Discussion Forum > Mark, please help a confused new comer out?
Hi Guv,
you are doing it right, as far as I can tell. The rule to dismiss all tasks on a page before going to the next one applies only if you didn't do a single task from that page on your *current* pass. Perhaps you misunderstood the video?
Regards,
Andreas
you are doing it right, as far as I can tell. The rule to dismiss all tasks on a page before going to the next one applies only if you didn't do a single task from that page on your *current* pass. Perhaps you misunderstood the video?
Regards,
Andreas
June 15, 2009 at 23:01 |
Andreas Hofmann
Andreas Hofmann
TheGuvnor:
You should stay on the same page until you have been right through the page without any tasks standing out. Only then do you move onto the next page.
You only dismiss the tasks on a page if you visit the page and don't do any tasks at all on the page.
You should stay on the same page until you have been right through the page without any tasks standing out. Only then do you move onto the next page.
You only dismiss the tasks on a page if you visit the page and don't do any tasks at all on the page.
June 15, 2009 at 23:49 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Andreas/Mark, thanks very much for your response!
That'll be great advice to ensure I get the habit of AutoFocus right!
Plus, having read the article on the "Closer look at dismissal", it's not obvious to me, that I saw dismissal for of a "final say" on an item, regardless of what it is rather than a helpful message from my subconscious (or whatever it could be called) *highlighting* to me;
"This item isn't ready to be acted on, wait a while and then reconsider it"
And so at some point, reflect/reviewing or even completely rejecting those previously dismissed items would be the way to home in on the kinds of tasks that maybe causing the most resistance and your subconscious to ring alarm bells and the like.
So my question to you Mark is when it comes to reviewing dismissed items to either re-enter them or reject then are there any further tips you could pass on, especially on those tasks that could be ones that are causing the most resistance?
I can appreciate that the loose framework you present in terms of questioning key aspects of an item and also attempting to chunk it up into easier amounts for the subconscious, creative side of our brain to work on and process.
But I'd imagine that a lot of people's dismissed items are often the kinds of things they'd really want to work on and deep inside, know that they want to do them, like losing weight, but consistently "sell it badly" to their subsconcious either through the usual goal setting stuff, bad self talk and maybe even 'less-than-appealing' items in AutoFocus.
You could certainly chop it up, re-write it a million ways potentially, but getting your subconscious to accept it and start it is the key - I think?
Am I getting the idea or not?
That'll be great advice to ensure I get the habit of AutoFocus right!
Plus, having read the article on the "Closer look at dismissal", it's not obvious to me, that I saw dismissal for of a "final say" on an item, regardless of what it is rather than a helpful message from my subconscious (or whatever it could be called) *highlighting* to me;
"This item isn't ready to be acted on, wait a while and then reconsider it"
And so at some point, reflect/reviewing or even completely rejecting those previously dismissed items would be the way to home in on the kinds of tasks that maybe causing the most resistance and your subconscious to ring alarm bells and the like.
So my question to you Mark is when it comes to reviewing dismissed items to either re-enter them or reject then are there any further tips you could pass on, especially on those tasks that could be ones that are causing the most resistance?
I can appreciate that the loose framework you present in terms of questioning key aspects of an item and also attempting to chunk it up into easier amounts for the subconscious, creative side of our brain to work on and process.
But I'd imagine that a lot of people's dismissed items are often the kinds of things they'd really want to work on and deep inside, know that they want to do them, like losing weight, but consistently "sell it badly" to their subsconcious either through the usual goal setting stuff, bad self talk and maybe even 'less-than-appealing' items in AutoFocus.
You could certainly chop it up, re-write it a million ways potentially, but getting your subconscious to accept it and start it is the key - I think?
Am I getting the idea or not?
June 16, 2009 at 0:29 |
TheGuvnor
TheGuvnor
Hi TheGovnor
I believe that illogical resistance is largely a separate factor to deal with. I label that part of my attitude as donkey brain or stubborn ass syndrome! LOL! I've found that the more stubborn it is in refusing to do work simply because it doesn't want to, becomes a STRATEGY to implement rather than a one size fits all procedure to follow. If the usuall timer/task compromise doesn't work well, I'll either strong arm myself at my lowest willingness factor or I'll trick with variations. Mark and I discuss this phenomenon of attitude adjustment in his back to autofocus post. The URL is....
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2009/6/12/back-to-autofocus.html#comment
I believe that the solution requires both resolve and creative trickery......In my case, I keep several antidotes in my productivity arsenal as the fix has to CONVINCE the donkey. It's not stupid and has a good memory. When all else fails short of extreme measures of forcing myself into completing the work......(effective yet not at all pleasant), I can usually offer up a trial tweak or attempt to lure it with setting the timer against fixed work as the carrot.......It's explained in the post I referenced.
Good luck! It's no mean feat to inspire a recalcitrant, illogical donkey mind! Hee Haw!
learning as I go
I believe that illogical resistance is largely a separate factor to deal with. I label that part of my attitude as donkey brain or stubborn ass syndrome! LOL! I've found that the more stubborn it is in refusing to do work simply because it doesn't want to, becomes a STRATEGY to implement rather than a one size fits all procedure to follow. If the usuall timer/task compromise doesn't work well, I'll either strong arm myself at my lowest willingness factor or I'll trick with variations. Mark and I discuss this phenomenon of attitude adjustment in his back to autofocus post. The URL is....
http://www.markforster.net/blog/2009/6/12/back-to-autofocus.html#comment
I believe that the solution requires both resolve and creative trickery......In my case, I keep several antidotes in my productivity arsenal as the fix has to CONVINCE the donkey. It's not stupid and has a good memory. When all else fails short of extreme measures of forcing myself into completing the work......(effective yet not at all pleasant), I can usually offer up a trial tweak or attempt to lure it with setting the timer against fixed work as the carrot.......It's explained in the post I referenced.
Good luck! It's no mean feat to inspire a recalcitrant, illogical donkey mind! Hee Haw!
learning as I go
June 16, 2009 at 15:12 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
p.s.
When you set the timer or negotiate a minimum of acceptable work to complete, you must be willing to honor the contract. If you KNOW that you're tricking yourself to do more than you initially feel willing to do, then you'll stalemate yourself! LOL! When either the timer goes off or I complete the negotiated amount of work, I purposely STOP! I ceremoniously ask myself if I actually want to continue of my own volition, not by trickery. (Of course, it's trickery to a degree.) I phrase it as "willing to plant a seed. Maybe it will germinate, maybe not." That way, I feel that completing my work depended on my actually changing my attitude once I got traction from starting. If, after the contract is fulfilled and I DON'T want to continue on, then I don't! ! ! I can chip away more of that particular work during a later session of work. I feel safe using this method because on the category's weekly round-up day, it WILL be completed! LOL! I'm willing to chip away at it in bits, or get it over with because I'm tired of chipping away at it! LOL! Either way, the work gets done! It sounds silly but I can sometimes trick /negotiate with myself into a willing start, but I can't lie to myself! LOL! If I attempt to lie to myself, I dig my heels in even deeper! LOL! That's why I keep several strategies on hand! LOL! Bottom Line: Even if you are compelled to force yourself to do a unit of work, you can NEVER allow your donkey mind to win the skirmish! LOL! Otherwise, avoidance tactics overtake your resolve. I prefer to offer a carrot, but I AM WILLING to use the stick!
learning as I go
When you set the timer or negotiate a minimum of acceptable work to complete, you must be willing to honor the contract. If you KNOW that you're tricking yourself to do more than you initially feel willing to do, then you'll stalemate yourself! LOL! When either the timer goes off or I complete the negotiated amount of work, I purposely STOP! I ceremoniously ask myself if I actually want to continue of my own volition, not by trickery. (Of course, it's trickery to a degree.) I phrase it as "willing to plant a seed. Maybe it will germinate, maybe not." That way, I feel that completing my work depended on my actually changing my attitude once I got traction from starting. If, after the contract is fulfilled and I DON'T want to continue on, then I don't! ! ! I can chip away more of that particular work during a later session of work. I feel safe using this method because on the category's weekly round-up day, it WILL be completed! LOL! I'm willing to chip away at it in bits, or get it over with because I'm tired of chipping away at it! LOL! Either way, the work gets done! It sounds silly but I can sometimes trick /negotiate with myself into a willing start, but I can't lie to myself! LOL! If I attempt to lie to myself, I dig my heels in even deeper! LOL! That's why I keep several strategies on hand! LOL! Bottom Line: Even if you are compelled to force yourself to do a unit of work, you can NEVER allow your donkey mind to win the skirmish! LOL! Otherwise, avoidance tactics overtake your resolve. I prefer to offer a carrot, but I AM WILLING to use the stick!
learning as I go
June 16, 2009 at 15:34 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
I started using Autofocus today after reading about it here over the weekend through the instructions and admittedly a rather haphazard read of several threads here on the discussion forum.
So today being the worst day of the week in the office for me, Monday, I bravely set to creating my first Autofocus page(s) - I got one and a quarter pages on some A4 refil pad, so I go ahead with what I believe is the order of Autofocus (in my own words)
1. Start at the last active (in my case the first page)
2. Quick scan through the list
3. More considered scan
4. Home in one item that 'feels right' to do/start/whatever
5. Do said action (crossing it off either as I start doing it or after I do it to get rid of it)
6. As I've done at least one action from that active page, go to the next page (in my case the second)
7. Repeat what I've done, If I didn't feel like doing any of the actions, dismiss/highlight the items on that page.
8. If I've done at least one action on the page, go back to the first page and so on.
And I generally felt quite good at cycling through tasks and did the 'little and often approach" of doing as much as I feel necessary, creating a new item usually starting with "Continue........." on my 'last' page (my 2nd)
BUT
Having found confidence in my new found success, gave a colleague a link to the autofocus video and watching it with him, I realised I was it slightly differently, i.e. I wasn't sticking with the one page and only after doing/dismissing all the items on that page could I move onto the second.
Well, after that I was most perplexed. Whether I've found a variant that works for me or not I dunno, but have I started developing a habit in my Autofocus use that you would ultimately be counterproductive or am I just being slightly anally retentive about the whole thing?
Any help gratefully appreciated!