To Think About . . .

Nothing is foolproof because fools are ingenious. Anon

 

 

 

My Latest Book

Product Details

Also available on Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, and other Amazons and bookshops worldwide! 

Search This Site
Log-in
Latest Comments
My Other Books

Product Details

Product Details

Product Details

The Pathway to Awesomeness

Click to order other recommended books.

Find Us on Facebook Badge

FV and FVP Forum > Has Anyone tried FVP and gone beck to FV?

Is it universally agreed upon that FVP is superior to FV? Or are there people out there who have tried both and stayed with FV? I'd like to know how common it is to stay with FV and why some people have chosen FV over FVP.
January 31, 2016 at 3:49 | Unregistered CommenterMark T
Yes, I'd like to know that too.
January 31, 2016 at 9:20 | Registered CommenterMark Forster
When I use one of them, it is usually FV. I prefer the accountability to finishing a set list, including getting some work done on the oldest task. FVP feels like just doing whatever I feel like doing in the moment. I think it tips the balance too far in the direction of psychological readiness.
February 2, 2016 at 12:39 | Unregistered CommenterAustin
I've actually been down to flip back and forth between the two, depending on my mood. :D
February 4, 2016 at 15:35 | Unregistered CommenterSarah
I've found FVP very tiring in a way - i sort of get carried away with it and my brain gets scrambled. I'm trying out FV with dismissal. If I don't want to work on the root task (or break it down further) then I dismiss it by scoring through it and writing a 'D' around / over the dot.

Note: I've never really needed to put 'everything' into my list, so I don't have a long list of very routine items.
February 22, 2016 at 17:53 | Unregistered CommenterLeon
Austin:

"When I use one of them, it is usually FV. I prefer the accountability to finishing a set list, including getting some work done on the oldest task. FVP feels like just doing whatever I feel like doing in the moment. I think it tips the balance too far in the direction of psychological readiness."

This does depend somewhat on the question being used, however, reviewing my progress with both systems, I'd say I agree with you.
February 24, 2016 at 10:54 | Registered CommenterMichael B.
Yes, I went back to FV. If I don't feel like completing a chain (most off the time I do complete them) I'll just de-dot everything and start over.

I prefer this over FVP for two reasons:

First of all, I'm always trying out different questions. I'm very serious about the question when I do the chain, but I'll try another question for the next chain. I've found that this is great because sometimes I'm tired and "What do I feel like doing before" is a good way to get stuff done while still being relaxed. Other times, I’m starting to "get scared" of the list. In those cases, "What do I resist more" is great because it gets the most awful things done with or at least worked on, so the list as a whole feels more like a friendly place again. I also often do context-specific questions like "Now that I'm stuck in bed, do I want to do Y before X?" and "Now that I'm so dizzy, can I do Y before X?". And, as soon as I'm up and fresh and it's a new day, for my next chain I'll use a question designed to complement that, to have some balance. Like, I'll select a bunch of kitchen stuff, for example.

So FVP's sorting algorithm seems to rest on two assumptions: 1. That you're always using the same question, 2. That the answers to that question always would be the same. But my mood and whims are always changing.


Second of all, I'm very, very liberal at adding these three things:
• Undotted things at the end of the list (as recommended per normal FV and FVP). I call this "Later".
• Dotted things at the end of the list (as reluctantly accepted in normal FV and FVP). I call this "Sure, but first, I'll just..."
• Dotted things just inbetween the current task and the next task (i.e. I'll add a dotted item and place it so it becomes the second dotted thing from the bottom. This is my innovation). I'll call this "Let me finish first, then I'll..."

I use these three in about the same amounts and I use them a lot. Unforseen things come up all the time and there are also things I don't need to plan. For example, I don't need to have cooking, eating, and doing the dishes in my normal FV list. But I've found that I DO need to have them in the chain. I've always got the current item in the right corner of the screen and that corner should as much as possible correspond to what I've actually told myself to do right now. (Even if that's "Take a break from working on list stuff".)

So if I'm working on a chain, and I keep an eye on the clock, and I see that it's time to start prepping for lunch, I'll add a dotted "Prep for lunch" at the end of the chain and it becomes my current task. This sounds overly hand-holding, but... I need it!

Or if I'm cooking and I notice that something urgent has come up, but I want to finish up cooking first (if things are boiling and frying and whatnot). I'll add it as dotted but before my currently active "Prep for lunch" item.

For me, adding these freely and a lot works very well. I'm pretty good about feeling when something should be "Later" (added undotted) or "I'll just..." (added dotted and taking over as my current task). I know that it's important to add things as undotted so they can get reviewed. Because maybe, when I see the whole list, I don't think they're worth doing at all in comparison, so I can delete them, and if I had added them dotted, I wouldn't have noticed that. Hence, adding undotted is a great thing.

But adding dotted is great also if it's something that's truly grabbing all of my attention, like a growling stomach or a last-minute-remembered meeting. (The longer I've used my list, the fewer of these "last-minute-remembered" things show up because things do tend just to be on the list.)

So this solves what FVP tries to solve -- the readiness.

Summary:
The problem FVP solves, I've got another solution for.
The solution FVP offers, doesn't apply to me with my whims and question-changing shenanigans
March 13, 2016 at 10:21 | Unregistered CommenterSandra S
Sandra S:

<< So FVP's sorting algorithm seems to rest on two assumptions: 1. That you're always using the same question, >>

Yes, that's correct. Though using "no question" FVP in which you simply select the tasks that stand out seems to work as well or better than specific questions - and takes much less energy for the decision process.

<< 2. That the answers to that question always would be the same. But my mood and whims are always changing. >>

Which is a good reason for not choosing too many tasks per scan.
March 13, 2016 at 14:39 | Registered CommenterMark Forster