The Ivy Lee method: six tasks, in order, every evening

Most to-do lists fail for the same reason: they grow. You add ten things, finish four, and tomorrow the list is longer than it was. The Ivy Lee method fixes that with two rules. Keep the list short, and keep it in order.

Where it comes from

The story goes like this. Around 1918, Charles Schwab, who ran Bethlehem Steel, asked Ivy Lee, a pioneer of public relations, how his managers could get more done. Lee asked for 15 minutes with each of them and taught them one routine. A few months later Schwab sent him a check for $25,000. Nobody has found a record from the time that proves it, and the details shift from telling to telling. The routine has outlived all of them anyway.

How it works

1. At the end of each day, write down the six most important things to do tomorrow. No more than six.
2. Put them in order of how much they matter. The most important one goes first.
3. Tomorrow, start with task one and stay on it until it's done. Then move to task two.
4. Anything left over at the end of the day goes onto the next day's list.
5. Repeat every working day.

That's all of it. No apps, colors or categories needed.

Why it works

• A short list forces you to choose. Picking what not to do is most of the work.
• The order decides for you. In the morning you don't have to think about where to start; you did that last night, when you weren't in the middle of things.
• You work on one thing at a time, so you finish tasks instead of starting many and finishing few.
• Nothing gets lost. Unfinished tasks move on, so you can stop at five without lying awake about them.

Where it falls short

• Some days are all meetings. If most of your time is booked, six tasks may be too many. Pick three.
• Tiny tasks clutter the list. "Reply to Sam" doesn't need a slot. Batch small things into one task, like "Clear my inbox".
• A task can keep sliding. If the same task moves to tomorrow day after day, it's probably too big or not that important. Break it up, give it a date, or drop it.

When a task keeps moving

Ivy Lee's routine says nothing about a task that moves every day. In Noodle, once a task has been carried three days it offers Reschedule or drop: Do today, Pick a date or Drop it. Dropped tasks leave the list but stay in your history, so you can always see what you decided.

Make it a habit

• Plan at the same time every day, like right before you stop work.
• Write tasks as actions: "Call the plumber", not "Plumber".
• If you finish all six, don't add more. Stop, or start on tomorrow's first task.
• Look back once a week. Past days in Plan stay readable, so you can see what you finished and what kept moving.

The Ivy Lee method is the base for a few others. Eat the frog is about what goes first. The daily highlight is about one task that matters most. To compare them all, see daily planning methods, compared, and the Plan guide covers every button.