Get Everything Done

How do you all handle activities that are "fun"--do you add them to your AF list? Do you schedule them? Do you have some other method for them?

I'm talking about items that I enjoy doing, but I don't want to do TOO much of them and end up not having a productive day/week/month/life. Examples:

Games
Random tv/movie/internet surfing
Fun reading

I guess another way of asking this question is: When is AF "on" and when is it "off"?

I have a choice: If I don't put them on the list, I abandon the list when I decide to do something fun. If I do put them on the list, I do it when the AF system guides me to do this. It makes my decisions more deliberate than spontaneous, and I'm too spontaneous by nature.

I personally find that using the system I do more socializing when I should be, and without feeling guilty, and less goofing off when I shouldn't be. So they go on the list.

Hi Jim
There is also another way to work....I don't like the two to bleed into each other at all! I have my work time with breaks and then I have my leisure time with NO WORK unless I'm in the flow creating. That always trumps leisure time and mundane work unless I promised someone else specifically. The trick is to stay current or slightly ahead with your obligations and important matters. If you're not a creative, you don't need to care as much. Unless my mind is basically free of nagging, my creative flow gets hampered. Also, the nagging damps my leisure time. Keep the important stuff current enough so that it doesn't create chatter in your head. Of course, many people thrive on staying on list. I prefer to put my nose to the grindstone to keep it out of my head! LOL!
learning as I go

Hi Learning,

>>> I prefer to put my nose to the grindstone to keep it out of my head! LOL! <<<

As usual, you do not disappoint. .That is really what it is all about ... discipline. One of my favorite cynical philosophers is Churchill. Your comment reminded me of his:

"It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required."
- Sir Winston Churchill

Another I like, apropos of nothing at all, except that it is cute:

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals" LOL ;-)

And not to be forgotten is:

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."

One thing I have been doing (now that I'm experimenting with Mark's "larger book") is putting a couple of this kind of quote on the top of each page to motivate, or at least amuse, ;-)

I put it all on my list unless it has a specific time in which case its on my calendar. Tonight I'm going to watch two soccer games. They aren't on my list,but they are on the calendar. Probably for the rest of my day I won't be looking at my list at all.

The benefit for me of having it all on the list is that I never worry I'll miss the chance to do something. It's all there, and I know I can select it when the time is right. If it weren't there, then I'd have to make decisions about when to use the list and when not to use the list, or how to select between items I did choose to put on the list and things I didn't. That's too complicated for me.

Having everything on the list gives me the freedom to ignore the list as well. I just want to go with the flow for a day or two, it feels completely okay because everything I need to get done is captured on the list.

Hi Mike
Don't you dare accuse me of being disciplined! I'm merely methodical and know how to get my butt in gear to get the outcomes I want or need. LOL! I used to be called the methodical bohemian! ROTFL! My motivations aren't lofty enough to be disciplined. *blush* I'm just being practical so that I can enjoy my life.....
gsdsmiles

p.s. Would a truly disciplined person paint non-stop for up to 30hours straight without sleeping, eating or taking a shower? ROTFL!
gsdsmiles

Hey hey, Learning,

>>> Don't you dare accuse me of being disciplined! <<<

LOL ;-)

>>> I'm merely methodical and know how to get my butt in gear to get the outcomes I want or need. LOL! I used to be called the methodical bohemian! ROTFL! My motivations aren't lofty enough to be disciplined. *blush* I'm just being practical so that I can enjoy my life..... <<<

Again, you never disappoint. What a wonderful way to frame “discipline” … “being practical so as to enjoy life”, “get to work to get the outcome”. Love it.

>>> p.s. Would a truly disciplined person paint non-stop for up to 30hours straight without sleeping, eating or taking a shower? ROTFL! <<<

No, that feels more like passion, not discipline. I once spent a whole month in a data center chasing a particularly elusive hardware bug. I’d come home to change clothes and shower ever other day or so, then head back in a couple of hours. (Did get the bug squashed, however. It was an interment bit pick in one particular address of one of the memory core planes caused by cross-talk. We temporarily fixed it with aluminum foil! LOL ;-)

But at the end of the day (or month in this case) there was not a whole lot of deep satisfaction. It is not like producing art, where you have created something. No matter how perfectly you dig a ditch, in the end, it I still just a ditch.

Mornin', Mike!
I should on my aluminum foil had AND diapers for the reaction I might get to what I'm about to say.....................
I disagree in certain contexts....I didn't give too much weight to the painting or the money and accolades I got as a result.................It's the rapture I experience while I'm doing it. As an experience, it trumps absolutely everything except making love to my best true friend of all time. Even there it's a close tie. It's hard to explain. Here's a better example using my dad (BTW, he's the one who got me on the cabinet making kick. He was the most inspiring human being I ever knew across the board!)......He was a LOUSY carpenter but he LOVED doing it! He actually felt more satisfaction on an experiencing level than doing his surgery! I'm not joking! He loved riding horses most of all. When he was playing polo or jumping over fences in a field or showing us how to lasso a loose horse, he was in TOTAL REVERIE! I never forgot that expression. His 95 year old sister had hip surgery. Her worst felt sacrifice was no longer being allowed to ride horses. Well......she conned my mom to take her to the Arabian Horse stables. Well I don't know how that skinny 5 foot tall woman did it.....but she jumped on an unsaddled horse's back and grabbed it's mane while she kicked it's side. The thing bolted! She hunkered low and guided it over a fence! Mike...I'm welling up now remembering it.......................As she was going over the fence, her expression was IDENTICAL to my dad's when he'd challenge himself with a horse!
I've often wondered if my face gets like that when I paint, dance or do the uneven parallel bars....or eating fine food................Yes, I'm a foodie! LOL!
Some things are the outcome...............yet to the soul passion is all about the exeriencing of it. Who knows? Maybe there's someone out there who gets off on digging ditches! ROTFL! (Is it safe to remove the tin foil hat and diapers? )
learning as I go

p.s.
damn...I only reread the FIRST line and saw the drugs effect! I won't bother reading the rest! *blush* I hope it's readable.....*blush* Sorry for the burden....
learning as I go

Good Morning Learning,

>>> damn...I only reread the FIRST line and saw the drugs effect! I won't bother reading the rest! *blush* I hope it's readable.....*blush* Sorry for the burden.... <<<

Oh, stuff and nonsense ;-) It is all good. I love to read your stories... always a great entertainment. If you ever write me instructions on how to defuse a bomb, I might ask that you double check everything, including punctuation, but your stories are just fine as they are. LOL ;-) Hope you (and your wonderful GSD, of course ;-) have a glorious day today.

I add such items to my list. I find it is essential for me to have a good sprinkling of fun stuff on my pages. Otherwise I become boring and totally focused on serious stuff and my mental and emotional balance degrades with time.

And I allow myseof to take on a fun activity at any time - even when I'm in the office with clients. The net boost to my productivity is huge and so I have no guilt at all.

And besides - making progress on so many 'less important' aspects of my life is a big part of the joy of using AF. SO many aspects of life that languished before AF are now alive and thriving.

All work and no play make me a dull boy - and less productive - and less joyous.
And I've figured out that this is not a rehersal - so joy is my ROI (Return on Investment) measurement for EVERYTHING I do now. Hell, I'm 50 years old - so unless I live past 100; I'm already more than half way through my alloted span!

Respect
Paul

Hear, hear!

Ah ... I have all the "fun" stuff on my AF4 list too. They are the ones that keep getting "crossed" and "readded". Since doing that is also "fun", I get many small chunks of "fun" between "work" done. Instead, of me going off list, and doing the "fun" stuff most of the day. ;-)
ps: Doing AF4 electronically, reduce a bit the "fun" of "crossing/readding" but does make is easier.
regards,
sabre23t =^.^=
... 49 going on to 50 ...

I recall when I was very young saying to my father "who the hell wants to live to be 90?"

He replied "the man who is 87?"

Well; now my goal is to live forever. Or to die in the attempt!

Paul