Get Everything Done

I've been using this technique for years now, and I don't know if I thought it up or if I got it from someone (probably Mark!), but others have tried it and remarked how well it worked for them too.

The idea is that instead of just crossing off items with a horizontal line, or using a checkmark, you draw a vertical line to the left of the item where you would normally put a checkmark. After you have a number of things checked off, the vertical lines connect, and the gaps make it really easy to see which items are not done.

It looks like this (the dashed lines indicate a strike through):

| ---Task 1---
| ---Task 2---
Task 3
| ---Task 4---
| ---Task 5---
Task 6
| ---Task 7---

Hope you find this helpful!

Rats. The leading spaces were removed. Here's another attempt at a visual. Ignore the dots.

. | ---Task 1---
. | ---Task 2---
. Task 3
. | ---Task 4---
. | ---Task 5---
. Task 6
. | ---Task 7---

I found this old thread about it (2009): http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/657001

Sarah W brought it up as a suggestion to draw the vertical line through tick marks, and Jane P mentioned that she crossed items out horizontally and then connects the horizontal lines with vertical lines.

Mark Forster wrote (Feb 8, 2009): "Thanks for the tip. The vertical line makes the number of tasks remaining much clearer - and makes a very pretty pattern if one crosses out like I and Jane do!"

(Sarah W also mentioned at the end that she also crosses them out horizontally.)

I don't think that's the thread I got it from though. I think it must have been from Mark demonstrating it at some point. Here's a blog article for AF2 which shows the technique being used: http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2009/7/23/autofocus-2-sample-page.html

"Contiguous deleted items are joined with a vertical line. This makes it very quick to identify where unactioned tasks are located on the page"

I do it compulsively now; it's just so useful for the reasons already stated.

Ha! I now recall seeing that image of Mark's notebook page, but not the 2009 thread. Thanks for digging it up! Figures I got the idea because of Mark. So many "productivity experts" out there, but in my opinion no one else develops or assembles a more consistently useful body of techniques that actually work. :)