The Ivy Lee Method

Where the method comes from

The story, as it is usually told, goes like this. In 1918, Charles M. Schwab ran Bethlehem Steel, one of the largest steel companies in the world. He wanted his managers to get more done, and he asked Ivy Lee, a well-known consultant, for help.

Lee asked for fifteen minutes with each executive and told them one simple routine. He did not ask for a fee. He told Schwab to use the routine for three months and then pay whatever he thought it was worth. After three months, Schwab is said to have sent Lee a cheque for $25,000, a very large sum at the time.

Whether every detail of the story is exact or not, the routine itself has lasted because it works. Here it is.

The 6 rules of the Ivy Lee method

1. At the end of each working day, write down the six most important things you need to do tomorrow. Not everything you could do. The six that matter most.
2. Do not write down more than six. The limit is the method. If a seventh task feels important, one of the six has to go.
3. Put the six in order of true importance. Number one is the task that makes the biggest difference if it is the only thing you finish.
4. The next morning, work only on task number one until it is finished. Then start task number two. Do not jump ahead.
5. Handle the rest of the list the same way. At the end of the day, move any unfinished tasks to the new list for the next day.
6. Repeat this every working day. The value comes from doing it every day, not from one perfect list.

An example

Say you are a freelance designer. On Tuesday evening, before you close the laptop, you write Wednesday's list:

On Wednesday morning you do not open your email first. You start the logo drafts and send them. Then the website fixes. Then the invoice.

By the end of the day you have finished four of the six. The portfolio and the dentist go on Thursday's list, together with four new tasks. Nothing is lost, and Thursday starts with a clear first task.

Why it works

You decide in the evening, not in the morning

In the evening you know what happened today and what is still open. In the morning you only have to start. There is no half hour of reading messages to decide what to do first.

The limit forces real choices

A long list lets you avoid choosing. Six slots, or fewer, make you separate the work that matters from the work that only fills the day.

One task at a time

Working on one task until it is done is slower for the first ten minutes and faster for the whole day. Switching between tasks has a cost, and the method removes it.

A list you can finish

Most to-do lists never end, so every evening feels like failure. A short list can be finished, and a finished list is a reason to do it again tomorrow.

Six tasks or three?

Ivy Lee chose six for executives with a full staff behind them. For most people today, a day has meetings, messages and interruptions that no list shows. Six important tasks are often too many to finish, and an unfinished list every day slowly teaches you that the list does not matter.

That is why the 3 Things app uses three slots. Three is small enough to finish on a bad day and big enough to move real work forward. Other methods make the same trade: the 1-3-5 rule, for example, keeps one big task at the top. Use the number that you can finish most days. The rules stay the same.

How to use the Ivy Lee method in 3 Things

3 Things is a daily planner built on this idea. It works like this:

• Three slots per day. You pick the three most important tasks. The app does not let you add a fourth, so you get the hard limit of rule 2, set at three instead of six.
• Unfinished tasks are never lost. Anything you do not finish stays in your queue and moves to the next day that has a free slot. Like rule 5, nothing is dropped, and you do not copy it by hand.
• A streak of finished days. Your streak grows on each day you finish all three tasks, so you can see how often you repeat the routine.
• A daily reminder. Turn on reminders in the Me tab and pick a time, and the app reminds you to plan your day.
• Plan tomorrow the evening before. With the Pro subscription, the Future tab lets you fill Tomorrow and the Day after, three tasks each, so you can write tomorrow's list tonight, as in rule 1. Planning today is free.

You can read more about reminders and streaks in the FAQ, or see the app on the home page.

Frequently asked questions