Ivy Lee Method
A simple daily routine of writing down and prioritizing the six most important tasks for tomorrow.
What is Ivy Lee Method?
By limiting yourself to a short list of top tasks, you force yourself to identify what’s truly important. This method prevents you from spreading attention across too many things. Each day starts with a clear plan: tackle #1 first without distraction. The benefits include better prioritization, deep focus on one item at a time, and relief from decision overload. It creates a daily habit of planning and executing your most important work, leading to consistent productivity improvements.
The Ivy Lee Method is a century-old prioritization technique. Each evening, you list the six most important things you need to accomplish the next day. Then you rank them in order of true importance. The next day, you start with task #1 and work on it until it’s finished before moving to #2, and so on. Unfinished items get moved to the next day’s list. By focusing on one priority at a time, it fights the urge to multitask and ensures you always tackle your highest-value task first.
How It Works
What are the six most important things I need to accomplish tomorrow?
Helps with: Clarifying your key priorities for the next day.
Which task on this list is the top priority (number one) and why?
Helps with: Ensuring you identify and understand your highest-impact task.
Am I committed to focusing on the first task until it’s done, before moving on?
Helps with: Mentally preparing to single-task and avoid distractions.
If I can only get one thing done tomorrow, which task would I be proudest to complete?
Helps with: Validating your order of importance by imagining limited time.
At day’s end: Did I finish the tasks? If not, what carried over and why?
Helps with: Reflecting on your execution and planning improvements for the next day.
Best Used For
You have a busy schedule or long to-do list and struggle with where to start. It’s especially useful when you feel you’re not making progress on big priorities. Use it at the end of any workday to plan the next day for clarity and focus.
Not Recommended For
If your day is highly reactive or unpredictable (e.g. emergency-driven work), a rigid list of six tasks might not hold. Also, avoid if you tend to obsess over perfect rankings – the goal is to quickly choose and act, not over-analyze the list.
In Practice
"This method worked so well for steel executive Charles Schwab in 1918 that after using it for 3 months, he paid consultant Ivy Lee $25,000 in gratitude (equivalent to $400,000 today). Schwab saw dramatic productivity gains from his team by simply having everyone jot down and execute their top six tasks daily."
"Modern productivity experts also praise this routine. For example, entrepreneurs report that planning tomorrow’s top 5–6 tasks the night before “reduces decision fatigue” in the morning and channels their energy into what matters most."
Scientific Foundation
James Clear (2015)
Recounts that after implementing Ivy Lee’s six-item priority list, Bethlehem Steel’s Charles Schwab “was so delighted with the progress” that he wrote Lee a $25,000 check (worth ~$400k today) as payment for the advice.
Business Insider (Rampton, 2018)
Explains the method’s impact: by planning the next day’s top 5–6 tasks the night before, you “reduce decision fatigue” in the morning and reserve your energy for meaningful work.
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