Get Everything Done

I want to share an idea for a long list system. Here's how it works in a paper notebook:

Start with a fresh page and write down a few tasks off the top of your head. If you have a paper long list already, you could use the last page.

Look at the first task of the list. DDD: Do it, defer it, or delete it.

To defer, "throw" the task into the future by writing it in future pages of your notebook based on how soon you want to see it again.

For example:
- if you want to see it soon (e.g. frequently recurring task like email, current project) then you could write it at the end of the list, leave half a page from the end of the list, or write it at the top of the next page, etc.
- If you don't want to see it for some time (e.g. until tomorrow), then write it a few pages further into the notebook.
- If you don't want to see it for a long time, you could write it 20-30 pages in, etc.

These "distances" don't need to be exact - you can learn how far to "throw" items as you work the system.

To add new tasks, simply add them at the end of the current list, filling in the blank spaces between current items and future items. This way you get a mix of new and old items as you go down the list.

And you just keep "DDD"ing the first task on the list.

To process older pages of an existing long list, you could add a task "Process backlog" and apply the same process there - except jumping back to the current list soon to ensure you make progress on recurring items/current projects/new items.

This is partly inspired by Aaron's Weighting Randomizer method.

The main benefit I think is that you get to customize how frequently you see each task. Plus, the processing of items one by one involves less scanning, although this is balanced by more deferring.

I guess you could say it's simply another technique for rescheduling tasks, but this has the benefit of alleviating somewhat the need for a separate system/tool for delaying tasks into the future. Unless of course you want to see a task on/after a specific date.

I'm trying it out right now (key word: trying), except digitally, and it seems to work well so far, but we'll see how it works long-term.

Mark:

Yes, that does sound like it could be a problem with the paper version. Once the list gets filled up (for example with a bunch of new tasks), even if you want to see a task soon, the end of the current list might be several pages away.

Actually I just thought of a simple modification to this system. Or rather, a simple modification to Simple Scanning:

Do Simple Scanning as usual, but whenever you tire/get bored of seeing a task, "throw" it into the future (aka re-write it on a future page). The more you're tired/bored of seeing it, the further away you throw. Same goes for tasks you know can't be done now (e.g. "go to bed" when you just woke up)

This should whittle your active list to only things you're currently interested in and can do. In a sense, throwing something into the far future is a middle ground between keeping it on your active list and deleting it, which we might be reluctant to doing, which perhaps explains in part the length of our lists. This change can also be seen as combining dismissal into the regular review/algorithm.

The benefit of this version over the first one is that it preserves freedom of choice / speed of scanning, which is part of what makes things like Reddit addictive (scrolling through options). The throwing into the future can be compared to tailoring the content on Reddit (e.g. by unsubscribing to subreddits) so that you only see stuff you're interested in, which is also part of what makes Reddit addicting.

You can still get the same freedom of choice in the first version by deferring items by default, but that's a lot more laborious, esp. on paper. Although I guess if someone wants to minimize scanning time, the first version might be more ideal.

Anyways, coming back to your point, combining SS with a rigorously applied bored-throw principle should theoretically allow one to relatively quickly scan to the end of the list and see a just-actioned task again.

Sounds almost like your earlier suggestion of simply adding "Weed list" to SS!

Oh, good point about mail clients Aaron.

Gmail for example allows you to snooze items emails to a very precise time - down to the minute.

You could simply email all your to-dos to yourself (each task as an email) and browse your emails however you did before, snoozing whatever you're tired of seeing or irrelevant at the moment.

This has the advantage of combining email and to-dos for greater simplicity. It also allows easy inclusion of links to articles, websites, etc as tasks. You can also easily add tasks when you're out and about /away from your notebook by sending yourself emails on your smartphone. In fact I already do this, and it'd actually save me the extra step of transferring them to my to-do list. In terms of addictiveness, it's even more similar to Reddit (scrolling through choices, with unpredictable input from outside sources). I think I've read of people who already compulsively check email / mention Gmail as a distraction.

Although I personally feel uneasy about the prospect of forever having unread mail haha, at least for now.

I realized that such a "Gmail method" would more or less fulfill all the features I listed in the other thread as things that make Reddit addictive:

- Ability to customize what sort of topics to be exposed to
- Randomness in what exactly shows up
- Bite-sized content
- Almost always new content
- Seemingly infinite choices
- No obligation to do anything
- As much or as little engagement with the selected content as you want

Wow.

You can use Outlooks tasks with start dates and setting up a specific view for this. Every task gets a start date of today and the view you use filters for only start dates <=today. then defer any task you are sick of into the future.

This is the core of Michael Linnenberger's "MYN" methodology, which I have gone back and forth with over the years, currently trying it alongside weekly and daily planning as recommended by Cal Newport.

This post that shows how to get up MYN with Todoist explains the idea of deferring tasks to the future pretty well: http://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/guest-post-using-todoist-with-myn-and-1mtd-by-charles-olsen/#more-5238

That's right Alan. And my recommendation above was to use Outlook *tasks* which is a list you create. It has a field for start date and the ability to view only start dates on or before today so you can filter out future tasks.