The Ivy Lee Method: Six Tasks, Ranked, Every Night

In 1918, consultant Ivy Lee gave Charles Schwab (the steel magnate) this method and refused payment upfront. Schwab sent him a $25,000 cheque three months later — about $500,000 today.

The 5 rules

1. At the end of each workday, write the six most important things you need to do tomorrow. Not seven.
2. Rank them by true importance
3. Tomorrow, start with #1 and work on it until it's done before moving on
4. Move any unfinished item to the next day's list of six
5. Repeat every workday

Set up in LemTask

• Create a Today view saved filter of the top 6 P1/P2 tasks
• Add an evening habit *Wrote tomorrow's Ivy Lee list*
• Use the Focus view in the morning — it hides everything except your top-ranked task

Why it works: it forces you to prioritise when you're calm (evening) instead of reactive (morning), and it kills multitasking by design.