The Ivy Lee Method

Ivy Lee was a 20th century pioneer in corporate public relations, defining practices that became commonplace in the years to come. He was an adviser to John D. Rockefeller Sr., among others. But, to this day, he is really known for the Ivy Lee Method, which was an elegant, yet simple method for achieving productivity. His advice was simple:

1) At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.

2) Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.

3) When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.

4) Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.

5) Repeat this process every working day.

It’s simple and logical. Yet, how many of us are this precise and consistent in allocating our effort?