FV and FVP Forum > FV, used right, could actually be the answer to the fear of procrastination
For tackling the third requirement of fear:
FV removes excuses and forces you to face your commitments.
1) You commit to the task by writing it on your FV list, but your fear says "that's alright I'll just do it later."
2) You double commit to the task by now also adding it to a task ladder, disarming the "I'll do it later" excuse. To which your fear says "ok, I'll get on it - right after I do these other things that are easier and that I like more." (and it repeats this excuse in a loop forever so that you never face the task you fear)
3) You cut off the loop of excuses by committing only to a certain number of "buffer" tasks - ie: by completing the task ladder with other tasks that you want to do before scary task X. And at this point, your procrastination has run out of excuses.
With no way out, you face the task with much less fear, and confirm your courage by making progress on it, and acknowledging that progress by crossing that task off (even if you re-enter it, crossing it off acknowledges the fact that you stared at that task and it blinked - thus bolstering your courage for the next time you have the opportunity to face it.
Awesome point by the way. Aquinas agrees: FV rocks.
FV removes excuses and forces you to face your commitments.
1) You commit to the task by writing it on your FV list, but your fear says "that's alright I'll just do it later."
2) You double commit to the task by now also adding it to a task ladder, disarming the "I'll do it later" excuse. To which your fear says "ok, I'll get on it - right after I do these other things that are easier and that I like more." (and it repeats this excuse in a loop forever so that you never face the task you fear)
3) You cut off the loop of excuses by committing only to a certain number of "buffer" tasks - ie: by completing the task ladder with other tasks that you want to do before scary task X. And at this point, your procrastination has run out of excuses.
With no way out, you face the task with much less fear, and confirm your courage by making progress on it, and acknowledging that progress by crossing that task off (even if you re-enter it, crossing it off acknowledges the fact that you stared at that task and it blinked - thus bolstering your courage for the next time you have the opportunity to face it.
Awesome point by the way. Aquinas agrees: FV rocks.
April 3, 2012 at 19:31 |
Miracle
Miracle
Fear of not doing the task that most needs doing is one of my problems.
I'm afraid the task will be really unpleasant, or I'm afraid that the task I want to do now is taking time from the one I should be doing. Either way, nothing gets done.
FV reassures me that it's ok to do the tasks I want, and helps me pick the tasks for my current mood. Most of the work gets done when I'm in the mood for it. It's more efficient. I don't fight or procrastinate. Stuff gets done more quickly. I finish it in a good mood, so there's less resistance to similar tasks. Procrastination still calls, but because it's shiny, not because I don't want to work on my list.
It's taken a while to trust it for critical tasks. I still scan every few days specifically to find critical tasks, as a safety net. Usually, if it's critical, I want to do it -- or there's a good reason I shouldn't (like writing a difficult letter when I'm in an argumentative mood).
I'm afraid the task will be really unpleasant, or I'm afraid that the task I want to do now is taking time from the one I should be doing. Either way, nothing gets done.
FV reassures me that it's ok to do the tasks I want, and helps me pick the tasks for my current mood. Most of the work gets done when I'm in the mood for it. It's more efficient. I don't fight or procrastinate. Stuff gets done more quickly. I finish it in a good mood, so there's less resistance to similar tasks. Procrastination still calls, but because it's shiny, not because I don't want to work on my list.
It's taken a while to trust it for critical tasks. I still scan every few days specifically to find critical tasks, as a safety net. Usually, if it's critical, I want to do it -- or there's a good reason I shouldn't (like writing a difficult letter when I'm in an argumentative mood).
April 3, 2012 at 21:24 |
Cricket
Cricket
Outstanding post. I love getting to a deeper understanding of why things work for me. It doesn't make me more effective, it just helps me to trust the system. When I trust it, I work within it. The system disappears.
My trust for FV has followed this path:
First, I trusted Mark after my experience with his previous systems. I understood the years of effort and sifting through complexity that was the essential pre-work for the simplicity of the new system. So, I was able to accept his Final Version rules as they were presented, simple as they were, and just try it out without questioning.
Second, I came to trust FV because it worked for me. I got stuff done, and it felt easy, good, and sustainable. It handled every "but what about this situation..?" faster and more consistently than anything else I'd ever used.
Third, I came to a deeper trust of FV as I read the various contemplative philosophical posts like this one, and began to understand WHY it worked so well for me.
Conclusion? The hardest part is getting people to trust that they should try it, and that the ridiculously simple rules do not in any way indicate their effectiveness or the depth of thought and complexity behind them.
Make a list. Build a ladder of dots by asking "What do I want to do before I do X?". Work on the dots in reverse order, re-adding them if unfinished. Build another ladder. Banish your fear. Be amazed.
My trust for FV has followed this path:
First, I trusted Mark after my experience with his previous systems. I understood the years of effort and sifting through complexity that was the essential pre-work for the simplicity of the new system. So, I was able to accept his Final Version rules as they were presented, simple as they were, and just try it out without questioning.
Second, I came to trust FV because it worked for me. I got stuff done, and it felt easy, good, and sustainable. It handled every "but what about this situation..?" faster and more consistently than anything else I'd ever used.
Third, I came to a deeper trust of FV as I read the various contemplative philosophical posts like this one, and began to understand WHY it worked so well for me.
Conclusion? The hardest part is getting people to trust that they should try it, and that the ridiculously simple rules do not in any way indicate their effectiveness or the depth of thought and complexity behind them.
Make a list. Build a ladder of dots by asking "What do I want to do before I do X?". Work on the dots in reverse order, re-adding them if unfinished. Build another ladder. Banish your fear. Be amazed.
April 4, 2012 at 15:49 |
scottmoehring
scottmoehring
Nuntym, how about applying, like, common sense to the problem, does that kind of help in any way?
April 4, 2012 at 18:58 |
smileypete
smileypete
I confirm.
I would explain the effect by the fact that the difficult task is shown as "the last one of a ladder of fun tasks". You just need to think "well I will just work a little on it then continue with fun tasks".
So you have fun tasks before and after, the perfect condition for the "little and often" to pass without difficulty.
Time block won't be as efficient since you would think that you have 1 hour or even 20 minutes of hell to overcome.
FV makes difficult tasks to advance without a bad aftertaste. This may be the secret to sustainability.
I would explain the effect by the fact that the difficult task is shown as "the last one of a ladder of fun tasks". You just need to think "well I will just work a little on it then continue with fun tasks".
So you have fun tasks before and after, the perfect condition for the "little and often" to pass without difficulty.
Time block won't be as efficient since you would think that you have 1 hour or even 20 minutes of hell to overcome.
FV makes difficult tasks to advance without a bad aftertaste. This may be the secret to sustainability.
April 5, 2012 at 6:16 |
isd
isd
I am actually warming up to FV again because of a return visit to one of my posts before,
http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1595729#post1596106
Here, I posted some thoughts about procrastination using St. Aquinas' characterization of fear. I wrote there:
[QUOTE]Aquinas said fear as a passion happens when an evil arises that we want to run away from. An evil here means something that can harm or prevent us from attaining or preserving a good (for example money, comfort, pleasure, life). Now for the evil to aspire fear, then it must have these three characteristics altogether:
__1) The evil must be either barely surmountable or even impossible to conquer. We do not fear a rabbit, but we will certainly run away from a large lion roaring at us.
__2) The evil must be or could be in the immediate future; the more immediate, the worse the fear. That's why we do not fear eating a quadruple decker burger when we are healthy, but those who already survived a heart attack do, for they know another one could happen anytime.
__3) The evil must afford some form of escape, no matter how slim. And the slimmer the possible escape, the worse the fear. Have you noticed how those with terminal illnesses can be very calm and composed when they come to accept their eventual deaths, that there could be no cure, no escape? That's because since they know they cannot escape their eventual death, their fear leaves them.
Note that once one of these are removed, then the whole structure of fear collapses, and we do not fear anymore.[/QUOTE]
(NOTE: I know [QUOTE] tags won't work here, I just want to use those to delineate that big quote ^___^)
After re-reading that a few days ago, I slowly came to realize that FV actually tackles the fear of procrastination across those three requirements.
First of all, by letting one do what he wants first before tackling on what are the more difficult tasks, FV builds psychological momentum, which gives psychological strength to the user to overcome his tasks. FV thus attacks the first requirement of fear.
Second, again by letting one do what he wants first before tackling on what are the more difficult tasks, FV makes the more difficult tasks more chronologically distant. This is true creative procrastination, which is the answer to the second requirement of fear.
And third, the task ladders of FV forces one to do what he has to do, for he knows if he stops following the FV task ladder than FV will stop working. The user then has no choice, no escape: the answer to the third requirement of fear.
There may be other ways how FV tackles the fear of procrastination, but still, those that I can see are still impressive. I just might try FV again to confirm these.
Have the others experienced this?