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When you want to be more productive, you should look to someone who has productivity down pat. Financial blogs are forever interviewing contemporary CEOs about their work habits, but those aren’t that inspirational; they’re always claiming that meditation and not answering emails are the keys to success, which isn’t really helpful to the average person who doesn’t have the time or resources to meditate or the luxury of an assistant to open the unanswered emails. For real inspo, you might want to try looking back in time: Ivy Lee, the founder of modern public relations, came up with a productivity method so good that it’s lived on for 100 years—and it still bears his name.

Here’s how to try it. My dream in life is to do something so unique and awesome that my name gets attached to it for all eternity but my more short-term goals involve just getting my basic tasks done every day. Good old Ivy Lee somehow managed to do both.



He came up with his productivity method in an effort to help big businesses in the 1920s get more done. It’s all about creating manageable, prioritized to-do lists and sticking with them until they’re complete. The method itself is simple.

At the end of every work day, write down six tasks you have to complete tomorrow. (If it’s Friday, write down what you need to do Monday. Don’t forget that , too.

) Do not write down more than six. The goal here is for the list to be manageable, not never-ending, so use your immediate judgement to det.

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