Get Everything Done

I've been following Autofocus Condensed for the last 10 days, and am still very happy with it.

One "tweak" that I've implemented is when choosing the items every morning that I would like to get done today, I've identified 10 things from my "master Autofocus" list that I can get done at work (average completion is 90%), 3 things that I would like to get done in the morning before work (average completion is 100%), and 16 things I'd like to get done after work (average completion is about 60%).

The good thing about this is that I can bring the papers etc. from home to work so that I'm prepared to do the things I've chosen to do that are related to my home book while I'm at work.

The downside to the system is that often I'll be part way through my list of items that I've pre-chosen to do at home in the evening and realize that I'd really rather be working on something that's on my "master AF" list. To combat this, I'm going to not select my 16 evening items until I get home.

Re. dismissal, I also made a rule for myself that if I pulled something forward 3 times and didn't do it, it gets dismissed.

I've also started putting many more tasks on my list (but not in a dumping kind of way), because I'm not so concerned about the number of pages that I've got. Yet my number of active pages is remaining stable - which means I'm getting a ton more done.

Hi Jaqueline,

This is very nice. But how do you handle tasks on older active pages that you never seem to move forward? Do you dismiss these? I guess I am still somewhat confused as to how you do this versus standard AF.

-David

Hi David,

I do put some focus on the older active pages when pulling tasks into the smaller list because I start from my oldest active page when pulling tasks. They're getting done (or dismissed) faster than before this way. That's a priority for me though where it might not be to someone else, as I don't want to have 50+ active pages, 30 of which only have 1 or 2 items on them.

The nice thing is that when I pull the older tasks onto the mini-AF list, I usually take the opportunity to chunk them down. That's usually my issue with why I haven't done them already.

If I decide not to work (on paid work) :-) this weekend, I might not follow my process above and just start at the beginning of my AF active pages and power my way through, doing or dismissing. If I do that, I could probably close off about 13 active pages in one day. I find myself always highly motivated to close those old pages with only 1-2 items off for good and put a big red checkmark on the top of the page when I've got a free day. :-)

I've come to the realization that different techniques just work better for me on different days, so I don't want to be rigid in my approach.

Hi Jacqueline,

Yep -- me too. I have been using Christine's tweak on focusing sometimes on the most current 2-3 pages and standard AF. I do like mixing things up and sometimes, it is just necessary.

I do like your tweak too and will try it out for a while.

-David

Hi Jacqueline, I tend to just pull forward everything that might be doable today onto one 30-40-item list without any kind of restrictions or categories. Also, it's probably good to use the standing out method when pulling items forward rather than choosing things you'd like to do.

The main idea is to pull everything forward that might come into play today, so that you can (a) concentrate focus on a smaller list, and (b) avoid having to flip back to the older pages. The benefits are greater focus on core items, no issues with urgent items, a clear overview of your day, and a lot more comfort sinking into single items for a number of hours at a time. Also, as Jacqueline pointed out, there is lots to be gained in the rewriting process via chunking down items, items triggering reminders of other items, etc.

David, those old tasks move forward eventually -- some of them take a bit longer. Here are a few stats. Under classic Autofocus, my dismissed pages had an average of about 10 unfinished items. Under Autofocus condensed, that's dropped to about 3 or 4 on all pages except the most current 4-5 (where there might be 75 "live" items in total). I really don't mind waiting three or four weeks for the right time to do something, and with only a few items on the older pages it's still only taking about 15 minutes to scan through all of the lists.

Hi Simon,

I know I said "things I would like to do today" - but I meant more of a standing out type of process. :-)

I do have the categories just because there are some things I can do only at home, but also some that I can do at work and it's helpful for me when I'm at work to have those items in one place. I don't have one list for everything - I'm only doing Autofocus for my home stuff right now, not for my work. I was quite happy with my time management methods at work already so I'm sticking with it.

Hi Jacqueline and Simon,

Thanks for your answers -- it is more clear to me now and I see the great potential here, so I am going to give this a try.

Jacqueline, just of curiosity sake -- since you said you use AF for home only and "other time management methods" at work....what may I ask are these other methods? I am intrigued...

Best wishes,
-David

Hi David, I think it depends so much on personality what type of thing works for one person over another. I like deadlines, I like urgency - I come alive in that kind of environment, that's just the way I am.

My methods don't work as well in the job that I'm in now since I don't have as much work to do. :-( With AF, I found myself doing things I didn't think I should even be doing just because they were there. With my methods, I would have filtered them out upon receipt and I wouldn't have even bothered writing them down. At work, I just want to do an outstanding job at very, very few things.

If I had to pick a writer whose time management philosophy I follow most closely at work, it would probably be Brian Tracy.

http://www.briantracy.com/articles/default.aspx?topicid=8

Specifically:

- Focus on highest value tasks - and let the small stuff go completely - or see how far you can get away with not doing things

- Develop sense of urgency - I race against myself all the time. I have learned to hate to have things hanging over me - anything in my in-box is intolerable. Even the thought of a backlog at work (or an item with a deadline at home) makes me very anxious. I think of it as losing my freedom in what I choose to do. That's why I don't have any "urgent, must be done today" kinds of things on my AF list, and why I don't understand the work backwards approach or Christine's tweak or other urgency tweaks. Actually, even the thought that *they* have backlogs makes me kind of anxious. :-)

- Constant focus on how to save time in the future or modify things to make them easier to do - or automatic - or not necessary to do - or how to get someone else / other team to do them.

- Always work ahead - as soon as I get a new project or I think it's possible to start working on a project that's on my radar, I initiate some kind of action to get the ball rolling so that it takes on a life of its own.

- 100% focus when I'm working on something - I'll wear headphones if I have to and not listen to anything just to cut out sensory input.

- Work on highest priority project first thing in the morning when I'm most alert - I used to go into work at 6:00, leave at 3:30 and usually put in another few hours every night at home. Once I get > 80 hours a week, even in a job I like, I'm not good for anything but photocopying - if that. Up to 50 hours is probably optimum. But I enjoyed my work a lot.

- Take regular weekend recreation breaks and spend part of the Sunday morning brainstorming with myself on how to improve processes.

Most of my work before was project based and is now more task based - which doesn't really suit me unfortunately. That's why I never followed a system like DIT before because I was always the driver of the projects and their timing, not inputs coming in from outside of me (if that makes sense). Plus I couldn't stand to put important things off until the next day.

Oh dear, sorry for the lengthy post !!

Hi Jacqueline,

"Oh dear, sorry for the lengthy post !!"

I never got that. A post takes as many words as it takes. It is not improved by condensing it beyond comprehension just to make it short. You just get follow-up questions anyway.

I think it must be some kind of virus going around. ;-)

Mike, I was being facetious - I don't care how long posts are. Learn to speedread, skip or skim if you have problems, I say. :-)

Hi Jacqueline

Enjoyed your post - it is helpful to see your methods and motivators - and I'm sorry my backlog anxiety is contagious :-(. I would love to be as focussed as that although I realise that there have been times when that has been true for me too.

I think though that I am realising that the creation of my backlog was partly a product of burnout resulting from that intensity of work but without the ability to take the type of breaks you mention. I suspect that until I get to the position of being able to take any sort of of real break my speed of work is somewhat lower than it would be if I was operating at full par but even so my backlog is being dealt with .... just nowhere near as quickly or consistently as I want. If only I could pack my files into my car and get away from it all to focus on it ........

p.s. - Just checked out the Brian Tracy link - thanks for that link - looks interesting. I've always enjoyed listening to Brian Tracy.

Jacqueline, you've succeeded in giving me two good laughs today. The one about others' backlogs making you anxious cracked me up. I like your concept of the "must do today" stuff taking away your freedom because I definitely feel that way. Anything that I feel I *must* do today or soon builds resentment or resistance in me. I really want to adopt your policy of getting on top of it before that can happen. I worked this way as an undergraduate student. I started every assignment immediately and was always done early. I think this habit was the result of the terror my high school teachers instilled in me: "You'll never survive in college working this way."

I do wonder if the condensed approach is taking away the whole point of AF, however? I find myself gravitating toward doing it a lot, but I think the wonderful balance of projects, old tasks, and recreational tasks gets lost when I select tasks from the larger list. Maybe that's just me though.

I'm not kidding Mel, I see other people's inboxes and almost recoil in horror that they have anything in there, because in my mind that means they have all that to actually DO - and heaven forbid if 100 of the 5,000 messages are in bold, signifying they're unread!!!

I started off doing this stuff in University too. There were two classes in my last semester that I knew I would do really well in even if I didn't *waste* the time going to class, so I literally just showed up the first day, for the midterm and the final. (Not that I would see going to a class today as a waste of time - but needs must when the devil drives.) Another summer off, I bought the textbooks and worked my way through the next semester's economics and stats classes. My oldest son was just a baby then and since I had to work too while carrying a full class load, I just didn't have time to do things the conventional way and still maintain a high GPA.

I have a good balance of new, old and am even putting some recreational tasks on my list now that I'm using the condensed approach. I'm a little less prone to "do it now" and have tended to put more things on my "master list" knowing that I can get them done the next day .

I think the way that I work when at work and the AF condensed method really helps with not getting overwhelmed - that's the key for me. When I get overwhelmed, I get quite panicky and have to see that what I want / have to do is achievable in the time frame I want to do it in. That's the crux of the problem that I had with my home renovations, and now that there's been so much progress on that, I can relax and feel confident that bit by bit using regular AF and condensed AF, it will get done in a decent time frame. Even if I go over my "deadline" of Dec. 31 by a month or two or three, I'm completely fine with that and would even enjoy it (I do like ski season after all). :-)

Re. taking a break Christine - to me it's kind of like when you have a project you want to work on and it requires a lot of thought, the first thing I do is clear off my desk. Then there's nothing to focus on or distract you in any way. Breaks are like that too - you can step back and see the big picture without all the noise. I think the time off more than pays for itself in time and effort saved later.

Hi Jacqueline

You don't need to convince me about the need to take breaks - I know how important they are - and that I would feel better and more focussed if I could do so. Unfortunately I cannot see any possibility of that for some time to come. At present I consider the ability to be at home with my lists a break ..... now how sad is that?

Jacqueline, you have me laughing again. Thanks! :-) I feel that many if not most of my classes were a waste of time. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a visual learner. While the instructor was blabbing, I was thinking, "I could read this in a fraction of the time." I think it's one of the reasons I teach my kids at home. I can tell my visual learner son to "read this." He does and doesn't fidget listening to me blab. lol

BTW, I noted your disgust with parents who do their kids homework on another post (too busy to do multiple posts right now). I am also quite astonished by this, especially given that my parents never helped me with my homework, nor did they even know what I was doing. I just did it! I realize that when you have a child who struggles, you need to be more involved, but puh-lease! I hear parents saying, "I need to get home. I have a paper to write for little Joey." Really setting them up for a successful life--not.

Have a great weekend!

Hi Jaqueline and Mel,

And as a professor at a major research university, I can tell you that these students DO have trouble, particularly when they get in college. And the parents thought they were being helpful. Right. Of course if a child struggles, then help by all means....but even then, it so important to foster a sense of personal responsibility and achievement.

-David

David, I was talking to one of our associate deans about how students have changed from when he started teaching 20+ years ago. He said that now students will blame the profs for their poor grades rather than take any personal responsibility for them. "I didn't do well because *you* didn't teach me properly." I have told both my kids that I put in my 16 years of school, I don't need to do it again - so they've always known they're on their own - I'll help, not do. Part of the problem though is it seems the teachers are also expecting the parents to help with homework.

I've also found that alot of the people in their early 20's that I've worked with don't seem to have the ambition and drive that I remember having at their age. They run out the door right at quitting time - or earlier if they can get away with it. Or they have the ambition to get the rewards - if it means not putting the work in. I think part of it is due to the helicopter parenting and part is due to the good economy that we had over the last 20 years. I am seeing a few of them getting laid off now and having a hard time finding a job. Mommy and daddy can't help them with that, I guess.

Hi Jacqueline,

I see the same thing...but it depends. I am seeing an awful lot of very well-prepared kids and they are driven to succeed. It is delightful to see....but there are still plenty of the instant gratification kids -- and yes, those they blame EVERYBODY for their failures...except themselves, of course. I have worked with some of these kids....and you know what....with patience and caring....and a lot of hard work...a number of them turn things around.

-David

That's good to know, David. I have a young adult family member who is currently unemployed and seems to have no drive at all. I sincerely hope she can turn things around.

While I don't argue with the fact that there are those that are eager to self-gratify and easily blame, I hesitate to put people in good & bad piles just because of certain overt behaviours taken in a certain context. Besides those 'strategies' for dealing with life aren't particularly empowering or effective on the long run, some people think the younger generations 'get a way' with things that older generations couldn't. What exactly they are getting away with I wouldn't know.

I remember when I was in the wrong study (but I had to pick something) and if any teacher had seriously looked at me he probably would have said I was unmotivated, lacking discipline and was an underachiever. He/she would have been right. All it took for me was to realize what I wanted to do, I just hadn't found out. (on a sidenote, I can't remember too many teachers that took much of a personal interest to notice)

Once you have a goal or found a passion/interest (and it helps a ton when other people don't have a 'stake' in what you do, i.e. parents and peers that expect you to accomplish certain things.) A common reality though is that a lot of kids are being taught things they don't want to learn, but are expected to. You don't have to push or motivate people to do things when they are frothing at the mouth to learn something they want to know based on their own interest and curiosity. And with a serious pursuit in anything, I think a sense of commitment and personal responsibility will naturally follow in a lot of cases. Show me an unmotivated student and I'm willing to bet they aren't interested in the topic they are learning, or the way it is being taught.

But I disagree with sentiments that paint a 'broken generation' picture, with fault having to go to a particular direction, whether it be the parents, educational systems, personality faults, the rise of adhd diagnoses and anything else one can think of. These are different times then they were 10 years ago and the 10 years before that, and the 10 before that. I find it hard to make a plausible comparison. Especially since the world is changing at an increasing rate. In many ways this world has much more expectations for the people coming in.

There are more choices and if you're not adept at learning, you can't keep up with the industries. Changing jobs on a yearly basis is now considered normal. Many courses teach outdated information by the time the student has completed their study. The thing I like about this is that people won't have a choice but to become good at learning and the most efficient way to learn is to learn something you are truly interested in. Being passionate about something is the path of least resistance in some sense, which should be the wet dream of all those that are naturally undisciplined, self-gratifying and lacking in drive.

Jacqueline,

RE: Teachers. That can be a real pain. I put in some time mentoring and I got disgusted, as probably many parents do, because the teachers seemed to be less results than process oriented. IOW, I could teach a kid to take a square root, but I would teach them now *I* do it, and the teachers went nuts. I got the right answer, but it was "wrong' according to the teacher because it was not "done properly". I think this is a real problem. One thing you WANT to teach kids is that there is more than one way to skin a cat and they should be open to new approaches.

Also, I get that they want the parents to get involved. That is far more complex a problem. Some parents are really "absent". They don't know what the kid is doing or how well. They don't care. When I was mentoring one kid did not show up and so I called his mom. She said he was not coming to school and was dropping out. I asked if she thought that was a good idea and she said: "He's 16 and has a job. It's up to him." OY!

I can see the point of view that the parents should be "involved" with the student's homework ... to know what it is, and how the kid is doing. But they parent should not have to do the work the teacher is there to do. OTOH, teachers are being overloaded beyond belief. They are not only supposed to teach, but also police, enforce silly drug laws, be responsible for health and safety, and god knows what else. So it becomes a question of everyone pushing back on the other. The parents push their responsibility to the teacher and the teacher pushes right back. The only solution I see is a system overhaul.

Update on Autofocus Condensed progress.

Why this works for me:

- I wanted to establish a few good habits like exercise first thing in the morning, and AF condensed has helped alot with that.

- Number of active pages have remained stable at somewhere between 11 and 14.

- I make sure to include some things that move me forward on my major goals every day. I was a lot more hit and miss with this using regular AF. I've even pulled some of my goals off the backburner because things are working so well with AFC.

- I use my AF list only for my home items, and wasn't using it during the day while I was at work for the most part. With AF condensed, I include 7-10 items from my home list on my daily page and polish off on average about 80-90% of them on a regular basis. This is easier to do because I've pre-planned the day, so have the necessary documentation with me so that I can finish these things off.

- Although I've never "cleared off" a day of tasks that I've written down for the day, I feel that it's possible to do so, therefore my enthusiasm for continuing on with the list is higher than if I came to a page with tasks on it that I didn't feel like doing, but didn't want to dismiss. Using regular AF, I would just call it quits for the day.

- Having a few items that are on the list that I want to do at 5:00 a.m. means that I start the day off by referencing the AF book right away.

- It's fun to play the game of seeing how much of the list I can polish off, even though I know it would take superhuman effort to do it all. What doesn't get done becomes part of the master list, and I'm totally ok with not finishing all of it. I get the benefit of structured procrastination too. :-)

- How I dismiss: When I pull something forward from the "master list", if it's the first time I've done so, I put a (1) beside it, the second time I pull it forward, it gets a (2) and (3) strikes and it's out.

- I'm moving towards my main goal items at a faster pace. I don't have a lot of urgent items on my list, but they can easily be incorporated in the system.

Jacqueline, that's great that you're still using AF Condensed -- I've been sticking with it as well for about a month now. I haven't really worked out a dismissal system yet. Sometimes in the morning when I'm preparing today's list I just scan backwards through the last two or three weeks of items, rather than every single active page. It seems like 60% of today's items come from yesterday's list, 25% from the day before, 10% from the day before that, and then a few random items from earlier days. So I generally feel safe scanning backwards if pressed for time.

Mark, I love your original formulation of AF but I just found it difficult to cycle through the pages quickly enough. My process is something like this:

- At the beginning of the day, draw a red line under the last item on the last page of your AF notebook (to clearly separate where yesterday ends and today begins
- While eating breakfast, jot down a few top-of-mind items (below the red line) to be done today
- Then, from the first active page of the AF notebook, scan for any items that "stand out". Cross those items out and re-enter them at the end of your list (below the red line and below the top-of-mind items you jotted down earlier). Take the opportunity to rewrite them more clearly, chunk them down, add related ideas etc.
- Continue through all active pages. Generally it takes about 15 minutes and I carry forward about 40 items.
- Then, process everything below the red line as you would in regular AF -- scan and work on anything that jumps out. Add items to the end of the list as they occur during the day.

I find that it provides a clear overview of the day, and there are no issues with urgent items because you're working from a relatively short list. Also, you can limit the number of 'timewasters' carried forward, which forces you to focus on core items. It's also more comfortable sinking into single tasks for long periods of time because there is no pressure to stop and cycle through the lists in case you're missing something.

Simon, how many active pages do you have? I have 15 active pages and 143 open items right now - higher than usual - because I worked at a client's last weekend. You said that you go back through the last 2-3 weeks of pages, not start from the last active? I don't have any > 18 days old. Maybe that's because on the weekends I've gone back to regular AF and worked from the first active page, focusing on closing off those older pages.

Another thing that is helpful is that when I build the list I can factor in the weather and how tired I am.

I wake up anywhere between 4-6:30 a.m., so if I know that I won't feel like doing a whole lot in the evening because I've been up since 4:00, I can put a movie on the list and a few minor tasks. Then I'll push myself to get at least some of the minor tasks out of the way to be able to watch the movie. With AF, I would often avoid the book when this happened.

Jacqueline, I'm not sure how many pages I have, but there's got to be 30 or 40 with 1 or 2 items on them and then the last four or five are populated with lots of tasks. Sometime over the next few weeks I will probably consolidate all of those one/two-item pages.

Mark, in response to your questions, I would say:

(1) Dismissal didn't work as well for me as it appears to for other people. I ended up with a lot of pages with around 10 items left on them. I was trying to follow the rules closely, and none of the items would stand out so I'd dismiss the page. The result was that I ended up doing the 20 easiest items and leaving the 10 hardest. Sometimes I would whittle the pages down to 3-4 items left, but ... looking back through the old notebook at the items I dismissed, a lot of them eventually got done anyway -- I just needed a bit more time and the right opportunity to do them.

I do toss everything into the AF notebook, and the process of carrying items forward takes care of the filtering.

(2) It's an open list, but when you create it in the morning you have a bit of control over what goes on there. So maybe I'll throw in a few websites I haven't looked at in a week, but generally I'm aiming to create a quality list of around 40 or 50 potential items that isn't loaded with low-hanging fruit.

(3) I just feel more comfortable seeing all of the options for the day before diving in. An interesting byproduct of taking 15 minutes in the morning to carry items forward is that during the process those items tend to group themselves together in your mind and "self-organize", so to speak. While you're creating the list, a voice in the back of your mind starts saying "OK, I'm going to start with this, then this, then this, and if it stops raining I'll do that and pick up that and drop off that, but if it doesn't I'll have that and those etc etc". Sometimes I don't even look at the list for the first few hours of the day. And if you decide to head into town, for example, it's very easy to scan a short 40-item list and pull together three or four items you can do during your trip. It was a lot harder to do that when the list spanned 15-20 pages.

(4) Well, with a 40-item list, you really are forcing yourself to stay within that list. I suppose you could cheat and write down new easy items if you want, but that hasn't really been a problem. With only 40 items, and not many easy items, you're forced pretty quickly into the harder stuff.

As far as not being able to cycle through the pages -- I really like the little and often approach, but I just love the feeling of being absorbed in something stimulating for 2-3 hours. Autofocus takes away from that feeling because there is always a nagging need to continue cycling through the pages, especially if you aren't near the last page. Others might disagree, but that was my experience. With a condensed list, you can feel pretty comfortable doing one thing for a long period of time because you can quickly scan the other items and get an idea of how long you can continue working and what will come next when you're done.

Hi Simon
Although I'm not a proper AF adherent, I do note some striking similarities with my overall mindset and Jacqueline's and yours. Although many projects are multi-layered and the discovery phases sometimes necessitate that I allow "fallow time" before return to the work with the next round of work, I'm still DRIVEN by the end result of COMPLETION. I don't like loose ends. I also like to work in batches when it comes to smaller tasks (especially if they are important). I feel that if my mind is "geared" to think and produce on a certain type of work, I can get FAR MORE ACCOMPLISHED without having to decide over and over again what to do next. Your list sets your brain up for the work. Because my abilities aren't constant, I must be even more vigilant of my opportunities to do certain types of thinking and producing. I actually treat my batches as projects and strive to complete all that I can that fits into that category...similar to Inbox Zero mentality. I have the week broken down into round-up days. Example: Accounts. I may work on them in bits and pieces during the previous days, but on Accounts Day, I strive to COMPLETE all the important tasks on this day. In effect, the category is cleaned and the week starts fresh with new stuff coming in or PRE-PLANNED progress on larger Accounts project(s). If I finish a round up day category early, then I choose another which puts me ahead of schedule.
My daily list is usually 1 to three things only (not including calendar items).
1) task particular to only today that isn't categorized in my checklist batches or a part of an ingrained ritual/habit.(Almost all tasks are easily integrated into my categories that haven't already been ritualized. (My Current Initiative and 30"Peace of Mind Contract are habits.)
2) today's roundup category (which will usually include the rest of my 90"scut cap)
3 to 5) Projects I want to move forward. Usually I only work on one or two projects as I prefer to work to completion when the nature of the project allows me to complete it. It may be less than an hour to complete. It might be considerably more. I don't care. The day's necessaries are out of the way. If I want to paint for 15 hours straight, it's OK. This is why I created my peace contract.(start my day doing what I deem will bring me peace on mind to continue my day with not nagging guilt, fear or doubt. Usually it's scutwork. The peace contract nips it in the bud....no dodging the ugly stuff! LOL! KILL IT ASAP! ) I totally clears my head to focus....no distractions from other work because it's done! LOL! When my pain ebbs enough, I want to go after my passions with a free mind....no distracting nagging about other things. Before I was disabled, I'd sometimes work 16 to 18 hours a day for 3 or 4 days straight. I LOVE immersing myself in my passionate projects and I also love working on the regular stuff to completion. I only like to jump around with little tasks when I'm not up to my normal par......which is far more often than I'd like. *blush*
Simon, I like your AF tweak. This might be just the ticket for approaching my day when my pain, donkey or monkey mind is jettisoning my intentions. Thank You! I'll give it a go. I miss posts far too often. I'm glad this one floated back to the top.
learning as I go

p.s.
To be clear, the peace contract isn't restricted to scut work that I'd rather dodge than do...It also helps to launch me into endeavors that are hovered in doubt or fear. It's whatever I honestly believe will provide the greatest peace of mind to be dealt with ASAP to grant freedom and peace of mind for the day. Sorry, if I wasn't clear.
learning as I go

Learning as I go,
I have that same "inbox zero" mentality at work - and not just with my inbox either. I'm not keen on little and often so much at work, I really like to finish something off. I'm that person at work who stays late just to finish something off.

I'm that way at home naturally too - and I have a lot of burnt dinners to show for it! Unfortunately, with a dog, a small kid, and the running of a household, I don't get to follow my natural inclinations as much as I'd like. I think that's why I hate housecleaning so much - it's never done - or never stays that way. Little and often is working better for me with that, but I still have to push myself a bit. I look at the AF condensed list as a kind of game card that I want to cross off. And it's easy for me to do my task sandwiches of "task - fun thing (read/post here) - task". In starting some of the preliminary steps using AF condensed during the week to get things rolling (buy supplies, etc.), I have the ability to focus on the big projects on the weekend when I have more time, so use regular AF at that time to polish those older page items off.

I'm the same way at work as you, in the morning, I pick 1-3 projects that I want to get finished that day and push to get them done - even if I have to harass other people to give me the answers I need. That fills about 75% of my day and the rest is just answering brief questions and emails.

Hi Jacqueline
LOL! My sentiments align with yours on the "wack the mole" housework. I categorize it as "maintaining my day", week, etc......That takes the cumpusion to complete out of the equation. I simply do it with the same mentality as taking a shower. It's just part of the day. I also call it "background work". Although doing it conscienciously keeps the place clean, it's done in bits and pieces as I live out my day. I only have 3 concentrated sessions a week. The rest is done as the events of the day dictate it or as my rituals dictate it. It doesn't really require TOP LEVEL planning or effort. (I'm not discussing things such as painting a room, installing a garbage disposal, turning the garden soil over, etc) I'm referring to the constant tending of keeping things where they belong, keeping them reasonably clean, etc.....It's pretty much a continuing stream of little bits of attention to keeping cleanliness and order while living out the day. The rest is corraled into to rituals. Flylady's system is far more ordered than mine. I don't really see the need for so much fuss about it. Like we talked about before.....Leave no footprints.......is about 80% of the work done in almost unperceptible units of effort folded into the normal events of the day. I think Flylady is correct when she states that most people hate it because people would ignore it and then be faced with a mountain of filth and chaos in varying degrees, yeah? Most of it is only completing an action......leave it as you found it! LOL!
We are of like mind with this. (I don't allow myself to focus on the monotous nature of it for very long. Otherwise, I'd feel like a gerbil spinning on his wheel getting nowhere fast.) Maintenance is exactly that.......maintaining things how you like them. I, like you, also use cues to sneak in a load of laundry during a tv show, between posts, etc.... Or, if I'm mentally protesting the futile nature of it, like you, I turn it into a game of round robin. Whatever turns the wheels to make it go! LOL!It makes it more invisable rather than allowing it to pile up into a mountain of neglect! LOL!
learning as I go
learning as I go
learning as I go

p.s.
ROTFL! with the signature......ROTFL! I guess the meds are further along than the pain itself suggests! *blush* After looking as the signature burps, I don't DARE to re-read the body of the post! *blush*
learning as I go

Learning,

>>> LOL! My sentiments align with yours on the "wack the mole" housework.<<<

What a great image! ;-)


>>> it's done in bits and pieces as I live out my day. <<<

>>> It's pretty much a continuing stream of little bits of attention to keeping cleanliness and order while living out the day. <<<

>>> Leave no footprints.......is about 80% of the work done in almost unperceptible units of effort folded into the normal events of the day. <<<

>>> Most of it is only completing an action......leave it as you found it! <<<

>>> Maintenance is exactly that.......maintaining things how you like them. <<<

>>> It makes it more invisable rather than allowing it to pile up into a mountain of neglect! <<<

I've just added to my AF list: "Find stone mason." ;-)

I've never seen it stated so clearly and succinctly. Keeping those simple thoughts (or points of view) in mind really makes the whole thing more manageable. Housework does not need to be about "projects" or "rituals". It needs to be more like a state of mind. I think that was what Mark was getting at with his "work of art" and "return it to balance" comment. That way of putting it did not ring my bell at the time. Yours does, however. "Leave it as you found it." is such a simple motto and yet powerful at the same time. I love it. Thanks so much!!!

Hi Mark, dismissing worked well most of the time, but ... if there were eight items left on a page and I was in one of those low-energy moods near the end of the day, then quite often nothing would stand out on the page, and so I would dismiss.

AF seemed to go off the rails once in a while whenever task selection drifted away from the "standing out" method toward consciously "choosing" what came next (which was often what I "should" be doing). It's hard to know when that has happened. One day you're rolling along just fine with the standing out method, and then little by little the rational mind starts to automate the process and take over, and then the AF system loses a bit of steam. This seems to happen whenever I try to "game" the system -- speed through the pages in order to get to something near the end, or ... rationally choose a task to avoid dismissing a page. So ... I would try to avoid gaming the system whenever possible, and if nothing stood out on a page I would just dismiss it.

On another note -- I was thinking of a variation of AF condensed. If you're quite comfortable with an AF list of 7 or 8 pages, but you've got 20 active pages that have become unwieldy and difficult to cycle through, you could always just carry over items from the 12 oldest pages in the morning, ignore those old pages for the rest of the day, and then process the 8 newest pages according to the original instructions.

I've been using AF condensed during the week and Autofocus on the weekends (when I have more time). This weekend, as an experiment, I decided to try to use AF condensed for the weekend. By mid-Sunday morning, I had moved back to using regular AF and got a lot more done that way. Part of the problem could be that what stood out to me in prepping the list in my early morning enthusiasm was too much project work so I missed the variety.

I think AF condensed can work better for me during the week because my day is fractured (before work / at work / at lunch / after work), so I can see a smaller list of things to do that I *can* do and push myself in a narrow window to try and get as many of them done as possible. The same thing happens when I work with regular AF on the weekends - I see the small things left to be done on old, active pages and I feel a strong drive to close them off.

No more AF condensed on totally open days for me. Especially now that I'm down to a low 7 pages again. Hate it when that happens.