202208110948 The "Hopscotch" method

The Eisenhower matrix (Urgent / not urgent, important / not important) doesn't work that well. Why? You'll just have to read this article to find out. Here's an alternative method called Hopscotch, described in the same article, which I think works significantly better. This is how I've implemented the Hopscotch method in Things 3.

In the Hopscotch method, all tasks are categorized into one of five categories. I have Things 3 tags set up for each of these categories.

1. MT (Must "handle" today)
2. ML (Must "handle" later -- when you encounter this, either make some progress on it today, or schedule it for an upcoming day.)
3. ST (Should "handle" today. It's important to get to MLs before STs, because if you do STs today, you might not get to the MLs on your list. And if this happens day after day, MLs will be procrastinated indefinitely.)
4. SL (Should "handle" later).
5. CT (Could "handle" today. For the same reason mentioned above, SL is a higher priority than the world's CTs.)

After I've gone through and organized all my tasks using this categorization, I use the following criteria to reorder the tasks (if necessary):

1. If it’s at a fixed time (e.g., a scheduled meeting/call) or must be done after something else (e.g., awaiting approval), move it to about where in the order you expect to do it.
2. I put related tasks together to increase efficiency, e.g., ones from the same project or location. If you Must go to the dentist, you may as well buy some milk nearby to save a separate trip, even if that’s just a Should. (But think twice about moving Coulds earlier.)
3. Move a quick ST task earlier if it’s best done ASAP. E.g. by sending a one-line email first thing, so the recipient can work on it today.
4. If your Must Todays might take all day, don’t do anything else until they’re finished.