Today, on mrsprofresh.com, I am sharing the Ivy Lee Method.
What is the Ivy Lee Method?
I first heard about the Ivy Lee Method on The Skinny Confidential podcast. The podcast host, Lauryn Evarts, shared how much this method changed her life so I was intrigued to learn more since what I was doing wasn’t doing much for me. The Ivy Lee Method explained:
- Write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
- Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
- The next day, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
- Approach the rest of your list in the same way. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
- Repeat this process every working day.
To read the entire back story, I highly encourage you to check out this blog post. (It’s actually really interesting!)
Sounds doable, right? I think it’s important to highlight that in order for the Ivy Lee Method to work, you must:
- Differentiate what’s critical and what’s not
- Learn to prioritize
- Stop multi-tasking
- Organize your to-do list the night before by writing down each task
- Put away (or turn off) the distractions (aka your phone)
- Be consistent
Final Thoughts
If you are searching for additional tips on time management, check out the blog post my little sister and I worked on together. It’s titled, Tips on How to Stay Focused While Working From Home, which is a helpful resource from two different perspectives (and personalities, let’s be real).
If you decide to try the Ivy Lee Method, please feel free to reach out with your insight, comments, or ideas. You can send a DM on Instagram or email me at sonia@mrsprofresh.com <3 I love to hear from you!
Ps. I know there’s a lot happening in the world. So many distractions to swerve. But we can only put one foot in front of the other and give it our best. We owe it to ourselves, to each other, to our families, friends, colleagues, etc. Let’s get through this…together.
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