What’s inside
- Six numbered lines for tomorrow, in strict order.
- An estimate per line, so you can see if six tasks fit around tomorrow’s meetings.
- Carry-over column — how many days a task has been on the list.
- Evening checklist — three questions to answer before writing the list.
Where it comes from: the story, as it is usually told, is that around 1918 the consultant Ivy Lee offered Charles M. Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel, a way to get more done. He asked Schwab to try it for a few months and pay what he thought it was worth. In the story, Schwab later sent a large check. Treat the details as an anecdote; the method itself is the useful part.
When to use it (and when not)
It works well when you have plenty to do and lose time deciding what to do next, or start many things and finish few. Six forced choices and a strict order remove most of that friction.
It fits poorly when your day is mostly meetings or reactive work; six focused tasks may not fit. Use three lines on those days. If the list is long and tangled, sort it first with an Eisenhower matrix, then write your six.
How to use it
- At the end of the workday, look at tomorrow’s calendar. How many hours are free?
- Write up to six tasks. Not seven. Each should be finishable or at least advanceable in one sitting.
- Rank them. Number 1 is the one that matters most, not the easiest.
- Add estimates. If the total does not fit tomorrow’s free hours, cut from the bottom.
- Next day, start with number 1 and do not touch number 2 until 1 is done or blocked.
- In the evening, carry over what is left. A task carried three days in a row gets split, delegated or dropped.
How Needt fills it in
In Needt, write the six as tasks with estimates and priorities that match your order — number 1 Urgent or High, and so on. Auto-scheduling then turns the ranked list into a timed day around tomorrow’s meetings, keeping the order where it can. If number 1 runs over, the rest shift down instead of piling up, and you see what moved.
For the evening step, ask:
Look at tomorrow’s calendar and my open tasks. Suggest six in Ivy Lee order that fit the free time, and tell me what carried over from today.
A worked example
Alex writes this list at 17:30 on Tuesday, for Wednesday Oct 14 (one meeting, 13:00–14:00).
| # | Task | Estimate | Days on list |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Draft homepage wireframe | 120m | 1 |
| 2 | Send Lumen revised quote | 30m | 2 |
| 3 | Edit studio tour video | 90m | 1 |
| 4 | Reply to wholesale inquiry | 20m | 1 |
| 5 | Spanish lesson 5.1 | 30m | 3 — split into two 15m sessions |
| 6 | Order shipping boxes | 10m | 1 |
