Get Everything Done

michael -

<< So perhaps before wrting any task lists - using the rational mind - one should ask what is getting better, moving from push-mode to pull-mode (the intuitive mind: vision, What's better?, future self), as Mark calls it in Dreams. >>

Interesting. I've been wondering about the role of intuition vs deliberation (Kahneman's System 1 and System 2). Most of Mark's systems are basically structures to help make intuition effective in choosing where to focus. Get us out of operating in System 2, and more in System 1, since System 1 is where we have speed and ease and flow. System 2 requires deliberate thought and problem-solving.

System 1 is more aligned with Pull Mode, System 2 with Push Mode.

The same thing happens in factories that use JIT / Kanban / TOC and similar methodologies. Most of the time, things just flow. When flow is disrupted, these methods give very clear signals and tell you "Now is the time to engage System 2 -- investigate, troubleshoot, expedite, etc."

DIT has a similar mechanism -- if you fall behind for more than 2-3 days, this is the signal that it's time to intervene -- go do an audit of your commitments, and make some decisions what you will cut. The day-to-day routine with DIT is System 1 -- automatic, intuitive, flow-based. The audit of commitments escalation triggers System 2 -- evaluate, deliberate, assess, troubleshoot, refocus, reprioritize.

I think this is a key to developing a sustainable personal system. Run as much as possible automatically, with pull and intuitive flow. And establish clear signals when the flow is disrupted and you need more deliberative intervention, with a clear plan of action what to do when that happens. A checklist, for example, is a great tool to make the intervention itself into a clear focused process that has its own kind of flow.

I think RTM has taught me several good principles. But ultimately, this system (like any long-list system) requires that you maintain a strong intuition for the overall contents of the list. If it grows too large, then it all breaks down, because you can't maintain that intuition.

But we know from methods like Dreams and No-List that there are other ways to maintain a very strong intuitive grasp of your overall work and priorities. "Maintaining a strong intuition for the overall contents of the list" is only a requirement if you actually have a list. Throwing the list away and doing something like No-List or Dreams or Time Surfing is arguably a *better* way at maintaining a strong intuition for your overall direction of life and work.

So why do so many of us find ourselves going back and forth between long-list and short-list or no-list systems?

Perhaps it has something to do with the fundamental limitations of System 1. It relies on heuristics, which are based on many assumptions and subject to many cognitive biases. Intuition is *fast* and usually guides us *correctly*. But when we are getting into areas that are new to us (where we haven't yet developed much intuition) or complicated (where our intuition isn't capable of doing an appropriate assessment, such as working through a problem of long division), it will stumble.

I think RTM has been the most successful Long List system for me, but has still not overcome the fundamental problem with all Long List systems of ultimately growing out of control. I think my next experiments will explore No-List / Short-List / Zero-List methods and systematically addressing their limitations.