Don’t Break Down Your Project—Use AutoFocus Instead

by Dee Jones


You should break your projects down into small tasks.

You’ve probably heard this little piece of time management advice dozens of times. The idea is that big tasks, like “write a novel,” are too overwhelming. And things that feel big and overwhelming are exactly the kinds of things we tend to procrastinate on.

But a small task like “write a page” isn’t nearly as daunting, so you’re more likely to actually do it.

If you focus on doing small tasks, one at a time, you can get any project done, even something as overwhelming as writing a novel. After all, they do say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 

So breaking down your projects into smaller tasks is excellent advice. And it can work on any project, no matter how big or small.

But what if you don’t like breaking down projects? What if you want to just dive in and get to work?

Then you can give AutoFocus a try.

What Is AutoFocus?

A few years back, a time management system called AutoFocus was the talk of the Internet.

Created by Mark Forster, the author of several books on time management, AutoFocus was a breath of fresh air compared to systems like Getting Things Done, and even Forster’s own Do It Tomorrow. Those systems are great, but they aren't for everyone.

On the other hand, people found AutoFocus appealing for many reasons.

• The Low Overhead. In the world of productivity, overhead is how much work a system takes to set up and maintain. With some systems, you have to spend hours a week on maintenance in order to keep things running smoothly. Never mind the hours you spend setting the system up in the first place. But, with AutoFocus, there was almost no setup or maintenance. All you needed was a notebook, a pen, and a list of stuff to do.

• The Fun Factor. Yes, strange as it sounds, using AutoFocus was fun. Some time management systems, no matter how good they are, can feel like a chore to use. But AF was a system you could actually enjoy using. And the more you enjoy using your time management system, the more effective it will be.

• It Worked! People who used AutoFocus found themselves getting more done than they ever had before. Tasks and projects they’d been avoiding for months, possibly years, were suddenly done and checked off of their lists.

It’s no wonder people were praising AutoFocus all over the Internet. And the fact that Forster gave his system away for free on his website made it even better. 

I don’t use AF to manage all of my projects and tasks anymore (even though I have fond memories of doing so). But AF has turned out to be perfect for working on individual tasks and projects. 

When you use AF on individual projects, you don’t have to spend a lot of time on the front end breaking a project down. Instead, you just make a list and get to work.

How AutoFocus Works

To understand how AF can help you complete your projects, you need to know how AF works. There’s more to it than this of course, but these are the basics in a nutshell.

1. You grab a notebook and start writing down everything you need or want to do. And whenever something new occurs to you, you add it to the end of the list. (Which could be on another page of the notebook.)
2. Starting at the top of page one, you read down the list, stopping whenever you come to a task or project that you feel like working on. And this will happen more often than you might expect. I found myself suddenly eager to tackle projects I’d been putting off for ages thanks to AF.
3. After working on a task for “as long you feel like it” (per the instructions) you do one of two things. If you’ve completed the task, you cross it off the list. If you haven’t completed the task, you rewrite it at the end of the list, and then cross it off the page you’re currently working on. 
4. You keep rotating around the first page. When you get to the bottom of the page, you go back to the top and start the process all over again, reading down the page and working on any tasks or projects that appeal to you. 
5. If you ever go from the top to the bottom of a page without doing any of the tasks left on it, you move on to the next page. 
6. Eventually, you work your way through all of the pages of the notebook. At which point you start over from the first active page. 

As task management systems go, you can’t get much simpler than that.

Using AutoFocus for Individual Projects

When using AF on individual projects, your list will be made up only of tasks related to that project.

So, if you’re cleaning out a garage, your list might include tasks like:

• Getting boxes for storage.
• Giving old books, clothes and toys to charity. 
• Finding a better way to organize your tools. 
• Cleaning the oil-stained floor.

You get the idea.

It doesn’t matter that you’ve been meaning to do all of those things for years but could never find the motivation. Once you make a list, and start working it AutoFocus-style, you’ll find those tasks getting done, much to your surprise and delight.

AF might not work on every kind of project. But for projects like cleaning out a messy garage, organizing a book collection, or taming paper clutter, it works like a charm.

If you’d like to try AutoFocus as a project management system, check out the free instructions. AF is so simple, you’ll have no trouble figuring out how to apply the method to individual projects.

Do you have a project you’ve been avoiding? Or have you tried breaking projects down with little success? If so, give AutoFocus a try.

In fact, since it’s so easy to start doing AF, you can give it a try right now. Choose some household project you’ve been putting off, start making your list, and watch those tasks get done!