Ivy Lee Method Examples: Six-Task Lists for Real Workdays

The Ivy Lee method is easy to describe and slightly harder to picture. These four examples show what a good six-task list looks like in different jobs, and what goes wrong on a bad one. Each list was written the evening before, ranked by importance, and worked top to bottom.

Example 1: A software developer

1. Fix the checkout bug that is blocking the release
2. Review Priya’s pull request (she is waiting on it)
3. Write the migration for the new billing table
4. Reply to the security question from support
5. Update the README setup steps
6. Book the dentist

Why it works: The first item is the one with a deadline and other people depending on it. The second is small but blocks a teammate, so it sits high. The README and the dentist are real tasks, but nothing breaks if they slide to tomorrow.

What would make it worse: “Work on the billing feature” in slot three. It has no finish line, so it will quietly absorb the afternoon.

Example 2: A university student

1. Finish the problem set due at 9 a.m. tomorrow
2. Read chapters 4 and 5 for Thursday’s seminar
3. Outline the history essay (outline only, not the draft)
4. Email the professor about the extension request
5. Do the laundry
6. Reply to the study group thread

Why it works: Deadlines set the order, and the essay is cut down to the part that fits today. Notice that the email to the professor is a two-minute task placed fourth. It is small, but a late reply can cost more than the task is worth, so it should not sit at the bottom.

Example 3: A team manager

1. Prepare feedback for Sam’s performance review (meeting at 2 p.m.)
2. Decide on the Q4 hiring priority and tell the recruiter
3. Approve the two pending expense reports
4. Draft the update for the leadership meeting
5. Check in with Dana about the vendor delay
6. Clear the unread email from last week

Why it works: A manager’s day is full of interruptions, so the list protects the two decisions only they can make (items one and two). The list will not survive untouched, and that is fine. Getting items one and two done on a day when everything else slipped is a good day.

A caution for this job: If most of your day is reacting to others, expect to finish three items, not six. The method still earns its keep by deciding what you protect.

Example 4: A freelance designer

1. Send the revised logo options to the Hartley client (promised by noon)
2. Invoice last month’s two finished projects
3. Sketch three directions for the new packaging project
4. Reply to the two new inquiry emails
5. Update the portfolio with the spring work
6. Renew the font license

Why it works: Item one is a promise to a paying client. Item two is unglamorous but it is money already earned. The portfolio update matters, but it is never urgent, which is why it needs a slot on the list to ever happen.

Patterns across all four

• The top item has a consequence. A deadline, a person waiting, or a decision only you can make.
• Each task can be finished. “Outline the essay” is finishable. “Work on the essay” is not.
• Small tasks are ranked by consequence, not size. The two-minute email to the professor outranks the laundry.
• The bottom of the list is allowed to slip. If it never does, the list is probably too easy.

What to do with the leftovers

At the end of the day, whatever is unfinished goes into tomorrow’s list and gets re-ranked with everything else. If the same item rolls over three days in a row, it is telling you something: it may be too big (split it), unimportant (drop it), or blocked (find out why).

You can write these lists on paper, or use a simple template. If you would rather have the cap and Planned Tasks handled for you, Ivy Lee Tasks is built around exactly this list.