One page. The Sunday brain dump, today's Big 3, startable task prompts, and a done list. Print it, fill it in tonight, and actually finish things tomorrow.
Every Sunday, write down everything that's floating in your head — tasks, worries, half-ideas, errands. Then sort: This Week (short master list), Someday (park it here), and Delete (three weeks untouched = a ghost, not a task). The dump is what lets your brain stop holding it all.
Each evening, choose three tasks that would make tomorrow count. Three is a direct concession to the planning fallacy — you'll underestimate how long things take, so keep the list shorter than your optimism wants.
Test: could you start this in thirty seconds with zero thinking? "Email Marcus the spreadsheet" passes. "Work on project" fails — add a verb, name the object, attach a time. If it's too big, break it into its next concrete step.
Start with one small, guaranteed finish. A tick in the first ten minutes is visible progress — and visible progress is the strongest motivator there is (the progress principle).
Each evening, write what you actually finished — including the things that weren't on the list. Nothing rolls over silently: unfinished tasks get consciously rescheduled or returned to the master list.
Fill this in tonight. Print and keep it where you'll see it — a list you can't see is a list that doesn't happen.
Everything in your head goes here. Then circle the ones that belong to this week.
This week's master list (keep it short — 5–7 max):
Write each task so specifically that starting takes zero thinking: verb + object + when.
Quick wins (sure-thing finishes):
Vague task → its next concrete step:
What actually got finished today — including the unplanned wins. This is the antidote to "I did nothing."
The full guide covers the science in detail — the Zeigarnik effect, the progress principle, and the daily ritual that makes a list trustworthy.
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