FV and FVP Forum > Difficulties to get myself starting a FV-chain
I tend to view FV as one way to process my task list but not the only way. Much of the time I know what I want to work on that day and process the list from the end, much like AF2, though I create small chains of increasing difficulty as in FV.
The weakness of this approach is that non urgent tasks at the other end of the list don't get the required attention. To remedy this I spend a day a week processing my list using FV and blitz through those tasks that have not yet become urgent - but will if left!
The weakness of this approach is that non urgent tasks at the other end of the list don't get the required attention. To remedy this I spend a day a week processing my list using FV and blitz through those tasks that have not yet become urgent - but will if left!
July 18, 2012 at 13:19 |
Caibre65
Caibre65
I think this "reluctance to do FV preselection over the whole list" is related to the size and urgency horizon of your list. Currently I have about 250 items with what I want to do within this month horizon. Preselecting over list that long may take 5-10 mins.
Two solutions ...
(1) reduce number of items by deleting irrelevant, consolidate small into one bigger task, and moving some to someday maybe.
(2) reduce horizon, perhaps only keeping items you want to do within the week in the FV list
Since I use FV electronically on EN Desktop/Android, I've been using two urgency horizons. The full 250 items list with tasks I want to do this month, items tagged "!" for those I want to do today or tomorrow. So when I can't bear going over the full FV list, I'll just preselect over that "!" tagged list. I guess its a little bit better than just randomly doing task from the last page. :-)
Two solutions ...
(1) reduce number of items by deleting irrelevant, consolidate small into one bigger task, and moving some to someday maybe.
(2) reduce horizon, perhaps only keeping items you want to do within the week in the FV list
Since I use FV electronically on EN Desktop/Android, I've been using two urgency horizons. The full 250 items list with tasks I want to do this month, items tagged "!" for those I want to do today or tomorrow. So when I can't bear going over the full FV list, I'll just preselect over that "!" tagged list. I guess its a little bit better than just randomly doing task from the last page. :-)
July 19, 2012 at 9:11 |
sabre23t
sabre23t
Perhaps the problem is that the first item is one you don't want to tackle but FV says you must. Perhaps a step to resolving this is to do a round of "what do I want to drop from this list", and "why should I actually work some of those". Then either the tasks you hate are gone or you will have reminded yourself of their worth.
July 19, 2012 at 17:07 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Andreas, try the following: Put your FV list aside. Start new FV list. Put there only important/urgent tasks for today or tomorrow. Only a few. Start working in FV way. Put more important/urgent tasks. Later, after some time and making FV process a habit, add more less urgent, less important tasks...
July 20, 2012 at 7:16 |
Daneb
Daneb
It helped already bit to write my opening post. Having put my difficulties in words, I got more aware of what was happening and gave it another chance.
The point is NOT that I should manually weed out the list. On the contrary, I think this would be counter-productive. (And that is what I liked most about AF: That it weeds out all by itself.)
What I have experienced yesterday was that the whole point is not to *think* about what I should do before I do a certain task, but instead *feel* it – in the same way I felt what was "standing out" in AF1 (which was the knack that hooked me to Mark's approach).
Yesterday morning I forced myself to start with open task number 1. What did I want to do before? I had to say "yes" already at task 2. Phew! But while I scanned the list, the feeling grew that this task number 2 was indeed _the_ task I wanted to do before everything else and that I would not find another one I wanted to do before on all pages – and so was it. A short chain. I actioned it and it was great: because I was following what was "standing out", only in a better way.
Today I think that my problem has to do with "first build a chain and then action it", which is not as smooth as the selection process in AF1 was. But maybe it all depends on how these chains are selected. If there's too much calculation in it, the chain grows too long and creates too much resistance. If I can stay in touch with whatever managed the "standing out"-process in AF1 so easily, the chains become shorter and more fluid. At least that's my working hypothesis for now.
The point is NOT that I should manually weed out the list. On the contrary, I think this would be counter-productive. (And that is what I liked most about AF: That it weeds out all by itself.)
What I have experienced yesterday was that the whole point is not to *think* about what I should do before I do a certain task, but instead *feel* it – in the same way I felt what was "standing out" in AF1 (which was the knack that hooked me to Mark's approach).
Yesterday morning I forced myself to start with open task number 1. What did I want to do before? I had to say "yes" already at task 2. Phew! But while I scanned the list, the feeling grew that this task number 2 was indeed _the_ task I wanted to do before everything else and that I would not find another one I wanted to do before on all pages – and so was it. A short chain. I actioned it and it was great: because I was following what was "standing out", only in a better way.
Today I think that my problem has to do with "first build a chain and then action it", which is not as smooth as the selection process in AF1 was. But maybe it all depends on how these chains are selected. If there's too much calculation in it, the chain grows too long and creates too much resistance. If I can stay in touch with whatever managed the "standing out"-process in AF1 so easily, the chains become shorter and more fluid. At least that's my working hypothesis for now.
July 20, 2012 at 13:55 |
AndreasE
AndreasE
One thing I am learning from my DIT-FV hybrid is that FV works far better with a shorter list.
So, I'd suggest that if ...
... your Final Version list starts feeling too slow or too long, or
... you find yourself resisting the list altogether, or
... you find your list too cluttered,
then: declare a backlog and start over.
So, I'd suggest that if ...
... your Final Version list starts feeling too slow or too long, or
... you find yourself resisting the list altogether, or
... you find your list too cluttered,
then: declare a backlog and start over.
July 22, 2012 at 22:03 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
@Seraphim
Thank you for the hint. This is certainly true, but in my case, it's not the problem. My list is rather short, because I've just started a new notebook and had the idea to give FV another chance.
It's getting better, BTW. The point really is which mindset I have.
If I start *calculating* and thinking "I SHOULD do this and this", it goes wrong – the chain becomes long and boring and creates resistance to start another.
But if I follow this "gut feeling" that was the core point of AF1 ("what stands out"), everything becomes easy. It's only difficult to maintain this viewpoint while going through the list.
What I intentionally do is: When I dot the first task, I imagine myself doing this task. With this picture in mind I go on, read the other tasks until a certain "spikey" feeling jumps up (a mixture of joy and alarm) that tells me to dot this task, too. Then I imagine myself doing THIS task and go on …
Works better every time I repeat it.
Maybe the whole point is to trust oneself.
Thank you for the hint. This is certainly true, but in my case, it's not the problem. My list is rather short, because I've just started a new notebook and had the idea to give FV another chance.
It's getting better, BTW. The point really is which mindset I have.
If I start *calculating* and thinking "I SHOULD do this and this", it goes wrong – the chain becomes long and boring and creates resistance to start another.
But if I follow this "gut feeling" that was the core point of AF1 ("what stands out"), everything becomes easy. It's only difficult to maintain this viewpoint while going through the list.
What I intentionally do is: When I dot the first task, I imagine myself doing this task. With this picture in mind I go on, read the other tasks until a certain "spikey" feeling jumps up (a mixture of joy and alarm) that tells me to dot this task, too. Then I imagine myself doing THIS task and go on …
Works better every time I repeat it.
Maybe the whole point is to trust oneself.
July 23, 2012 at 16:35 |
AndreasE
AndreasE
<< I imagine myself doing this task. With this picture in mind I go on, read the other tasks until a certain "spikey" feeling jumps up (a mixture of joy and alarm) that tells me to dot this task, too. >>
Mmm ... Putting the question "What I Want To DO Before I Do X" in "stands out" kind of way. I like. Will try. :-)
Mmm ... Putting the question "What I Want To DO Before I Do X" in "stands out" kind of way. I like. Will try. :-)
July 24, 2012 at 7:11 |
sabre23t
sabre23t
In theory, I think it's a brilliant system. In reality I hardly ever bring myself to open the list, dot the first unactioned task and proceed from there. "Oh, maybe later", me thinks, "I'll have to have a look on the last page, there are urgent things to do, and it feels better to chose AF-like what feels like doing and do it as long as it feels like than to pre-select a list staring with some random old boring task ..."
The obvious answer (which I have given myself already) would be: "OK, so dot task 1 and jump to the last page to see what you want to do BEFORE, as it's what you are doing anyway, just without following the system." Unfortunately, it doesn't help to tell this to myself.
So, I have to admit that I have somewhere a knot in my brain wiring. Maybe someone has a hint to help me unknot it?