unscheduled" hours.

(And in case you were wondering I'm checking this forum and typing while eating lunch. I know, I know, crumbs in the keyboard and all...).

Thanks.

Christine B

I second Mark Squash, I was unable to see what or where the tweak is. Starting from a very impressive list '50 active pages and close to 500 active items' and most probably minimal discretionary time, my guess is that not all the pages are scanned daily.

Of course I am also waiting for the publication of Mark Forster next tweak.
OK and now I put a visit to this site also on my list with tiny characters so it does not stick too much out :)

Christine,

Mark has offered us a reason for tantalizing us with his innovation. Do you have a reason for tantalizing us with your tweak?

"Mark has offered us a reason for tantalizing us with his innovation."
Could someone enlighten me on what this reason is, please? I seem to have missed it!

I'm particularly bemused (and a tad irritated, I have to admit - sorry Mark) with your providing your private stats for this new system. I don't quite see how that can be useful, or even interesting, to anyone at this stage, as we are in the dark as to how the system works, and we don't have our own stats to compare with.

Am I being obtuse here? Maybe a repeat of Mark's reason for "tantalizing" and providing this information will clarify things for me. Thanks and apologies if I've missed something obvious.

Robina,

Mark wrote:

Jupiter:

The offer is appreciated, but at the moment I am fiddling with it myself to get the balance right so I can't give it to other people to test until I have a stable set of rules.
May 1, 2009 at 11:16 | Registered CommenterMark Forster

Moises - thanks.

I fully appreciate why Mark doesn't want to reveal a new system until he's tested it to a degree he's satisfied with.

That reflects his professional thoroughness that we have come to expect, admire and hugely benefit from. It is also common sense.

However, what I don't understand is why he provides us up front with, for example, stats.

Still bemused.....

Robina: If memory serves, before the release of the AF Beta, Mark was similarly dishing out the tasty morsels of how his testing phase was progressing - for eg, describing how he threw a reading list to the system and how efficaciously AF handled it. I am, like many here, waiting in eager anticipation. Meanwhile, AF is working brilliantly for me.

JD: Thanks. My - dare I say it? - addiction (perhaps commitment would be a more constructive way of expressing it!)....my commitment to this forum does not go back beyond pre AF so your response is very helpful.

Glad to know AF is working so brilliantly for you. I really WANT it to work, and am persevering, but have found difficulties, like others, with incorporating routine tasks which never get me off the last page, say.

Just as I write this, I've had an AHA! moment. Maybe I am just overcommitted, hence why I can't get through everything and my active pages just keep on growing, and would also explain why I've been bed-bound for the last month with post-viral fatigue as my whole personal system can't take any more.

I can't believe I haven't taken this on board before. Especially as I've always admired Mark's strength for creating systems that have inherent, self-diagnostic tools for why things are not working. I'll put it down to the virus......

I have already been thinking of starting another post regarding AF and limited activity, as that has been so helpful for me, so will do that when it stands out in my list....

Thanks again, JD. Your clear and simple response has been personally very facilitative!

And I thought it was called "teasing." :-)

Hi Moises & others

I apologise if I have gotten people curious about my "tweak" - I was not intending to "tantalize" everyone as you put it :-) I really have been in two minds as to whether to post it because I really do believe that the key is in trusting the system which was what my original lengthy (sorry Norman!) post was meant to convey. I really do feel it is important to get used to doing the system and learning to recognise the "standing out" element of AF and the way in which the system helps you to identify reasons for resistance and procrastination. My concern is that "tweaks" can become almost like a form of procrastination in that they can cause us to "try something else" rather than look at what the system is saying.

Of course the other problem I have is trying to describe it - you probably know by now that I don't have Mark's gift for conciseness - if that is a word! :-) I will do my best to be concise and post my "tweak" shortly ......

Christine,

Thanks for your response. I appreciate your ambivalence.

I too am of two minds with regard to tweaks, modifications, adjustments, and adaptations. Or maybe I am of two hands.

On the one hand, I do not like to flit from system to system. My fundamental belief is that my goal is to to do well at my job and at home. There really does not seem to be a lot of evidence to suggest that people who are the best at DIT, or GED, or AF, or GTD, or any other system, are particularly more successful at their pursuits than anyone else.

I tend not to move from tool to tool. I like my tools to fade into the background. I want them to become habitual where I do not need to think about them.

I am more concerned with finding adequate tools--or satisficing--than finding the best tools--or optimizing.

That said, every rare once and a while, I stumble upon something that offers me a radical, qualitative improvement. So, I have to weigh the annoyance of making any change at all against the the benefit of a marked productivity improvement.

I agree with you that most tweaks are often nothing more than avoidance behaviors. Usually, what matters most is to have a system--any system--and anything beyond that is minor. But every once in a while there is some modification or other that changes everything. So, I am glad that you and Mark and others are out there tirelessly testing and probing for some little difference that can make a big difference.