Thanks to mark forster.I'm sorry my bad English。I read your Chinese version of "Do It Tomorrow" and then found this blog. I carefully read these time management systems you developed, and I don't know how to use these time management systems. Should they be FVP, or AF1, AF2, AF3, AF4, DWM, DIT?
thanks to Andreas Maurer 。I've already looked at these websites. I can read English, but I can't speak it. So this website has read a lot of articles, but the relationship between these time management systems is not very clear, do not know how to choose between these time management systems
I'm sorry, I may not have been clear. I mean how to choose between these time management systems. I know how to use each time management system, but I don't know how to choose between them. Is FVP an alternative to other time management systems such as AF4R?
Yes, FVP is an alternative to other systems like AutoFocus or AF4R. All those systems have you write long lists of tasks, and the differences between them are the rules for how you work on those lists.
As for choosing which to use, I would just pick a random one to start with. Or start with the original Autofocus, it is still a good choice. Try using it for a week and see if it works well. If it does, keep using it. If it does not, switch to another system for a week. Since all you ever do is write a list of tasks, there is no high cost for switching systems to get a feeling for them.
Thank you very much for your response. Is FVP more advanced than other time management systems such as AF1, AF4, DWM, etc? After all, it was the last one developed These time management systems do confuse me a bit and I don't know which one to use
There is no right answer to the question, because everything on this blog is experimental.
However I would advise Simple Scanning as the best to start with because it will familiarize you with concepts like "long list", "scanning" and "standing out" without confusing you with too many rules.
I was surprised to receive your reply. Thank you very much, Mark. I think you are the best time management expert. I have read some articles on this website, I know you have cancer, I am very worried about you, I do not know how to recover now, I hope you can be healthy. My English is not very good, I don't know if you can understand the English I translated with the dictionary, I'm really sorry.
mark,I'm so glad to hear of your recovery. I still have questions, so let me be specific. Is AF4 better than AF1? FVP is the best of these time management systems? Isn't the relationship between these time management systems an escalating one?
Each of the systems encourages you to work a little differently, so you get a slightly different result with each system. However, none of them is better than another, because some are better suited to one type of working conditions, while others work better in other conditions.
For example, AF can be very fast (do a lot of work), but it isn't very good at doing a specific thing right away if you need to do it more urgently than other things (flexibility). On the other hand, FVP is very flexible (you repeatedly scan the end of the list to do urgent/new items), but that extra scanning work can slow you down so that you are scanning more items for each item done than in AF1 (that is, not as fast as AF1). Some people need the extra flexibility of FVP or Simple Scanning, but for others (like me), the extra flexibility comes at too high of a cost in terms of speed, so AF1 is better for my work because I can do more things with less scanning, and I don't need the flexibility.
Thanks to Aaron Hsu and Mark for your reply. I think I get the general idea that none of these time management systems is more advanced. The key is to pick one that works for you and stick with it, and if you find that one system doesn't work for you, consider other systems
http://catuslee.com/archives/281
http://catuslee.com/archives/1916
Yes, FVP is an alternative to other systems like AutoFocus or AF4R. All those systems have you write long lists of tasks, and the differences between them are the rules for how you work on those lists.
As for choosing which to use, I would just pick a random one to start with. Or start with the original Autofocus, it is still a good choice. Try using it for a week and see if it works well. If it does, keep using it. If it does not, switch to another system for a week. Since all you ever do is write a list of tasks, there is no high cost for switching systems to get a feeling for them.
These time management systems do confuse me a bit and I don't know which one to use
There is no right answer to the question, because everything on this blog is experimental.
However I would advise Simple Scanning as the best to start with because it will familiarize you with concepts like "long list", "scanning" and "standing out" without confusing you with too many rules.
The rules for Simple Scanning are at http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/2/simple-scanning-the-rules.html
Thank you for your good wishes. My cancer was in the past and it is several years since I last had any symptoms. Otherwise I am in good health.
For example, AF can be very fast (do a lot of work), but it isn't very good at doing a specific thing right away if you need to do it more urgently than other things (flexibility). On the other hand, FVP is very flexible (you repeatedly scan the end of the list to do urgent/new items), but that extra scanning work can slow you down so that you are scanning more items for each item done than in AF1 (that is, not as fast as AF1). Some people need the extra flexibility of FVP or Simple Scanning, but for others (like me), the extra flexibility comes at too high of a cost in terms of speed, so AF1 is better for my work because I can do more things with less scanning, and I don't need the flexibility.
After all these years, my view on this boils down to:
1. Any system is better than no system.
2. The best system is the one you can stick to.