Get Everything Done

I work in a corporate environment where tasks are mostly not self-generated but are often linked to organisational priorities and come down the chain of command. Many of these are not repetitive but still have deadlines. I need to keep track of these - do piece of work no. 1 by [date 1], piece of work no. 2 by [date 2] etc. At any one time I may have 50 such items.

I'm not sure how to best use the autofocus approach but still keep an eye on the deadlines (which may be scattered across several pages of the masterlist). I certainly don't want to have to maintain multiple lists. Applying the commonsense rule would suggest that you write the deadlines along with the task description. However, you would need to then keep an eye on the total list not just a page by page approach.

Some other musings:
Is there a risk that writing out one long list of every outstanding task may have a self-defeating outcome with people feeling overwhelmed by the work to be done?

The idea of working on what "stands out" is interesting and reminds me of David Allen's GTD model for choosing what actions to do now. One of his criteria was energy available, along with context, time available etc. At the time he was criticised for ignoring the then orthodoxy of focusing on what is urgent and important.

I think Mark's observations about balancing the rational and impulsive are very insightful.

Best wishes

Jack