Thanks for a really helpful post - just curious, what do you use the ! Dashboard context for?
On May 26, 6:52 am, Christo <[email protected]> wrote: > Adam, > > I use a combination of Getting Things Done, Do It Tomorrow and > Autofocus (Mark Forster). You can get a good idea what they all do by > looking them up on Google. from GTD I use the management of incoming > tasks and emails by gathering, processing and reviewing actions > regularly. From DIT I use the idea of closed lists, doing a little bit > of work often (on large tasks) and putting anything that comes in > today into a placeholder spot for later. From Autofocus I use the > subconscious work of the mind by using MLO to remind me of options for > tasks for the day. MLO helps my mind remember the context: is this > routine work, something with a hard deadline, something that I should > be doing while I am running errands, a phonecall I can make when I > have a moment, an Agenda item to discuss with my boss etc. which > allows me to have short bursts of opportunistic production as well as > focusing on the things that MUST get done today. > > Have a look at the Autofocus system by Mark Forster. I incorporate a > lot of his thinking into the basic Getting Things Done - Zoom for > Focused Action template, by creating "&Page xx" contexts which I use > as an electronic notebook. It takes the idea of closed lists and your > brains ability to prioritise better than any ranking system out there, > and combines it in a useful fashion. > > I use the "&" symbol in the "& Page x" context as it sorts it directly > under !!SameDay and !Dashboard in the to do list context filter. Once > I have assigned a fixed number of tasks to a &Page, I create a new > &Page context (&Page 1, &Page 2, ...). I tend to put approx 30 tasks > in a page context, as that is what shows on my screen without > scrolling and I can check the whole list in a glance and pick the > tasks that inspire me :) The feeling when you close out the last task > on a "Page" is quite rewarding! > > For things that need to be completed today I use a !!SameDay context > if I get given them today (i.e. urgent), or a !QuickList context if I > feel the need to focus on hammering through a list of easy to do > simple actions. For things with a specific due date I might also add > the @Hardlandscape context. It all sounds very complex, and can > probably be simplified. The key lies in the discipline of doing a few > simple things every morning. > 1. Spend a fixed amount of time on the "Current initiative". Before I > open email, MLO, company intranet homepage or anything else more > interesting on my computer, I pick a task related to something that is > important right now, and work on it until I had enough of it e.g. if > current initiative is "Clean house by Saturday" I will set a timer for > 15 minutes and do some cleaning. Then I will stop and move to the next > task = do little and often. Then I park the task for tomorrow (Do a > little at a time). You might even reward yourself for doing this by > allowing yourself to spend 10 minutes looking at that new website - > again using the timer and sticking to it :) > 2. Scan email inbox for urgent tasks that have to be added to the !! > SameDay context in MLO - seldom more than one per day / most can be > left until tomorrow. Move all the rest of the emails to "Closed list" > email folder for processing during the course of the day. Close inbox. > Any other emails coming in today will be scanned at lunch and late > afternoon for urgent emails, but processed tomorrow (Do It Tomorrow > approach). For me this is a big procrasination trap, having email open > and just quickly checking if something more interesting than doing the > month-end budget report has come in. > 3. Then open MLO, check all active tasks in the contexts > @Hardlandscape, !!SameDay, !ClosedList, !Dashboard. This 5 minutes > scan gives me a first feel of what I should focus on today. I might > even scan through the first &Page x for more inspiration. Chances are > by now my mind has worked out what the next important thing is to work > on, and I just go with the flow (Autofocus system at work). Obviously > tasks on the @Hardlandscape and !!SameDay lists tend to drift to the > top of the mental pile (Project: clean house) . The same principle > applies as the current initiative. Work on a specific task until I get > bored, and then park it for tomorrow. The benefit of this system is > that I tend to start working on tasks before they get urgent, and > decrease the number of times last minute rush - but I am not perfect > yet :) One of my tasks in Daily routines (which shows up under the > Dashboard context) is to clear the list of emails in the "Closed list" > email folder, so I attack emails in a structured fashion. > 4. Go back to MLO as often as I need to to pick the next interesting > task on the list. > Any new tasks that come in during the day (meetings, thinking, emails > etc.) gets parked in the MLO inbox (GTD gathering spot). One of my > morning routine tasks is to clear out the MLO inbox and assign tasks > to projects or contexts. I prefer to let them lie in the inbox > overnight as I often have a better idea what to do with it the next > morning - this might include deleting stuff that sounded like a good > idea at the time. > 5. One of the afternoon routines is to check that I have cleared the !! > SameDay list. Because I know that I WILL look here every day, I tend > to also assign this context to the most important tasks that I HAVE to > complete today - this ensures that I do not forget (or at least most > of the time). > > It boils down to knowing my own procrastination habits and putting a > few easy traps in my day - I mean, how hard can it be to just quickly > look at the !!SameDay list, without actually committing to doing > anything on it ;) The other major tool I have is to run MLO on my > Windows Mobile PDA / very useful to scan through the various task > lists while having a cup of coffee to remind my brain what is on > offer :) Autofocus again. > > I also tried the Getting Things Done - Zones of Focus template. > Although it did not work for me in the end, the way he builds up the > various contexts (Must do, Should Do, Could do) by adding in more and > more contexts is a very useful way to understand how to use contexts > to help you focus on the important stuff - the only catch is that you > must sometimes look at the complete list to pick up tasks that are not > caught by any of the contexts, or fall off the bottom of the list. > This is where the closed list idea of Do It Tomorrow works for me. I > can see ALL the tasks on one Page context on my screen, and have a > report that ensures that I do not have any active tasks that are not > assigned a page context (topic for a seperate post?) > > A long answer for a short question? I hope it is useful. I know it > also makes me sound terribly structured and retentive - actually I am > a very chaotic thinker, and having a relatively simple set of routines > which are easy to do, with a complex outline & set of filters which is > intellectually pleasing to set up and maintain, but not so much fun > that I spend all my time playing with it, is working for me at the > moment. > > regards, Christo >> > > I'm curious to hear what *you* do and how you manage this :) > > > - Adam --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. 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