Get Everything Done

I suspect this would only translate the expansion problem in another list. For example : if all one-off tasks are in a "one-off tasks inbox", how do you deal with this inbox when you select "one off tasks"?
there will probably be a lot of them in this inbox : do you priorize ? run it FVP style ? FV style ? DIT style ?
I feel I would then have to deal with too many lists.

I probably said this the last time it came up, but if my list were dominated by recurring tasks, I'd try this:

Take those tasks out of your FVP list and put them in a table. The tasks are written down the side of the table and the columns are for dates. Now you have a daily checklist that should be good for at least a week at a time or maybe even three or four weeks, depending on what you want and how you lay it out. Keep the table/grid in your notebook so that it's with your list.

Now work your FVP list in the usual way, but have ONE recurring task, "work the daily checklist," which you cross out and rewrite multiple times throughout the day as needed. You can then work the checklist in FVP style, or any other way you want to.

This is the opposite of Mark's suggestion, but the benefit is that you don't have to rewrite all of those daily tasks day after day. (The repetition would drive me crazy. I mean, I had three daily tasks and I didn't even like to rewrite those; thus the traveling sticky note.)

It also keeps your FVP list "fresh," since the remaining items on your FVP will be one-timers or short-term projects.

If you're worried about the checklist itself getting stale, you can shuffle the order of tasks, or update their phrasing, each time you reprint it. And if some of the tasks have to be actioned more than once per day, you can mark them with tally marks, or pie slices, or whatever you like instead of a checkmark. There's plenty of room for creativity here.

When your grid is full, you have a record of how well you did, if that's useful to you at all. I usually avoid metrics, but this kind of record-keeping is nearly effortless and it helps to measure progress in establishing a new habit, for example, or to see how many times per day you do a particular thing that you are trying to increase or decrease.

The potential problem I see is that "work the daily checklist" (as with any task that's very generic) is not so much a task, as a reminder to do an unspecified thing. It's probably okay if you already have a particular daily task in mind, but otherwise, I don't know how well it plays with "standing out" or FVP questions. You might have to come up with a game or rule to enforce it, like, no more than two FVP tasks in a row in between working the checklist. But if you can do it that way, and be flexible in adjusting the rules as needed, it might work.

Good luck with this. Pre-FVP/AF1, I did try a daily checklist. Unfortunately, it wasn't realistic. It reflected what I wanted to do each day, rather than what I actually could (and had to) do each day. In other words, it was based my aspirations rather than reality.

I haven't tried anything like that since then, except for the three tasks that I keep on the sticky note. So, do make sure that what's on your daily checklist is realistic, and that you aren't setting yourself up to fail.

I would really like to hear how you work this out, sabre23t. It seems to me that you might be able to make a daily routine of all these tasks, such that you no longer have to write them down at all, but maybe that isn't feasible.

Thanks for the comments. I currently have about 10 permanently recurring tasks (including Outlook, Gmail, a few Forums) out of about 40+ active tasks. Mark's post prompted me to wonder whether permanently recurring tasks is more common for readers here.

Hi,

Check out my new post here:
http://markforster.squarespace.com/fv-forum/post/2561958

"Toodledo for FVP works great (future tasks hidden, repeating tasks no prob!)"

I believe it may include a simple and viable solution for you.