GoodAlexander

XO List Checklist System

2011-11-13T18:05:00.001-08:00

My use of checklists this week was mediocre at best. The common problems that arose day in day out were

ADD work requirements and behavior. Getting assigned rapid fire tasks that prevented me from moving forward on my check list. On average I kept about 50 windows open on my computer at any given time this week. This spaghetti at the wall approach to productivity does not match well with checklists which tend to operate in sequences.
Obsolete project lists. In the event of a total 'direction shift', the invalidation of check list items discouraged me from referring to the checklist as a useful item (too much obsolete info)
Easy to lose. Losing the checklists was a problem
Hard to keep up. Lack of discipline regarding writing shorter term tasks down, or a problem handling the speed of tasks coming into the system
Sleep sensitive. Sleep deprivation. Maintaining proper attention to detail was made difficult by my lack of rest.

Because I have faith that checklist systems are effective I want to continue using checklists. To address the 4 points above I would like to propose a system that involves:

Base-line sleep requirements (6 hrs +, non negotiable)
Setting a goal every 15 minutes (verbally)
After 15 minutes if I progressed towards that goal I should write an X
If I did not progress towards the goal I should write an O
At the end of the day the number of Xs and Os should equal the number of minutes I was awake

Before moving into this system, intuitively, it comes with lots of obstacles. I address the main ones I see in the following list of bullets.

Social pressure. People will ask me what I am doing. I will tell them it's part of the way I organize myself but speak minimally about it unless I know them well. Also, I spend a large part of my day in spontaneous conversation that takes place randomly. The upside of this system is that it will encourage me to have higher quality interactions - it's especially conducive to picking up the phone and calling someone or interacting in person rather than chat
Discipline. Keeping to this system is very difficult. My attempts in the past to stick to such systems have failed - especially in college. Thankfully, the ever increasing demands on my time give me more motivation than in the past so this time I do not think I will simply stop doing keeping my X - O list.
Failure to include big picture goals. The intuitive weakness of the X-O system is its ignorance of a larger time-scale. It's possible I will focus on too many non-important tasks, getting them done at the expense of my long-term progress. In practice, I have found that long-term thinking actually wastes time because it still requires constant short term revisions. I am a person who has a 5 year plan changing every 15 minutes.
15 minute block not meaningful to coworkers/ other people. When people call for me I will feel obliged to respond even if it causes me to break my goal. Nonetheless the likelihood of them stopping ALL progress on my goal is slight, so I may still be able to mark a 15 minute block as an X even if others do not respect my time.
Some activities do not have obvious or acceptable pause points. The more passion the activity demands (fist fight, hot date etc) the less acceptable a 15 minute X-O pause point. I may avoid this by having double blocks where I set my goals for 30 minutes. Thankfully (or perhaps regrettably) I do not have many fist fights or hot dates - perhaps the two are related?

Primary benefits of a 15 minute X-O system.

Low maintenance. Does not require the use of complicated software or any particular methodology. The less 'form' in these systems the better, I've found. Form excludes substance.
Quantifiable. I will always know how many Xs and Os should be in a day. This is conducive to tracking in an excel spreadsheet. Over time I'll also have a better sense for what I can get done in a day if I stick to this.
Encourages relevant 'at the margin' decisions. 15 minute blocks force you to reevaluate whether you want to be engaged in an activity anymore. If you're in a movie for example, you may decide to stop watching it if it is not good. That is not something very typical.
Conducive to improvement. I can easily add another letter or change the system to 30 minutes without breaking time-series of my past results.
Stops ADD. having one clear thing to focus on definitely encourages a higher level of focus on that one thing.

Hopefully 15 minute XO will deal with the primary problems of a normal check list.

Day 4: Checklists continued

2011-11-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Checklists can improve overall performance without actually improving completion of long term goals due to extremely granular thinking encouraged. Today I had some level of success with a goal oriented check list. I am going to repeat it again tomorrow with a mid-day review instead of just a beginning and end of day review.

I badly want to do a more systematic check-list system that has a large number of items that I do every day. I will have implemented such a system by Wednesday. Note: it is pointless to try and regiment every single action you do via check list due to multi-tasking.

Day 3: Checklist comments, dreaming control

2011-11-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

On the third day I've found that I haven't used my checklist as much as I was hoping to. I left it at work by accident when I left the office on Friday, though I did use it throughout the day. My weekend checklist is somewhat lackluster even though I've been accomplishing the goals on it. To improve my use of a daily checklist I'm going to have a new rule that I cannot do anything that takes more than 5 minutes physically until it is on the list. This should force me to document my behaviors

I talked with my older brother today. We have been experimenting with hypnosis for some time now and have a couple useful conclusions about the subject.

1. There is a potential for mood crash when reality comes back from altered hypnotic state.

2. Hypnotic scripts tend to be more effective when they are matched with actual capabilities.

3. Hypnotic scripts are more effective when associated with well structured processes and have internal anchor systems (cleaning)

4. Feeling tired enhances effectiveness of hypnotic scripts.

5. Subconscious commands need to be targeted at things you have direct control over.

6. Make sure hypnotic induction has imagery you are comfortable with

We're going to begin targeting our dreams and see if we can induce lucid dreaming after hypnosis slightly before sleep.

Day 1: Checklist?

2011-11-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

I've had too many "Day 1"s of projects to take the title of this post completely seriously. Yet my new-found lack of personal time has forced me to become more pragmatically focused. College life allowed things like $30/week diets largely composed of lentils and brown rice. I could view serious intestinal discomfort as a badge of honor rather than a crippling impossibility. My gurgling stomach could only draw attention to my defined abs, right?

Self improvement books, like politicians, always sing the trite chorus of "this time it's different". Like politicians they offer messiah-esque parables, metaphors and sweeping life-changing conclusions. And as my intelligent readers have already gathered, self improvement books and politicians have another major similarity: they seldom, if ever, get results.

I want results so given the previous paragraph it makes sense to avoid high-minded analysis and focus on actions and consequences. Without further ado:

Hypothesis: Keeping a daily check list on a piece of paper I carry everywhere with me will move me closer to my primary goals.

Status quo: Sleep deprived, losing fitness momentum, have lots of things on plate - responding on ad-hoc basis. Not up to speed on programming project with older brother. Work deliverables decent, but somewhat random.

Goal: More sleep, improving physique (steadily), have times when to-do list feels light and I can add. Up to speed on programming project with older brother. Work deliverables consistent, planned and part of long-term plans.

Evaluation schedule: Next week I'll write again to diagnose whether 1) I was able to keep to a daily check list system, what problems I encountered and how I dealt with them 2) If any obvious causal results occurred due to the change.