Author Topic: New Time management system from Mark Forster (Read 16104 times)

tomos · « **on:** March 14, 2012, 09:10 AM »

Like the title says, there's a "New Time management system from Mark Forster"
called FV (the "Final Version")

Currently he's only giving information about it per newsletter - so you'll have to sign up if you're interested. For some reason, even if you are already receiving his newsletter, you still have to sign up again.

I haven't looked at it that closely, so cant say much about it - does seem very simple though, even simpler than it's previous incarnations as AF (AutoFocus).

Some info here
http://www.markforst...version-is-here.html
(Signup on the same page.)

FV Forum here
http://www.markforster.net/fv-forum/

40hz · « **Reply #1 on:** March 14, 2012, 09:46 AM »

I'm always amazed that some people feel the need to make you jump through hoops just to get some straight information out of them about something.

Ok. So be it. Maybe I'll look into it later on when Mr. Forrester starts acting a little less coy about it. $:-\$

wraith808 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 14, 2012, 11:03 AM »

^ This. Maybe someone that has it can give more information?

tomos · « **Reply #3 on:** March 14, 2012, 11:06 AM »

I'm always amazed that some people feel the need to make you jump through hoops just to get some straight information out of them about something.
-40hz (March 14, 2012, 09:46 AM)

Yeah, I'm not really sure what that's about.
Normally I wouldnt post something so obscure, but he got a fair bit of attention during the Getting Organised Experiments here.

I could copy and paste his email but I think that would probably be against his wishes. Hopefully he'll "out" it on his site soon.

edit/ If I get the time to have a closer look I'll report back.

40hz · « **Reply #4 on:** March 14, 2012, 11:38 AM »

I'm always amazed that some people feel the need to make you jump through hoops just to get some straight information out of them about something.
-40hz (March 14, 2012, 09:46 AM)

Yeah, I'm not really sure what that's about.
Normally I wouldnt post something so obscure, but he got a fair bit of attention during the Getting Organised Experiments here.
-tomos (March 14, 2012, 11:06 AM)

I remember that. That's why I was semi-interested in what he had to say.

I could copy and paste his email but I think that would probably be against his wishes. Hopefully he'll "out" it on his site soon.

I agree. I don't like his approach - although he may also have a very good reason for doing it this way he hasn't shared with us yet.

And...he is the author...so I think it's only right we respect his wishes and not broadband his emails if we do decide to receive them.

edit/ If I get the time to have a closer look I'll report back.

Much appreciated. Now that I'm more fully coherent (and in an admittedly less cranky mood now that my allergy meds have started working) I'll probably subscribe too.

wraith808 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 14, 2012, 11:47 AM »

I could copy and paste his email but I think that would probably be against his wishes. Hopefully he'll "out" it on his site soon.

If I get the time to have a closer look I'll report back.
-tomos (March 14, 2012, 11:06 AM)
I agree. I don't like his approach - although he may also have a very good reason for doing it this way he hasn't shared with us yet.

And...he is the author...so I think it's only right we respect his wishes and not broadband his emails if we do decide to receive them.
-40hz (March 14, 2012, 11:38 AM)

Oh, I didn't mean the contents of the e-mail (and totally agree with you), but the impressions of the system once you have time to peruse it more closely.

tomos · « **Reply #6 on:** March 14, 2012, 11:59 AM »

Oh, I didn't mean the contents of the e-mail (and totally agree with you), but the impressions of the system once you have time to peruse it more closely.
-wraith808 (March 14, 2012, 11:47 AM)

edit/ If I get the time to have a closer look I'll report back.

Much appreciated. Now that I'm more fully coherent (and in an admittedly less cranky mood now that my allergy meds have started working) I'll probably subscribe too.

-40hz (March 14, 2012, 11:38 AM)

Well, with my record with these (organisational) things, someone else is bound to try it out (properly) before I do

But, OTOH, a new system - especially a simple one - is tempting

40hz · « **Reply #7 on:** March 14, 2012, 12:15 PM »

What I'd personally like to see is a time management system for people with more time on their hands than they'd like. I'm thinking of normally busy people who suddenly find themselves in slow periods with too much time and not enough to do. Because that's when you really start developing bad time management habits.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #8 on:** March 14, 2012, 07:01 PM »

I'm always amazed that some people feel the need to make you jump through hoops just to get some straight information out of them about something.
-40hz (March 14, 2012, 09:46 AM)

Yeah, I'm not really sure what that's about.
Normally I wouldnt post something so obscure, but he got a fair bit of attention during the Getting Organised Experiments here.

I could copy and paste his email but I think that would probably be against his wishes. Hopefully he'll "out" it on his site soon.

edit/ If I get the time to have a closer look I'll report back.
-tomos (March 14, 2012, 11:06 AM)

THIS is what Copyright has gotten us into.
Enough with this controlling junk!

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #9 on:** March 14, 2012, 07:05 PM »

I'm always amazed that some people feel the need to make you jump through hoops just to get some straight information out of them about something.
-40hz (March 14, 2012, 09:46 AM)

Yeah, I'm not really sure what that's about.
Normally I wouldnt post something so obscure, but he got a fair bit of attention during the Getting Organised Experiments here.
-tomos (March 14, 2012, 11:06 AM)

I remember that. That's why I was semi-interested in what he had to say.

I could copy and paste his email but I think that would probably be against his wishes. Hopefully he'll "out" it on his site soon.

I agree. I don't like his approach - although he may also have a very good reason for doing it this way he hasn't shared with us yet.

And...he is the author...so I think it's only right we respect his wishes and not broadband his emails if we do decide to receive them.

Much appreciated. Now that I'm more fully coherent (and in an admittedly less cranky mood now that my allergy meds have started working) I'll probably subscribe too.

-40hz (March 14, 2012, 11:38 AM)

I slightly disagree - this is that Copyright effect again - what's the only limitation? That we "subscribe"? Of course he knows the smart folks will "subscribe" with a junk email. I already have this system set up. Didn't Facebook perfect the "sharing and liking"? So Old Web 2.0 was "Oh, someone has the email,share it". New Web 2.1 or 2.5 is "Eek Copyright sux, maybe we better not."

Do you really expect info to stay behind walled gardens?

If it didn't take work ideologically I'd sign up then private-email all comers of the result.

wraith808 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 14, 2012, 08:13 PM »

I don't think it's copyright... I think it's wanting to artificially form a community. It's not like you're actually paying for it, and I'd never sign up under false pretenses then e-mail someone else's work out. That seems on the other spectrum of wrong. He writes it and gives it away for free with a sign-up- if that's how he wants to distribute it, even though I won't go through the effort without some information, it is his prerogative, and I'd not undermine that.

40hz · « **Reply #11 on:** March 14, 2012, 10:01 PM »

If it didn't take work ideologically I'd sign up then private-email all comers of the result.
-TaoPhoenix (March 14, 2012, 07:05 PM)

It always disappoints me to see people posting things like this around here.

... I'd never sign up under false pretenses then e-mail someone else's work out. That seems on the other spectrum of wrong.
.
.
... it is his prerogative, and I'd not undermine that.
-wraith808 (March 14, 2012, 08:13 PM)

On the other hand, I'm always gratified when someone posts something like this.

40hz · « **Reply #12 on:** March 15, 2012, 08:12 AM »

Ok. Finished reading the first installment. It's ok as far as it goes. I'm not sure what exactly the author feels is so different about this scheme. I'm sure I've read similar approaches before - but I'm not up on the micro-subtleties separating one to-do system from another so a specialist may see something I'm not seeing. There's a little hint of NLP-style head games in it, but that's about it.

Hopefully the uniqueness will become more apparent with subsequent newsletter installments when he fleshes it out a bit more.

tomos · « **Reply #13 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:35 AM »

Ok. Finished reading the first installment. It's ok as far as it goes. I'm not sure what exactly the author feels is so different about this scheme.
-40hz (March 15, 2012, 08:12 AM)

It is very simple, isn't it. But I believe the simplicity has evolved from thrashing out two previous versions with a very active user community. Re experts and opinions - I think the only way of properly judging it is to try it out.

I think it's fair enough (?) to quote this bit from the email:

"Why It Works"

Why It Works
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the beginning of this newsletter I said there were three factors which every time management system needs to address: urgency, importance and psychological readiness. Let's see how FV deals with each of these.

Urgency. Because of the nature of the preselection process, urgent tasks tend to get selected - generally speaking the human brain wants to do things that it knows are urgent. If things come up that are particularly urgent they can be added to the preselected list at any time.

Importance. Generally speaking the human brain is a bit less keen on doing important stuff than it is on doing urgent stuff. This is particularly the case when the important stuff is difficult. However the FV preselection process ensures that tasks towards the beginning of the list are given as much attention as tasks towards the end of the list.

Psychological Readiness. This is where FV really enters new dimensions. By using a pre-selection process, the brain is softened up towards the selected tasks. But this isn't all. The selection process is based on what you want to do. This colours the whole preselected list so that even the first task, which you may not have wanted to do at all, gets affected. In addition, doing the list in reverse order, with the least wanted task last, uses structured procrastination to get the tasks done.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #14 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:52 AM »

Okay, y'all have surprised me. To me this is the Scarlet C (for Copyright) staring me in the face, because, wait for it ... "distributing it is 'wrong' ".

Watch what happens when you / if he were to (pick a grammar case) change it to a Creative Commons license - that means the owner WANTS it to get out!

The future of content is Freemiums and riding viral waves. Secret email lists are what feel wrong to me. (Email? Really?!)

I know, it's an angle at collecting value etc, it just feels to me like it's headed into an evolutionary dead end type path.

tomos · « **Reply #15 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:07 AM »

Eh, I dont really want to talk about copyright here -

I didnt want to post ithe email in total as a matter of respect. He didnt say anywhere that I shouldnt, but he *did* say it would not be up on his site, and would only be available through his new newsletter. (FWIW I havent even seen a copyright symbol.)

If you want to discuss the copyright issue I'd personally prefer if it was in another thread. Thanks ;-)

wraith808 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:11 AM »

Okay, y'all have surprised me. To me this is the Scarlet C (for Copyright) staring me in the face, because, wait for it ... "distributing it is 'wrong' ".

Watch what happens when you / if he were to (pick a grammar case) change it to a Creative Commons license - that means the owner WANTS it to get out!

The future of content is Freemiums and riding viral waves. Secret email lists are what feel wrong to me. (Email? Really?!)

I know, it's an angle at collecting value etc, it just feels to me like it's headed into an evolutionary dead end type path.

-TaoPhoenix (March 15, 2012, 09:52 AM)

No, copyright is distributing it is unlawful. This is usually followed by DRM to enforce this.

Undermining someone else's wishes when there is no price nor claim (he didn't say don't distribute it- he said sign up to get it) is just plain manners and respect for someone's works. Just because they limit initial distribution by saying sign up for an e-mail doesn't imply any sort of dead end path to me- it implies about the same as sign up to our forum for a permanent key to our software.

It's pay me for this work that I've done- the payment just doesn't take the form of money.

(Sorry... I was posting at the same time as you, Tomos. I removed the questions and just left the statement)

Innuendo · « **Reply #17 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:24 AM »

My opinion on the system itself - I was kind of meh. All that build up for some top-secret method of organization that has been refined over 10 years? I just expected more. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I expected there to be more of whatever it turned out to be.

My opinion on the distribution system - It didn't strike me as anything underhanded or insidious. It just seemed like the Old Dude wanted to know who was reading his words. Judging from his picture on his web site, he's an older gentleman & probably has old-fashioned ideas about how he wants to get his ideas out rather than that new-fangled 'throw it up on a web site, fly, and be free" approach. Regardless, he did plainly state that he wasn't going to share or sell anyone's email addresses so I'm sure monetary gain isn't the motivational factor.

Bottom line - I hope there's more to the system & an occasional email isn't going to upset me. I've got worse coming into my mailbox from time to time & to be honest, I'd eventually forget to keep visiting his web site anyway.

tomos · « **Reply #18 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:38 AM »

My opinion on the system itself - I was kind of meh. All that build up for some top-secret method of organization that has been refined over 10 years? I just expected more. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I expected there to be more of whatever it turned out to be.
-Innuendo (March 15, 2012, 10:24 AM)

I suspect part of why he wants contact per newsletter is because of such responses - I'm not knocking your response Innuendo! but if he had it up on his web page, I suspect the majority of responses would be similar.

But hey, think about it - why should it be more complicated?
I actually think , the simpler it is the better. No

I actually think: it either works - or it doesnt. I'm gonna give it a go, starting it today.

PS/edit/ thanks Wraith!

hawkz · « **Reply #19 on:** April 13, 2012, 07:46 PM »

Hi there,

We've spent some time and implemented this as a web app, it works well on mobile too.
If you could give it a go and give me feedback, I'd really appreciate it, particularly with the coder focus you have here:
BlancList.com

thanks guys - it really is a great productivity system!