Methods

The three prioritisation methods Decide One ships, each credited to where it came from: Top 3, Ivy Lee (1918), and the urgent/important matrix.

• The Ivy Lee method: six tasks, strict order — Write six things tonight, order them, and work strictly top to bottom tomorrow. A 1918 method, its one real discipline, and the failure it can cause.
• The Top 3 method: three things, no fourth — Pick three things for today and no fourth. The reasoning is arithmetic rather than willpower: limiting work in progress shortens completion time.
• How to use the urgent/important matrix — Sort work on two axes before deciding what to do. The distinction is from a 1954 speech; the grid came later. How to use it without it becoming busywork.