The story goes that in 1918, productivity consultant Ivy Lee met Charles Schwab, then head of Bethlehem Steel. Schwab wanted to get more done, and Lee gave him a method on a single sheet of paper. Schwab reportedly paid him $25,000, several hundred thousand dollars in today’s money. Historians question how accurate the details are, and the tale has been retold and polished many times, but the method itself has stood up well.
The Ivy Lee method is more than a century old and still one of the simplest daily planning systems around. It needs no app or subscription. This guide explains how it works, gives you five steps to start tonight, works through an example day, and shows where it fits next to other daily methods. James Clear tells the history in his piece on the Ivy Lee method.
Quick Overview: The Method in 5 Steps
| Step | Action | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Write your six most important tasks for tomorrow | End of today |
| 2 | Rank them by true importance | End of today |
| 3 | Start with task #1 and don’t switch until it’s done | Start of tomorrow |
| 4 | Work through the list in order | Through the day |
| 5 | Roll unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list | End of tomorrow |
What the Original Method Says
- At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things to accomplish tomorrow
- Rank them in order of true importance
- When you arrive at work, concentrate only on the first task
- Work on it until it’s done before moving to the second
- Handle the rest of the list the same way, and move unfinished items to tomorrow’s list
- Repeat every day
No app, no matrix, no complicated system. A list of six things, ranked, worked in order.
Why It Still Works
It Removes the Morning Decision
Many people start the day deciding what to do first, and that spends attention when they have the most of it. With this method the decision was made the night before, when the pressure of the day was off. You sit down knowing what’s first.
It Forces Prioritization
The six-task limit is deliberate. Many to-do lists run to 20 or 50 items, which invites avoidance and a habit of doing the easy things first. When you can only pick six, you have to ask which six actually move things forward.
The same thinking underlies the Eisenhower Matrix and the eat the frog method.
5 Steps to Use the Method
Step 1: Write Six Tasks the Night Before
Spend five minutes writing the six most important tasks for tomorrow. Use a notebook, an index card, or the simplest app you have. Writing it down moves your commitments out of working memory, and many people find it easier to stop thinking about work in the evening once the list exists.
Step 2: Rank Them by True Importance
Rank the tasks 1 through 6. Task #1 is the one that would make tomorrow a success if it were the only thing you finished. That’s the most important, not the most urgent. Urgent tasks such as emails and meetings feel productive, while important work like deep thinking and long-form creation often gets pushed aside by them.
Step 3: Start With #1 and Don’t Switch
This is the hardest step. Tomorrow, open task #1. Don’t check email first or scroll social media, and don’t “just clear one quick thing.” Work on #1 until it’s done or until you’ve made all the progress one session allows. This serial focus is what separates the method from an ordinary to-do list, and it matches the single-tasking approach at a daily scale.
Step 4: Work Through the List in Order
After #1, move to #2, then #3. Don’t skip ahead because something lower looks easier. The order reflects your thinking from the previous evening. You won’t always finish all six, and that’s fine. Whatever you do finish will be among the most important work you could have done.
Step 5: Roll Unfinished Tasks Forward, Then Re-Rank
When the workday ends, move unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list and re-rank from scratch. Ask whether each one still deserves a spot. Some age off, and some grow more urgent. A weekly review helps you spot tasks that keep rolling over. That usually means the task isn’t truly important, or something is blocking it, such as unclear scope, a dependency, or discomfort.
An Example List (Illustrative)
Here’s what a ranked list might look like for a remote marketing manager. It’s a made-up example to show the format:
| Rank | Task | Why it’s ranked here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finish the campaign brief draft | Blocks three teammates and needs deep focus |
| 2 | Review the budget with finance (30 minutes) | Has a deadline tomorrow |
| 3 | Reply to the agency’s proposal | Waiting on me, medium effort |
| 4 | Prepare Thursday’s presentation outline | Important but not due yet |
| 5 | Book travel for the conference | Simple, but prices rise |
| 6 | Clear the expense reports | Low urgency, quick to finish |
Notice that the ranking isn’t a matter of task size. The brief goes first because it’s the highest-leverage task, and the expense reports go last because nothing breaks if they slip a day. If you only finish the first three, the day was still a good one.
Common Mistakes
- Writing tasks that are really projects. “Launch the website” can’t be done in a day. Write “finish the homepage copy.”
- Ranking by ease. Putting quick wins first defeats the point. The ranking should reflect importance.
- Opening email “just to check.” That one check can consume the time you set aside for #1.
- Adding tasks mid-day. New requests go on tomorrow’s list unless they truly can’t wait.
- Never reviewing rollovers. A task that rolls over three days in a row needs a decision: shrink it, delegate it, or drop it.
Which Daily Method Fits You?
| Method | Best when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Ivy Lee (six tasks, ranked) | You want a simple daily list and strict order | Rigid if your day is interrupt-driven |
| 1-3-5 rule | You have tasks of different sizes | More categories to manage |
| Eat the frog | You procrastinate on one big task | Says nothing about the rest of the day |
| Parkinson’s Law deadlines | Tasks expand to fill the time | Needs honest time limits |
Adapting It to a Remote Workday
- Interruptions: if your job is interrupt-driven, count meetings as tasks so the list reflects reality.
- Six feels too many: use three or four. The constraint matters more than the number.
- Big tasks: write them as day-sized chunks such as “draft the first two sections,” not “write the report.”
- Digital tasks: keep your full backlog in an app and write only tomorrow’s six on paper.
Try It for One Week
Write your six tasks tonight, rank them, and start with #1 tomorrow. After a week, compare what you finished against a typical week. If it helps, keep it. If it doesn’t fit, adjust the number of tasks rather than dropping the ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ivy Lee method?
A daily planning system where you write the six most important tasks for tomorrow, rank them, and work through them in order without multitasking. It’s traditionally credited to consultant Ivy Lee, around 1918.
Why only six tasks?
The limit forces prioritization. With an unlimited list you can defer important tasks behind easier ones. Six requires real choices.
What if #1 is too big for one day?
Break it into a day-sized chunk. If “write chapter 3” is too big, make it “write the first 800 words of chapter 3.” A task that can’t be finished in a focused session is a project that needs breaking down.
How does it compare with GTD?
GTD is a full system for capturing and organizing everything you’re committed to. Ivy Lee is a daily execution tool. They work together: GTD holds your backlog, and you pick tomorrow’s six from it each evening. See our GTD guide.
Can I use it with a digital task manager?
Yes. Many people keep the full list in Todoist, Things, or Notion and write the daily six on paper. Writing by hand can make the commitment feel more real, but a digital list works if you prefer it.
About the author: Alex is a software developer who has worked remotely for three years. He started Deep Focus Daily to document the productivity systems that actually survive real remote work — not the advice written for offices that no longer exist. Learn more about Deep Focus Daily →