The rule of three.

The story goes like this. In 1918, Charles M. Schwab, who ran Bethlehem Steel, asked a consultant named Ivy Lee how to get more done. Lee spent a few minutes with each executive and gave them one routine:

1. 1

   At the end of each day, write down six things

   The six most important things to do tomorrow. No more.
2. 2

   Put them in order

   Most important first.
3. 3

   Tomorrow, start with number one

   Work on it until it's finished before moving to the next.
4. 4

   Work down the list

   Whatever is unfinished at the end of the day moves to tomorrow's list.
5. 5

   Repeat every working day

As the story is usually told, Schwab tried it for three months and was so pleased that he sent Lee a cheque for $25,000. Whether or not every detail is true, the method has survived a century because it’s simple, and it works.

Ivy Lee wrote for long, quiet office days. Most days now come with messages, meetings, school runs and errands already baked in. Six important things on top of all that is a list you rarely finish, and an unfinished list feels like failure.

Three is a list you can finish. That matters more than it sounds. Finishing is what makes a habit feel good, and a habit that feels good is one you keep. The modern “rule of three”, popularised by J.D. Meier’s Getting Results the Agile Way, lands on the same number: three outcomes for the day, three for the week.

1. 1

   Empty your head first

   Everything on your mind, on one page, two minutes. A brain dump makes choosing much easier.
2. 2

   Pick three, the evening before or first thing

   What's due soonest, what moves a project forward, what you've been avoiding. Three. One is the main win.
3. 3

   Do the main win first

   Before messages if you can. It's easier to protect the morning than the afternoon.
4. 4

   Wrap up in 30 seconds

   Each thing is done, moves to tomorrow, or gets let go. No streaks, no guilt. Tomorrow starts fresh.

Prefer paper? Print the three-things planner: one page, three boxes, a main win and room for everything else.

The rule breaks when a “thing” is really a project. “Plan the move” is not a thing. “Get three quotes from movers” is. A good thing for today passes two tests:

• You could finish it today. Not start. Finish.
• You’d know when it’s done. “Work on the website” never ends. “Write the about page” does.

If something is too big, the first thing to do today is to write down its first step.

The rule of three isn’t about forgetting the rest. It’s about giving the rest somewhere safe to wait, so it stops shouting:

• Later: other tasks, with the dates that matter.
• Wishes: the somedays: places, books, things to learn. Out of today, not out of your life.
• The fridge: big new ideas, waiting a week before they get a say. (More on that in shiny object syndrome.)

The same number works one level up. Keep three projects going at a time: the move, the business, the half marathon. Each morning’s three things come mostly from those three projects, plus whatever life needs. When a fourth project wants in, one of the three steps out first, with a note on where you left off.

Three things a day, three projects at a time. It sounds small. It adds up to a lot, and it leaves room for a life around it.