FV and FVP Forum > Celebrating item 5000 -- now using FV
Congratulations! All that work – done! Man, that must feel good.
Your tweak using AF1 rules and (I assume) SF's C2 for urgent tasks is brilliant! I’m almost tempted to leave FV and try it – but I’m not tempted enough. I’ve used FV since the day it was released, starting the day it hit my inbox (March 12th – 18 days and counting). I too was concerned that I would become blind/numb to the tasks on my list with all that frequent review. If I understand your concern correctly, I felt that I would become blind to the tasks on my list in the same way that I’ve become blind to internet banner advertisements, no matter how they try to steal my attention.
My personal experience with FV shows me that yes indeed, I do become much more blind to certain tasks much more quickly that AF/SF. However, I find this a good thing, for it makes the tasks that I feel psychologically ready for “stand out” in much sharper relief. Also, for the tasks that I become numb to I find myself asking if I think they are still relevant. Often, the answer comes back a “no.” Then, per the FV rules, I just delete them right then and there rather than waiting for them to fall out the bottom of my list and becoming dismissed and reviewed some time later. Basically, I reach the point where I am ready to dismiss/review/delete irrelevant tasks much quicker than I did with AF/SF, precisely because of this “numbing/blinding” effect. This engendered a very quick compression of my list size, and therefore a much more concentrated (unimpeded) effort on those tasks that I DO feel are relevant.
Incidentally I’ve used the extra “room” on my newly compressed list to pull forward a slew of previously dismissed “Someday/Maybe’d” tasks. These tasks have gotten the same “relevancy” treatment I just described above and consequently that “Dismissed/Someday/Maybe” backlog list has been shrinking as well. I foresee a point in the future when the shrinking will stop and my list sizes (both FV list and Someday/Maybe) will reach a state of equilibrium. But for now it’s like a witch-hunt, thinning my task herd.
I also like breezing over the full list because it makes me fully aware of everything on my plate. AF/SF felt to me like my whole list was a dark room, and I would use a flashlight to methodically scan the floor, ceiling, and each wall over and over again. If I heard a noise in one corner, instead of just pointing my flashlight in that direction, I had to speed up my methodical scan so that I could reach the part of my scan where I illuminated that corner. It was frustrating. Reading the full list during FV’s preselection feels like flipping on a light switch in the dark room. By preselcting my tasks, I can focus my attention on anything in the room I choose, at the time that I choose, rather than having to rush my methodical scan. At the same time, it feels as though I’m at least peripherally aware of everything else going on in the room, rather than being “in the dark” when I hear a sound in the corner. The “numbing/blinding” effect you describe feels like the light in the room is a single bulb dangling from the ceiling. It illuminates the things I’m close to (psychologically ready for), but casts deep shadows around the periphery further away from me (psychologically not ready for), highlighting with darkness those areas of my list which I must explore with the flashlight of review.
In short, I believe you concern regarding numbing to tasks on your list due to frequent reading is well founded, for that’s exactly what happens. But in the end, I also believe that you’ll find the frequent full scans helpful rather than detrimental. I have found them so.
Your tweak using AF1 rules and (I assume) SF's C2 for urgent tasks is brilliant! I’m almost tempted to leave FV and try it – but I’m not tempted enough. I’ve used FV since the day it was released, starting the day it hit my inbox (March 12th – 18 days and counting). I too was concerned that I would become blind/numb to the tasks on my list with all that frequent review. If I understand your concern correctly, I felt that I would become blind to the tasks on my list in the same way that I’ve become blind to internet banner advertisements, no matter how they try to steal my attention.
My personal experience with FV shows me that yes indeed, I do become much more blind to certain tasks much more quickly that AF/SF. However, I find this a good thing, for it makes the tasks that I feel psychologically ready for “stand out” in much sharper relief. Also, for the tasks that I become numb to I find myself asking if I think they are still relevant. Often, the answer comes back a “no.” Then, per the FV rules, I just delete them right then and there rather than waiting for them to fall out the bottom of my list and becoming dismissed and reviewed some time later. Basically, I reach the point where I am ready to dismiss/review/delete irrelevant tasks much quicker than I did with AF/SF, precisely because of this “numbing/blinding” effect. This engendered a very quick compression of my list size, and therefore a much more concentrated (unimpeded) effort on those tasks that I DO feel are relevant.
Incidentally I’ve used the extra “room” on my newly compressed list to pull forward a slew of previously dismissed “Someday/Maybe’d” tasks. These tasks have gotten the same “relevancy” treatment I just described above and consequently that “Dismissed/Someday/Maybe” backlog list has been shrinking as well. I foresee a point in the future when the shrinking will stop and my list sizes (both FV list and Someday/Maybe) will reach a state of equilibrium. But for now it’s like a witch-hunt, thinning my task herd.
I also like breezing over the full list because it makes me fully aware of everything on my plate. AF/SF felt to me like my whole list was a dark room, and I would use a flashlight to methodically scan the floor, ceiling, and each wall over and over again. If I heard a noise in one corner, instead of just pointing my flashlight in that direction, I had to speed up my methodical scan so that I could reach the part of my scan where I illuminated that corner. It was frustrating. Reading the full list during FV’s preselection feels like flipping on a light switch in the dark room. By preselcting my tasks, I can focus my attention on anything in the room I choose, at the time that I choose, rather than having to rush my methodical scan. At the same time, it feels as though I’m at least peripherally aware of everything else going on in the room, rather than being “in the dark” when I hear a sound in the corner. The “numbing/blinding” effect you describe feels like the light in the room is a single bulb dangling from the ceiling. It illuminates the things I’m close to (psychologically ready for), but casts deep shadows around the periphery further away from me (psychologically not ready for), highlighting with darkness those areas of my list which I must explore with the flashlight of review.
In short, I believe you concern regarding numbing to tasks on your list due to frequent reading is well founded, for that’s exactly what happens. But in the end, I also believe that you’ll find the frequent full scans helpful rather than detrimental. I have found them so.
March 30, 2012 at 17:02 |
Miracle
Miracle
With the arrival of FV, I hesitated to switch because my system suited me so well. But after following the forum for some time, I at least wanted to give it a try. This is made easy as you can simply keep using the same list and just apply the new rules on it. So last week, after item 4872, I started using FV. Since then (8 working days) I have added 128 items to the list and crossed out 102. (I like stats;)
Some observations:
*The number of open items has (temporarily) increased from 60-70 to 80-90, as I've been moving a set of dismissed items back on the list.
*The oldest pages, that had very few remaining items, are systematically closed. In the process I've done some (little) progress on the old items that under AF would have been dismissed. I like this "pushing forward" aspect of FV.
*The preselected items are different from those that would have stood out under AF1. So I'm progressing on things in a different sequence.
It's still early days, so too soon to decide if I really like this or if I go back to AF1. But first results are encouraging. At least I don't think it's a regression over what I achieved under AF1. The feel is also different.
My main concern is if the very frequent rescanning of the full list, as opposed to one page at a time in AF1, will in the end make me numb/blind towards the contents of the list...
I'll report back later.