ABC codes or gut feeling?

[mcogilvie]

So David Allen meant AB coding is better the ABC

Any proven facts behind that statement or he just thinks so?

No, he didn't mean that. But even if he did, you are free to try his ideas, see if they work for you, and accept them, reject them or modify them as you wish.

My own experience is that ABC lists tend to go stale, and so does an AB list. Once I assign any kind of priority code to something, I tend to keep it. Different days have different needs, "should do" eventually becomes "why the hell should I?" and then the system breaks down. I use software that can automatically aggregate due, soon-to-be-due and flagged items in a single focus list and sort that list by several criteria. I don't need an ABC list. I need to understand my own process and my own priorities so well that I know what I need or want to do next and why.

 

[cfoley]

GTD already has ABC codes:

A - I'm doing it.
B - It's on a next action list.
C - It's in my Someday/Maybe list.

When I scan my lists, I know what's easy and what's important. It takes discipline to match the tasks with my energy level and not just go with what's easy. Setting priority codes won't ever stop me being lazy. That inspiration has to come from somewhere else.

 

[enyonam]

Roger, agree that 'read textbook pp5-7' is way easier then Learn Spanish. But go to gym is still a problem even if I reforfulate it as make 7 minutes on the trademill, 4 pushups etc And I will subconciously choose google smth the go th the gym )

I agree. I'm very careful about how I name my tasks especially for those items that can suddenly become major attention and concentration feats! What I've done with some of those projects / next actions, is turned them into habits. So I'm learning French for instance and what I've done is inserted in my morning routine 20 minutes every morning to learn a language. I started with 5 minutes and gradually increased to 20 minutes and I'll hold steady here (I think) until I'm done with this course. It's amazing how little 20 mins in a set routine feels like 5 mins, but adds up quickly over time.

 

[TesTeq]

I agree: Someday/Maybe is the "C"!

GTD already has ABC codes:

A - I'm doing it.
B - It's on a next action list.
C - It's in my Someday/Maybe list.

I agree: Someday/Maybe is the "C"!

 

[cfoley]

Actually, I can see the value of using a Covey quadrant* for helping to choose in the moment. But I think it's only useful for the priority part of choosing in the moment, not time or energy available. I also think that you should use it to choose your action and then put it in the bin straight away so you don't feel stuck with your initial assignments.

* If you don't know what that is, you divide your page into 2 x 2 squares. Vertically it's important/unimportant. Horizontally it's urgent/not urgent. This gives you four simple categories of task:

Important & Urgent - Quadrant of necessity
Important & not urgent - Quadrant of quality & Personal leadership
Unimportant & urgent - Quadrant of deception
Unimportant * not urgant - Quadrant of waste

 

[mcogilvie]

Important & Urgent - Quadrant of necessity
Important & not urgent - Quadrant of quality & Personal leadership
Unimportant & urgent - Quadrant of deception
Unimportant * not urgant - Quadrant of waste

One problem with Covey's model is that Q2 is highly valued, Q1 is tolerated, and Q3 and Q4 are devalued. A lot of things I have to do are not "important" but they have to be done, like routine administrative tasks. Sometimes these are urgent, and there is nothing I can do about it. GTD has a healthier attitude toward such things: you have to get them done in the most effective way possible.

 

[cfoley]

A lot of things I have to do are not "important" but they have to be done

I'd say they are important in that they DO have to be done. Maybe they're just not sexy.

 

[mcogilvie]

I'd say they are important in that they DO have to be done. Maybe they're just not sexy.

It's very hard for me to see the "quality and personal leadership" when I am filling out a required federal report. Maybe "necessity" but what if it isn't urgent and therefore in Q1? Been there, done that with Covey, and I don't buy it. We may desire to spend our time on the things that are important to us, but we must inevitably spend some time elsewhere. GTD is realistic in acknowledging this, and says that we must be effective (by some appropriate measure) in doing things that need to be done. If I need new tires, I need new tires, but I'm not going to pretend that it's important in the same way as my family or my professional life. Some might say that getting new tires is important because it protects my family, but then just about everything can be regarded as "important" and "important" loses any useful meaning. I can also turn this around: Just because I decide not to do something doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile, and I wouldn't welcome someone else doing it. Just because I'm not doing something doesn't mean it falls into categories of "waste" or "deception."

 

[Roger]

then just about everything can be regarded as "important" and "important" loses any useful meaning

I believe this is by design.

 

[DenaDahilig]

Whose design?

I believe this is by design.

Explain, please...

(and forgive me if the answer's obvious... our air conditioning's out, along with my powers of comprehension it seems)

Dena

 

[cfoley]

I see where you are coming from mcogilvie!

 

[Roger]

I was pretty terse! Let me unpack that a bit.

I think that GTD intentionally embraces the notion that "important" and "not important" basically have no useful meaning.

Here's some of the reasons I say that:

This method is significantly different from traditional time-management training. Most of those models leave you with the impression that if something you tell yourself to do isn't that important, then it's not that important -- to track, manage, or deal with. But in my experience that's inaccurate, at least in terms of how a less-than-conscious part of us operates.
-231-232​

If the thing's not important enough to be done, *throw it away*. If it is, and if you're going to do it sometime, the efficiency factor should come into play.
-131​

If you don't decide what needs to be done about your secretary's birthday, because it's "not that important" right now, that open loop will take up energy and prevent you from having a totally effective, clear focus on what is important.
-25​

So, yes, I am glossing over some of the subtleties of GTD. But I think it's fair to say on a gross level that there's two categories of importance:

1. Things that you feel are important enough to do. They are in the system.

2. Things that you feel are not important enough to do. They are in the trash.

And that, on some fundamental level, really everything in the first category has a sort of equality to it. They're all things you want to do As Soon As Possible.

So, to return to some of the earlier examples, I'm inclined to think that you absolutely should do 'go to the gym' or 'learn Spanish' whenever it's easiest for you to do those things. If it's easiest to go to the gym after work on Mondays, then follow that path. I don't think this is rocket science.

Upon further reflection, I'm starting to think that perhaps some people are using these "priority codes" as essentially a motivational tool. I personally don't think they're especially well-suited to that purpose, but I can allow that maybe for some people they work well in that capacity. But it gets a bit confusing to suggest that they have anything to do with priority or importance at that point.

So... yeah. Waking up in the morning and thinking "today I want to clean out the garage" isn't problematic and is probably useful. But I think it's a distinctive thing from 'importance' or 'priority', although goal-setting is of course informed by those things.

Hmmm. This rabbit hole goes deeper than I suspected. Thanks for this topic! Good food for thought.

Cheers,
Roger

 

[DenaDahilig]

I was pretty terse! Let me unpack that a bit.

I definitely didn't think you were being terse... I really was thinking that my brain cannot function in an 85 degree office and that, perhaps, that was the problem.

So... yeah. Waking up in the morning and thinking "today I want to clean out the garage" isn't problematic and is probably useful. But I think it's a distinctive thing from 'importance' or 'priority', although goal-setting is of course informed by those things.

My priority systems in the past were 96% failures, but I was young and the "organization" books and classes made me think that I needed to manage tasks that way to be efficient. So I was efficient (because I worked super hard) AND a complete failure all the time! This is one of those, "Gee I wish I'd know about GTD earlier." moments.

Hmmm. This rabbit hole goes deeper than I suspected.

I wouldn't want it any other way! Thanks for taking the time to clarify... much appreciated.

Dena

 

[cwoodgold]

I was pretty terse! Let me unpack that a bit.
1. Things that you feel are important enough to do. They are in the system.

2. Things that you feel are not important enough to do. They are in the trash.

I have another, quite large, category:

1.5 Things that I feel are important enough that there's a good chance I'll want to do them. They are in the system.

Upon further reflection, I'm starting to think that perhaps some people are using these "priority codes" as essentially a motivational tool.

Kindof. Well, I see it like this: sometimes I can think more clearly and
accurately mark things as things I'll feel significantly satisfied later to have gotten done;
and at other times in the heat of the moment I can't think as clearly and can benefit from having that
information already laid out for me.

 

[Solyanov2011]

Agree with cwoodgold that when you are in a rush of the cubicle office day it is not obvious what is more important: to make a report or call a client. That should be coded with ABC the day before.