Get Everything Done

I was sick for over a week and didn't much touch my list. When I started back up again, after processing my inboxes I had over 1500 items on my list, and it felt old and irrelevant. So I declared a backlog and started over. Already up to 100 items but it is nice to start fresh.

After getting sick, declaring a backlog, and starting over with a new FV list, as I described on my post above (June 14th), I then went on vacation, and am now back, and finding that I don't want to do FV anymore. Not sure why. I guess I just don't see a load-balancing mechanism in FV, and am afraid of my list growing out of control. FV has so many nice features, but I am feeling drawn toward DIT for some reason. I don't know where I'll land. Maybe back with FV, maybe AF1, maybe DIT, maybe a Gerry-esque approach, maybe some combination.

I still manage my podcasts on my iPod using a DWM approach - if I haven't finished a podcast in two weeks, it disappears. And I manage many project lists with an AF1-like approach. Maybe I'll come up with some combination.

Alan - After allowing my thoughts to percolate, here are some reasons I am resisting FV:

- The preselected chain has no correlation to what I need to get done today. True, the preselected chain is a closed list, with all the general advantages of closed lists. But it does't necessarily correspond with what I need to get done today. Sometimes, I'd work through 1-2 chains in one day. Other times, I'd have the same chain persisting for days or even weeks, and I'd add items to it whenever I'd been away for awhile. This was a key feature for helping me deal with new urgent items, but it also turned the closed list into an open list, and completey disconnected the current chain from any sense of "this is what I need to get done today".

- FV does not regulate my overall commitments. The list simply grows and does not mechanically arrive at an equilibrium. The only system I know that DOES do this is DWM - which Mark equated to DIT at some point. Personally I need a feature like that. During "normal" times I can use any system and arrive at an equilibrium on my own, using my own judgement and weeding my list, etc. But this requires a conscious effort, and it becomes unworkable during "crunch" times.

I'm trying something like DIT right now but applying some concepts borrowed from AF1 and FV while processing my DIT pages. Stumbling around with nothing really to report yet. Trying to watch very carefully what actually ends up on my DIT list. Plusses: I have only a few things to focus on each day. Minusses: No integrated catch-all, and no percolation/filtering in place yet. I like AF1 and FV and DWM because they are catch-alls and everything gets processed automatically. I'm trying to figure out a way to integrate these ideas into DIT without getting quite so mechanical as DWM.

I'm trying a very small variant of FV that seems to be giving me what I want: a DIT-like focus on "here is what I must get done today".

You can do it like this, starting with a standard FV setup:

- Use standard FV setup.

- When you start the day, draw a line at the end of your list.

- Everything new (or re-entered) goes after the line.

- When you are making your preselection, stop scanning when you get to the line. This is optional - you can go forward if you want, especially if there is some new urgent thing that's bothering you. But as a general rule, stop at the line.

- Make it your goal to clear everything above the line by the end of the day. But if you don't, it will still be waiting for you the next day. If the backlog of previous day's items gets too big, just "declare a backlog" and/or delete the whole lot.

Hmm, your questions raise several thoughts.

Yes, I am keeping a trim list. About ten projects and one-off tasks per day, and about ten recurring tasks.

But one thing my summary didn't mention is "the tickler". If I action a taks and don't finish it, and don't want to see it again for three or four days, it goes into "the tickler", rather than the end of the FV list.

The rest of your summary is correct. I do mean to clear the entire list above the line each day - not just the preselected items.

As I think about this some more, I realize that the use of the tickler is really an integral part of what I'm doing, not just an incidental.

In fact, this is very much like AutoDIT, but somehow feels much simpler.

Also, it occurred to me that I could get basically the same algorithm, but somewhat simpler, by starting with a DIT setup, rather than starting with an FV setup. Here is how I am trying it now:

- Start with a dated journal - one page per day
- Enter all new tasks on tomorrow's page.
- Process today's page (and any unactioned tasks still remaining on previous days) using the FV algorithm. In other words, go to the earliest task, and dot it. Then create an FV chain in the usual way, on all the tasks in your journal, but stop at today. Don't include anything beyond today.
- (You can keep going to future pages if you really want - for example, if you've already finished everything on the pages today and earlier - but the idea is to limit your focus on the Today page).
- Your goal for each day is to action everything on today's page and all outstanding tasks on previous pages.
- If you have a new or re-entered task that you really don't want to think about until some future date, then write it on that future page. Handle recurring tasks the same way.
- For example, if you are busy at work all week, and don't have time for many personal tasks, you can enter personal tasks on the pages for the upcoming weekend.

Also, I am doing this in a paper notebook, rather than OneNote.

I am really not sure if any of this will work in the long-run, or even if I like it much in the short-run. But I do seem to be getting through my work.

I think my reactions lately are not due to the systems themselves, but to the fact that I am sick all the time and just have too many things going on. I've always had lots of commitments, and have always liked it that way.

But either my health is getting worse, or I have finally truly overcommitted myself, or both, because I just can't keep up with everything. I've started scaling back some commitments, and thinking harder about priorities.

But what tools are better than Mark's for sifting and sorting priorities??? :-)

Now, I am finding myself wanting to sift and sort my commitments, rather than my individual tasks. I suppose it's like using AF or FV to perform an audit of my commitments.

So, it's the commitments and major projects that go onto my list. Regular daily maintenance kinds of things also still go on my list, because otherwise there would be total chaos. My lists are FAR shorter than they have been in the past. And the DIT-like approach ensures that it stays that way. At least for now.

I am routinely ignoring a large class of tasks that I used to put onto AF1 or FV. These are the tasks that I really don't know what to do with. Should I read this article or explore that website? Should I watch that YouTube video? Should I respond to that email, or just let it sit? Should I buy this or that item? Should I explore this or that idea? AF1 and FV are both great at letting those items percolate until they demand to be actioned or are deleted. But right now, I am just ignoring all these things, throwing them all into a OneNote folder that "I will get to later". (Maybe). (I guess that's the definition of a "maybe someday" list?)

In practice, I almost never look at those items ever again. But calling it a "maybe someday list" is a good psychological trick for overcoming the fear of outright deletion. :-) And if there *is* anything there I need to access later, it's easy to find with OneNote's very fast search function.

@Vegheadjoines - Yes, I have, but perhaps it's a good time to revisit.

@smileypete, I've gone both ways on that. I like having them in the main list so they get the same percolate & filter treatment as everything else. But they do add a lot of clutter. I'm trying to set up my "read" folder in an AF or FV structure so it will do the percolation and filtering on its own.

@moises - Yes, absolutely, I found that to be true. Combining FV with DIT solves the problem for me, and does not require any list-weeding.

@Alan - Yes, in some cases I am also limiting what goes onto my DIT list. I put some things into Unfiled Notes in OneNote, and clean it out once or twice a week. And I use Pocket for all my Internet reading, rather than capturing things in OneNote like I used to do.

I've tried experimenting with a "Think about..." page or a "grass catcher" page but haven't really found anything that works.

One thing that DOES work is to keep a few different carefully-categorized pages and put new items there. I have a page like that for my wife, and one for errands. And I keep project materials in OneNote. These really help to keep the DIT list free from clutter.

But still, if I don't know where to put something, the default is "do it tomorrow".

@Alan - The limited number of lines per page in the notebook serves as an effective limit. Over time, you can get a feel for the number of lines that works best for you. If something doesn't fit, you can put it on the next page, and this helps you stay aware of the fact you have too much going on.

I'm glad that works for you, Alan. You are probably more naturally disciplined than I am.

For me, it's not tactile enough to make me feel like it's a real limit. Plus, I tend to add things more quickly (and more randomly) to OneNote, than I do to my paper notebook. I'm still using OneNote to manage all my project details, and I still use "Unfiled Notes" to collect a few random odds and ends every week, but my main list is in a paper dated journal.

In any case, Alan, I find it fascinating that we keep reinventing each other's ideas independently. This is the third or fourth time that has happened!