In 1918, productivity consultant Ivy Lee met with Charles Schwab, then the CEO of Bethlehem Steel and one of the wealthiest men in the world. Schwab wanted to know how to get more done. Lee’s advice was six steps written on a piece of paper. Schwab paid him $25,000 for it — the equivalent of over $400,000 today.
The Ivy Lee method for productivity is over 100 years old and still one of the most effective daily planning systems ever devised. It’s brutally simple, requires no app or subscription, and delivers results from day one. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how it works and 5 proven steps to implement it starting tonight.
If your daily planning feels chaotic or you end too many days with your most important work untouched, this is the system worth trying first. James Clear documents the full history and mechanics in his piece on the Ivy Lee method — it’s worth reading alongside this guide.
Quick Overview: The Ivy Lee Method in 5 Steps
| Step | Action | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Write your 6 most important tasks for tomorrow | End of today |
| 2 | Rank them in order of true importance | End of today |
| 3 | Start with task #1 tomorrow. Do not move on until it’s done. | Start of tomorrow |
| 4 | Work through the list in order | Throughout the day |
| 5 | Move any unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list | End of tomorrow |
What Is the Ivy Lee Method?
The original method Lee gave Schwab:
- At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow
- Prioritize the six items in order of their true importance
- When you arrive at work, concentrate only on the first task
- Work until it’s done before moving to the second task
- Approach the rest of the list the same way. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to tomorrow’s list
- Repeat every day
That’s it. No app. No matrix. No complicated system. Just a physical list of six things, ranked, worked in order.
Why the Ivy Lee Method for Productivity Still Works
The Ivy Lee method solves two of the biggest productivity problems most people face.
It Eliminates Decision Fatigue in the Morning
Most people start their day deciding what to do first. This decision drains cognitive resources right when they’re at their peak. The Ivy Lee method eliminates that decision entirely. You arrive at work knowing exactly what’s first — the decision was made the night before, when the pressure of the day wasn’t on you.
It Forces Ruthless Prioritization
The six-task limit is intentional and critical. It forces you to choose what truly matters. Most to-do lists have 20, 30, or 50 items — and the result is paralysis, avoidance, and a focus on easy tasks rather than important ones. When you can only choose six, you’re forced to ask: “Of everything I could do tomorrow, what are the six that actually move things forward?”
This same prioritization thinking underpins other frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix and the eat the frog method. The Ivy Lee method builds this thinking into a daily practice. The Farnam Street team analyze why the Ivy Lee method works from a decision-making perspective — the constraint of six tasks is a forcing function that defeats the planning fallacy most to-do lists enable.
5 Proven Steps to Use the Ivy Lee Method
Step 1: Write Your Six Tasks the Night Before
At the end of each workday, spend 5 minutes writing down the six most important tasks for tomorrow. Use a physical notebook, index card, or the simplest app you have. The format doesn’t matter — the act of writing does.
Writing tasks the night before is essential. It externalizes your commitments from your working memory, which helps you sleep better (your brain stops rehearsing your to-do list), and it ensures that tomorrow morning is oriented toward action rather than planning.
Step 2: Rank Them in Order of True Importance
After writing the six tasks, rank them 1 through 6. Task #1 should be the one that, if it were the only thing you did tomorrow, you’d consider the day a success. Not the most urgent — the most important.
This distinction matters. Urgent tasks (answering emails, attending meetings) create the feeling of productivity without delivering it. Important tasks (deep work, strategic decisions, long-form creation) often resist urgency and get pushed aside by it. The ranking step forces you to give important work the priority it deserves.
Step 3: Start With Task #1 and Don’t Switch Until It’s Done
This is the hardest and most important step. When you sit down tomorrow, open task #1. Do not check email first. Do not scroll social media. Do not “just get a quick thing out of the way.” Start with #1.
Work on #1 until it’s complete or until you’ve made the maximum progress possible in one session. Only then move to #2. The serial focus the Ivy Lee method demands is what distinguishes it from a regular to-do list — and it’s exactly what the single-tasking approach supports at a daily scale.
Step 4: Work Through the List in Order
After completing #1, move to #2. Then #3. Work through the list in order, never skipping ahead because something further down looks easier or more appealing. The order reflects your best thinking from the previous evening — trust it.
You won’t always complete all six tasks. That’s expected and fine. The Ivy Lee method guarantees that whatever you do complete will be the most important work you could have done that day. Compare this to a typical day where you complete fifteen small tasks and your #1 priority never got touched.
Step 5: Roll Unfinished Tasks to Tomorrow’s List
At the end of each day, move any unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list — ranked again from scratch. Don’t automatically carry everything over. Ask: does this still deserve a spot in tomorrow’s six? Some tasks age off the list. Some grow in urgency. Reassess honestly.
Combine this step with a broader weekly review to catch tasks that keep rolling over — those are usually a sign that either the task isn’t actually important, or there’s a deeper block (unclear scope, dependency, discomfort) that needs addressing before you can make progress.
Conclusion
The Ivy Lee method for productivity has lasted a century because it works, and because it asks almost nothing of you in terms of tools or complexity. All you need is something to write on and the discipline to start with #1 tomorrow morning.
Try it for one week. Write your six tasks tonight. Rank them. Start with #1 tomorrow. At the end of the week, look at what you accomplished and compare it to any other week in recent memory. The method speaks for itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ivy Lee method?
The Ivy Lee method is a 100-year-old daily planning system where you write down the six most important tasks for the next day, rank them in order of importance, and work through them in order without multitasking. It was devised by consultant Ivy Lee in 1918 and used by some of the most productive executives of the 20th century.
Why only six tasks?
The six-task limit forces prioritization. With an unlimited list, you can defer important tasks indefinitely behind easier ones. Six tasks require you to make real choices about what matters most. It’s a deliberate constraint that produces better daily planning than an open-ended list ever does.
What if my #1 task is too large to complete in one day?
Break it into a day-sized chunk. If “write chapter 3” is too big, then task #1 becomes “write the first 800 words of chapter 3.” The key is that the task should be completable in a focused work session. If it can’t be, it’s a project that needs to be broken down, not a task.
How does the Ivy Lee method compare to GTD?
GTD (Getting Things Done) is a comprehensive capture and organization system for managing all your commitments. The Ivy Lee method is a daily execution tool — it tells you what to do today, not how to manage your entire backlog. They work well together: GTD keeps your system organized, and the Ivy Lee method helps you pick tomorrow’s six tasks from it each evening.
Can I use the Ivy Lee method with a digital task manager?
Yes. Many people keep their full task list in a digital tool (Todoist, Things, Notion) and write their daily six on paper each evening. The physical act of writing — not the medium itself — is what makes the commitment feel real and creates the clarity that drives execution. But a digital list works if that’s your preference.