Return On Minute

The year is 1918. Charles M. Schwab, the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation was looking to improve his company’s efficiency. As the story goes, Schwab hired Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant, to help with his situation. Lee did something very unorthodox, he offered his method to Schwab for free. He said that after three months, Schwab could pay him whatever he felt the advice was worth.

Three months later he wrote Lee a check for $25,000 — the equivalent of about $502,256.62 today.

The Ivy Lee method – for free

STEP 1: Write down the six most important things you want to accomplish the next day. List these items in order of importance.

STEP 2: Do each item until it is completed. DO NOT start the next item until the first one is done.

STEP 3: Move any unfinished item to the next days list.

Why this works

• It forces you to make tough decisions
• It removes the friction of starting (aka blank page syndrome)
• It causes you to focus your energy on one thing at a time.

James Clear, the author of “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones,” elaborated on why the strategy has stood the test of time.

For one, he wrote, it “forces you to make tough decisions.” Clear compared the Ivy Lee method to Warren Buffet’s “25-5 Rule,” in which you isolate your five most important goals and ignore everything else until they are accomplished.

“I do think there is something magical about imposing limits upon yourself,” Clear wrote in a blog post. “Basically, if you commit to nothing, you’ll be distracted by everything.”

Bottom Line

Simple isn’t always easy. However, if you can apply this 115-year-old strategy to your daily routine, you can get control of your schedule and maximize your return on minute and gain greater value from each day.