Discussion Forum > An interesting advantage of simple scanning
Aaron,
A long list, with Simple Scanning, can be fast moving. The organizing that I do - I number each item from the start of each day to the finish, and then start again numbering afresh the next day, so I see how many items I have on a day. (However, it might be interesting to start numbering for a week, or even a month.) I handwrite in a notebook, but a computer can much more easily keep track of the number of items.
So I have all the items organized by date, and will rewrite items forward by when I will likely do the item again. I also tend to write new items on tomorrow's date. This reduces the number of items reviewed.
However, there is time taken up by writing, crossing out, and rewriting, and scanning. So perhaps compared to other ways it is just as time-consuming. One has to get in the habit of writing down items, and doing it over a period of time, at least several days, and have the habit of re-reading the items. And then crossing the item out, and then rewriting it. However, at this point, this is where the effectiveness really takes off. When you decide whether to rewrite, if it is repeating routine, you can forward it to a future date. If it is project-related, you can write the next action. If it is a book you are reading, you can write the page to start reading next.
If you set up an appointment, you can write an item to remind the other party. Keeping all the items together without categorizing increases the speed of finding, but also the execution, and also the followup.
If you always write new items in the same place, and always review in the same place, this simplifies the process.
However, this approach probably works well with "little and often", granular items, short tasks.
A long list, with Simple Scanning, can be fast moving. The organizing that I do - I number each item from the start of each day to the finish, and then start again numbering afresh the next day, so I see how many items I have on a day. (However, it might be interesting to start numbering for a week, or even a month.) I handwrite in a notebook, but a computer can much more easily keep track of the number of items.
So I have all the items organized by date, and will rewrite items forward by when I will likely do the item again. I also tend to write new items on tomorrow's date. This reduces the number of items reviewed.
However, there is time taken up by writing, crossing out, and rewriting, and scanning. So perhaps compared to other ways it is just as time-consuming. One has to get in the habit of writing down items, and doing it over a period of time, at least several days, and have the habit of re-reading the items. And then crossing the item out, and then rewriting it. However, at this point, this is where the effectiveness really takes off. When you decide whether to rewrite, if it is repeating routine, you can forward it to a future date. If it is project-related, you can write the next action. If it is a book you are reading, you can write the page to start reading next.
If you set up an appointment, you can write an item to remind the other party. Keeping all the items together without categorizing increases the speed of finding, but also the execution, and also the followup.
If you always write new items in the same place, and always review in the same place, this simplifies the process.
However, this approach probably works well with "little and often", granular items, short tasks.
January 31, 2024 at 5:44 |
Mark H.
Mark H.
I think there's something valuable in this. It's also one of the advantages no-list systems have, in that in the moment they take you from organization to doing in a very short amount of time.