Automate Your Business

Posts Tagged ‘Getting Things Done’

A few people have written to me about the Stay On Focus software recently. Each of them has said basically one of two things:

1. Why not make the software rotate amongst the 7 tasks it helps you to remember.
2. Why not make the software remind you of different tasks at different times (eg, “Go eat” every 4 hours, but “Write the damed report” every 5 minutes).

Well, whilst both of these might sound like good idea, I can’t help feeling that they’re missing the point of what I wanted the software to be for.

Stay On Focus is about… staying on focus.

Not rotating amongst 7 tasks (ie, multitasking: another name for each job taking longer than it ought to continually being moved away from the one important task that you ought to be doing).

Not reminders (ie, sticking at something so long then being distracted away).

Now, I’m being a little harsh here. These are both good ideas. But they’re not what Stay On Focus is about, which is doing one thing, and only one thing, till it’s done.

Notice the bold text above: “away” and “away”. That’s the antithesis of Stay On Focus, which is about bringing you back to the important task, not sending you away from it. The other 6 slots are really there to answer the questions:

* What’s most important after I’ve completed the first task?
* Where can I quickly write down something I’ve just thought of and would like to get done after the first task?

Again, notice the bold words: “after” and “after”

Does that all make sense?