Get Everything Done

Yes, FV works on one list. It can be as long or as short as you like. Most people seem to have about 70 to 90 tasks on their list, but ...

Just add it to the end of the list like any other task. If the task is so urgent that it can’t wait until the current chain is completed, then put ...

The Final Version is designed to handle tasks which you do in discretionary time, i.e. tasks which you have a choice of when to do them. It is not designed to ...

Generally speaking anything that needs to happen at a specific time shouldn’t be on the list. However if it doesn’t particularly matter what time you have a meal or a break, ...

The way to deal with an interruption is to deal with it and then return to where you were on the list. Any action resulting from the interruption which doesn’t need ...

Rewriting unfinished and recurring tasks is unavoidable when using paper and pen. Rewriting does have the positive advantage of keeping the tasks in the forefront of your mind. If ...

If you have a valid reason for not doing the first task on the list, such as wrong time, bad weather, preconditions not met, etc., then delete it and re-enter it ...

You are advised to read the instructions carefully, then try to put them into effect. Once you have worked the system for a day or so, re-read the instructions. They will ...

Yes, the question has been very carefully formulated to allow for all valid reasons for putting tasks in a particular order. A common mistake with the question is to ...

There’s no standard length. Chains may vary considerably in length, often according to the time of day. If the first task on the list is a very easy task, ...

No. However it is highly recommended that you keep your list well weeded. Tasks which are outdated, irrelevant or causing lack of focus should be deleted. It’s a good ...

The standard advice is to have a separate list for each location. So you would have a Home and an Office list, rather than a Personal and a Work list. Some ...

The most common mistake is to misread the question as “What do I want to do more than x?”. The question is actually “What do I want to do ...

The Final Version favours working on longer tasks in a series of short sessions. This is a good way of overcoming procrastination, but it also produces better results because the brain ...

If you need to do some tasks in a specific order and they are not in that order on the list, then it is easy to re-arrange them. Just cross out ...

To take a very simple example of multi-tasking, let’s look at how you might deal with the following task: Make pot of tea This task involves several ...

You should aim to go through the list three or more times on a normal day. Less than that will tend to be too slow-moving. Don’t put too many tasks into ...

There are only three reasons why people fall behind with their work: 1. They are not working efficiently. 2. They have too much work. 3. ...

There’s a danger when people start a new time management system that they have a tremendous amount of success at it over the first few days. This then causes them to ...

It’s not so much how many tasks that is the question, as how much time they represent. Some people like to write in a project as a lot of very small ...

The basic principle is that whenever the preselect list gets irrelevant you can re-prioritise it. You can do this either by reprioritising the entire list from the beginning or alternatively by ...

FV makes no distinction between projects and tasks. As far as it is concerned, a project is nothing more than a collection of tasks, and virtually any task can become a ...

It is usually best with a project of this type, which requires quite long sessions most days, to schedule a regular time for it. Or if you prefer you can handle ...

You will find plenty of guidance in my two books Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play and Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management  ...

Different types of work require different systems, so it’s impossible to give a general answer to this. However it is very important to pay attention to your systems because these can ...

Work on it for five minutes or so. That will help to get you moving once you do have time. If it’s really impossible to do any work on ...