Get Everything Done

I haven't tried it yet, but they sound good, on paper.

"How disappointed would I be if I don't make (more) progress on this in the next hour?"

If very, then do it! It's probably a fire. (If too many fit this criterion, shrink the time frame.)

"How disappointed would I be if I don't make (more) progress on this in the next year?"

If not very, why is it on my active list? Would another list be more appropriate? (Trash, tickler, someday/maybe, calendar, hibernate, etc.)

Now that I've dealt with the fires and the things that shouldn't be on my active list, play with the question. Next few months? Next few hours?

All the questions are useful. Some help me plan my day. Others prevent me from looking back and regretting all I didn't do. They remind me to look at the bigger picture rather than looking at several small tasks, none of which are urgent on their own.

"Progress" is flexible. For many of my projects, I just want to keep moving. For some, I have firm deadlines and criteria. Either way, though, I'm comparing what I've already done to what I hope to do in the time frame.

Progress for a new project includes defining the project and doing enough research that you know a) intermediate deadlines (cheap plane tickets) and b) if it's going to be more work than it's worth.

If I'll be very disappointed if I don't make (more) progress in the next month, but I don't care if I make progress in the next week, something's wrong. This happens to me a lot! Sometimes there's a good reason. I don't care about that project this week because I need to focus on something else. In most cases, though, in order to make progress in the long term, I need to make progress in the short term.

"How long with no (more) progress before I'd be disappointed?"

Some risk of agonizing over "four or six weeks? maybe five and a half". Aim for speed. Rounding down is probably safer, since it makes the crunches, and the need for tough decisions, visible sooner.

I expect these questions will help me with little and often and with no-deadline projects. Looking forward, the way I usually do, I won't be disappointed if I don't do it today, or even tomorrow. I know, however, that if I look backwards over the week and see no progress, I'll be disappointed. That means I need to take action before then, possibly even in the next hour.

Multiple small tasks can derail this system. If I look at each one, I won't be disappointed if it doesn't get done. By the end of the week, though, I'll be disappointed if you haven't done any. Possible solution: Add a line that combines those tasks. I'll still keep the individual lines, and the additional line saying "pick one!" will ensure I do a few each day.