Speed Update: Day 3

I’ve now taken action on 201 tasks over three days, making a daily average of 67 tasks.

There are 59 unactioned tasks on my list, which means that the number of days’ work left in the system is 0.88 days - a slight increase each day.

The oldest tasks (seven of them) on the list date from yesterday.

Comments

[wing]

Mark

I now see what u mean by "the number of days’ work left in the system" literally means the number of days required to complete the tasks left. (to think that I thought u were a bit inaccurate in your wordings, haha)

It took a while, but thanks for all the clarification. But then u also said that of the 65 tasks, "a few of them (2 or 3) need further re-entry before they are finished." I think this might caused a bit of problem for many readers.

rgds

[Stever Robbins]

When I look at the number of tasks you work on in a day, my mind boggles.

I find that when I have a creative "Focus" task (like writing), I get into it for hours and often use up all of my flexible time during a day, and thus don't make progress on other tasks.

Could you offer some guidance on how you scope the amount of work you do? When I let my intuition stop me, it might let me go for hours before I change tasks. That's great for the focus task, but it means the rest of my tasks fall by the wayside.

[Mark Forster]

wing:

I think the confusion in people's minds is caused by their having different definitions of what a task is. What I am referring to in these figures is a single item on the list, i.e. what occupies one line on the list.

Reword it so it says "The amount of time it will take to cross out all the items currently on the list."

[Mark Forster]

Stever:

<< Could you offer some guidance on how you scope the amount of work you do? When I let my intuition stop me, it might let me go for hours before I change tasks. That's great for the focus task, but it means the rest of my tasks fall by the wayside. >>

You have to remember when looking at these figures that I'm currently using the system for _everything_, not just work. So my figures are bound to be higher than someone only using it for work or for a restricted part of the day. I also tend to slice my tasks quite thin. Someone else might chunk them together more than I do. Again the result would be that my totals would read higher than theirs.

That's why I say in earlier posts that the significant figures are not the total numbers of tasks done, but the amount of work left in the system,( i.e. how long it would take to cross out all the items currently remaining on the list) and the age of the oldest item on the list.

Even so, I spent two and a half hours on one item yesterday and seven hours and ten minutes on one the day before, so I wouldn't worry too much about monitoring how long you spend on individual tasks - especially the really important ones.

[Wing]

Mark,
(1) Is it ok if I slice my task differently (even rename a task) as I go? (2) In ur system, u dont seem to distinguish between project & tasks. Would vital info connecting different items be lost as a result rgds

[Mark Forster]

Wing:

I can't discuss the details of the system any further at this stage.

[Wing]

Ok, appreciate. Keep up the good work

[Alan Baljeu]

Hi wing! It appears you are new to Mark's systems. The present blog series is about a top secret new system, so i really don't know the answer to that.

For previous ones the answer would be:
(1) it usually is okay.
(2) Often both tasks and projects are permitted. In the case of a project, keep notes separately on the details, as needed.
I invite you to learn the SuperFocus system to understand better ( and get things done effectively ). Direct questions about it or any other system to the forums. Good day!

[Wing]

Thanks Alan, I did lurk a bit in the forum (never bothering to register, my bad) & do look upon u as an assistant tutor. But then I do respect Mark's IP (i honestly think he might already have revealed too much) So i'll wait for Mark to answer the questions when his book comes out best