Simple systems drive complex behaviors.
This is true when we work as well. You know that guy in the office or the shop who never missing a deadline? He probably uses a pen and paper, or simple reminders or note app to keep on top of things. Why? Because these are simple tools, easy to learn and use. So what simple system did Ivy Lee propose?
Ivy Lee suggested that to get the most important work done we need to follow just a few simple rules:
- Plan your day tomorrow at the end of today. In practice, I do this before clocking out for the day. It helps to get things off my mind for the evening (or weekend) and the next workday I can just dive into my work.
- Write down six and only six tasks you want to accomplish tomorrow.
- Number them in the order you want to accomplish them. Or, if your using a task manager you can manually sort them into the order you want to do them.
- Some tasks will be too large to complete in one day. So in this case, when you plan tomorrow add the task to your list of unsorted tasks. Then just repeat the process.
Tip:
Be specific in your task. Instead of start project ‘x’, say “create project scope report for project ‘x'”.
Having a simple and quick productivity system will help you to get out of your own way and get to work.
References:
James Clear, “The Ivy Lee Method: The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity,” James Clear (blog), July 7, 2015, https://jamesclear.com/ivy-lee.