As we scramble to get things done in our busy modern lives, there’s one simple line of action that can help maximize productivity far better than any tech guru promoting AI scheduling apps: The Ivy Lee Method has been around for a hundred years, and it’s fostered the success of world-leading organizations and multi-millionaires alike.
As largely influential as the Ivy Lee Method has been in shaping such triumphs, it can be harnessed for goals other than achieving corporate overdrive. You don’t need to have lofty ambitions to use it for yourself. Its structure can be adapted to any objectives, be that in business, life, or even health goals.
What is the Ivy Lee Method?
The Ivy Lee Method is a strategy for simplifying, prioritizing, and tackling tasks that allows you to maximize productivity. To notice results, you will need to adhere to the Ivy Lee Method over an extended period of time, as it is focused on achieving high performance on a daily basis (so the effect is cumulative). Rather than construct an overly complicated year-long strategy plan, the Ivy Lee Method is about focusing on the one, most important task at hand.
How to Use the Ivy Lee Method
Pick a goal or milestone you want to achieve and keep it in mind as you proceed with the following steps. It could be your vision for a healthier lifestyle, or a financial objective—pick the thing that’s important to you and you’re motivated to make happen!
1. At the end of the day, write down 6 tasks that you want to accomplish tomorrow.
2. Prioritize those six items from top to bottom in order of importance.
3. The main rule to the Ivy Lee Method is to start your list every morning from the top, and that you may not move onto the next task on the list until the previous one is completed.
4. If you do not finish all the tasks on your list by the end of a day, rewrite them as the top of your list for the next day.
5. Repeat this process every day until you’ve reached the milestone or goal you set out to hit!
Where did the Ivy Lee Method come from?
The Ivy Lee Method was first recognized in the early 20th century, thought up by Ivy Ledbetter Lee. Lee was a pioneer in the sect of public relations. A successful businessman himself, Lee was known for consulting industrial corporations owned by some of the wealthiest people in the world.
His most renowned influence was when he was contacted by Charles Schwab. Schwab owned Bethlehem Steel Corporation, which became the largest shipbuilding company in the United States of America, on top of being the second highest producer of steel. Schwab consulted Lee about improving the productivity of his team. The story goes that Lee was so confident in the effectiveness of his method that he left his service fee open for Schwab to compensate him later, based on how much he thought the help was worth.
To improve productivity, all Lee asked for was to spend 15 minutes with each of Schwab’s managers. He taught them the Ivy Lee Method, and several months later, Schwab was so impressed with the positive change in production, that he wrote Lee a check for $25k (which is way over 10x more with today’s inflation).
How does the Ivy Lee Method Work?
After learning how Lee’s influence resulted in Schwab’s massive enterprise success, you may be asking yourself: Okay, but HOW did a practice as simplistic as the Ivy Lee Method accomplish such drastic results?
The Ivy Lee Method’s effectiveness is based in maintaining retention and reducing task-switching cost. Only being allowed to tackle one task at a time forces you to focus more effectively on it. There’s no room to get distracted from the task at hand, because you’re not allowed to move on to another one until it’s completed regardless. Worrying or overthinking about upcoming tasks on (or off) the daily list becomes wasted effort.
People who get overwhelmed with complex tasks find the Ivy Lee Method more manageable, as it breaks larger, overarching goals into actionable daily-doses—you only have to do the thing before you! It’s a great way to ensure progress toward a goal, but it also reduces decision fatigue throughout your day.
“I’m stuck, should I switch tasks? Can’t I just do the easier tasks first?”
No! You’ve got to stick with it. If you can’t accomplish your most important task today, you can try again tomorrow, and you will be even more prepared and solution-focused than you were before.
Completing that first, most important daily task isn’t just beneficial to achieving your goals, but it also feels great! Taking things one step at a time may sound like it can manufacture hold-ups, but it ensures that snags don’t become exponentially less manageable due to ineffective time usage or a lack of focus.
Completing tasks one-by-one can boost your confidence in the ability to tackle things (in any aspect of life), and help you gain momentum to complete more!
Ivy Lee Method Example
Let’s say you’re a freelance graphic designer. Here’s how you might employ the Ivy Lee Method.
Tasks for tomorrow:
- Finalize logo design for Client A.
- Create September social media graphics for Client B.
- Send out invoices.
- Research design trends for potential client in a new industry.
- Update portfolio.
- Outline Client C media kit.
And if you end up working on Client A’s logo design all day without finishing it, your next day’s task list will be identical to this one, because you can’t move on until you’ve finished that most important task.
If you complete everything up to sending out your invoices, then your following day’s tasks might look like this, because you’ll begin your list where you left off:
- Research design trends for potential client in a new industry.
- Update portfolio.
- Outline Client C media kit.
- Create Upwork account.
- Draft logo design for Client D.
- Implement feedback from Client A.
Drawbacks to the Ivy Lee Method
Every measure to increase productivity has its benefits and drawbacks. Listed below are four cons to the Ivy Lee Method that inhibit its effectiveness toward particular tasks.
Time Delays Become Dead Ends
Tasks are organized by their importance, not their size or ability to reach completion. If your top priority is time-based (ie. requires waiting periods) or is reliant on another party, The Ivy Lee Method does not account for moving on or switching tasks in special cases, which can lead to a full halt in productivity.
Rigidity
Likewise, the Ivy Lee Method isn’t just limited, it’s about as rigid as any schedule can get. One thing, until it’s done. Since its forced simplicity doesn’t allow for caveats, it might be unsuitable for dynamic work environments which require flexibility.
Six Task Limit
Picking big ticket items as your six daily goals is a sure way to hold yourself up. That said, breaking large-spanning tasks down is equally unhelpful as it can flood the list.
Potential for Demotivation
Although the Ivy Lee Method can create momentum when you’re able to check off several list items in a row, the overemphasis on task completion can also cause demotivation if you get stuck on one inescapable task for far too long.
Alternatives to the Ivy Lee Method
No one method can accommodate every type of task or workstyle, so here are some alternatives to the Ivy Lee Method that may suit you needs better, if any of the aforementioned drawbacks applied:
Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix also sorts tasks based on their priority, but allows for delaying/scheduling tasks for later, delegating lesser tasks to others, and even throwing some unimportant tasks in the trash.
1-3-5 Rule
The 1-3-5 Rule focuses on task sizes, which is helpful if you’ve got a variety and can’t achieve sustainable progress within the Ivy Lee Method’s rigidity. It dictates you choose your one largest task, three mediums, and five smalls. That means your housekeeping tasks are still attended to.
Eat That Frog
Just like the Ivy Lee Method, Eat That Frog! recommends tackling the biggest, scariest task of your day first, but otherwise does away with list-making.
Time Blocking
Time Blocking requires more hands-on daily planning and upkeep, but allows for the prioritization of many different tasks throughout a day so none of them get put off or left behind.
Key Points
The Ivy Lee Method is a simple but highly effective strategy for prioritizing tasks that can be harnessed for achieving larger goals in any field of life.
By writing out 6 tasks to do every day and approaching them singularly, based on their level of importance, the Ivy Lee Method creates momentum to complete tasks by forcing focus, reducing decision fatigue, and eliminating task-switching costs.
Weaknesses of the Ivy Lee Method include dead ends caused by rigidity, the six task limit, its lack of flexibility, and an overemphasis on task completion which can lead to demotivation.
Alternatives include the Eisenhower Matrix, 1-3-5 Rule, Eat That Frog, and Time Blocking.
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