FV and FVP Forum > sequentially-dependent tasks
If there are more than a few tasks and I can't do all of them yet anyway, I don't add them all at once. I'm trying to keep the list short and fresh. I can't have my tasks mellowing prematurely!
But yes, I recently had a task on page 3 that was blocked by something I hadn't recognized yet. As soon as I realized why it was blocked, I wrote the new unblocking task at the end of the list on page 23. Then I moved the old task to page 23 as well.
At first, I didn't want to move the old task, but then I remembered that I had said I was going to follow the FVP rules. One of those rules was to renew a task's urgency by moving it to the end. There's no point in doing the new task if you're not going to do the task that it unblocks, right? So now they have the same level of visibility, and when I see the new task, I also see the old task. The old task reminds me of why the new task is important.
On the other hand, I had a bunch of tasks with dependencies in AF1. My AF1 pages were not in any shape to support the situation. I crossed out those tasks and started sub-lists on the next available page in my notebook. (This is the short version of the story, BTW. You're welcome!) Even as I was doing all that scribbling, I told myself, "I bet this is easier in FVP."
And it was. I didn't get the order exactly perfect when I re-listed the key tasks and dependencies, but just getting them all in the same neighborhood was sufficient.
That is, I think it would have been sufficient. Alas, I went overboard and thought I could make it perfect. That ate up a lot of time. And after the rewrite, I saw additional room for improvement! I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to redo it yet again, suspecting myself of attempted procrastination.
But yes, I recently had a task on page 3 that was blocked by something I hadn't recognized yet. As soon as I realized why it was blocked, I wrote the new unblocking task at the end of the list on page 23. Then I moved the old task to page 23 as well.
At first, I didn't want to move the old task, but then I remembered that I had said I was going to follow the FVP rules. One of those rules was to renew a task's urgency by moving it to the end. There's no point in doing the new task if you're not going to do the task that it unblocks, right? So now they have the same level of visibility, and when I see the new task, I also see the old task. The old task reminds me of why the new task is important.
On the other hand, I had a bunch of tasks with dependencies in AF1. My AF1 pages were not in any shape to support the situation. I crossed out those tasks and started sub-lists on the next available page in my notebook. (This is the short version of the story, BTW. You're welcome!) Even as I was doing all that scribbling, I told myself, "I bet this is easier in FVP."
And it was. I didn't get the order exactly perfect when I re-listed the key tasks and dependencies, but just getting them all in the same neighborhood was sufficient.
That is, I think it would have been sufficient. Alas, I went overboard and thought I could make it perfect. That ate up a lot of time. And after the rewrite, I saw additional room for improvement! I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to redo it yet again, suspecting myself of attempted procrastination.
August 6, 2015 at 22:37 |
JulieBulie
JulieBulie
In FV, for example, it was usually best to write them onto the list in reverse order.
In AF1, for example, it was usually best only to write the ones that could be done now, with no dependencies, and only enter the subsequent tasks when they are ready to be actioned.
I don't have any of these troubles with FVP ("No Question"). I usually just write the tasks in order. But I don't even have to do that. If I write out steps 1 through 5, and then remember something else that needs to be done between steps 2 and 3, I can just write it at the end.
The normal FVP selection process sorts it all out automatically.
Sometimes I might happen to "dot" something, and when I come to take action on it, I find out that I can't actually do it because of some dependency. This is also easily handled. Often the task that must be done first is already there on my list, just a few lines down, and I can see it right there. So the quick way is just to do them both right now (if that's possible).
But usually (for me) things are more involved than that, and I might get interrupted. So I usually do this:
1. Quick scan to see if the task(s) that must be done first are already there on my list
2. If not, I add them (whatever comes to mind)
3. Cross off the currently dotted task that cannot be done yet, and re-enter it at the end of the list
4. Do the usual scan to the end of the list (as per the rules), and dot the task(s) that must be done first along the way
5. When those are finished, the usual scan to the end of the list now picks up the remaining task (the original one that couldn't be acted on, because of the dependencies) in the proper order
Has anyone else experienced this benefit of FVP? Any tips or tricks or best practices?