Daily planning methods compared: 11 ways to plan your day
Ivy Lee, eat the frog, time blocking, Kanban and more: a short take on eleven daily planning methods, who each one suits, and how well Noodle supports it.
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Most people do best with a short, ranked list for each day, plus one extra idea from another method on top. Below are eleven well-known methods in a few lines each, who they suit, and how well Noodle's Plan handles them today. Each links to a longer post.
The short versions
The Ivy Lee method
Each evening, write the six most important tasks for tomorrow and put them in order. Work through them one at a time, top first. Whatever's left moves to the next day. It's a century old and still one of the simplest methods that works.
Suits: almost anyone who wants a short list and a clear place to start. More: the Ivy Lee method.
Eat the frog
Do your hardest, most dreaded task first, before anything else. The rest of the day feels easier because the worst is behind you. The name goes back to an old line about swallowing a toad first thing (often misquoted as Mark Twain on frogs), made popular by Brian Tracy's 2001 book Eat That Frog!
Suits: procrastinators, and people whose big tasks keep sliding to "this afternoon". More: eat the frog.
The daily highlight
Pick one thing that would make today feel worthwhile, and protect time for it. From Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky's book Make Time (2018). It's less about getting more done and more about making sure one good thing gets done.
Suits: people with busy, reactive days who still want something to show for them. More: the daily highlight.
The 1-3-5 rule
Plan one big task, three medium ones and five small ones: nine in all. It's a way to size a day realistically so small jobs don't crowd out the big one.
Suits: people with a mix of big projects and lots of little chores. More: the 1-3-5 rule.
The done list
Instead of only listing what you will do, write down what you did. At the end of the day you see real progress, including all the unplanned things that never made the to-do list.
Suits: anyone who ends the day feeling they got nothing done. More: the done list.
Bullet journal migration
From Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal method. At the end of a day or month, every unfinished task gets a decision: move it forward, schedule it, or cross it out. Rewriting by hand makes you ask if it's still worth doing.
Suits: people whose lists fill up with tasks they'll never do. More: bullet journal migration.
The Eisenhower matrix
Sort tasks into four boxes by two questions: is it urgent, and is it important? Do the urgent and important ones, schedule the important but not urgent, hand off what's urgent but not important, and drop the rest.
Suits: people pulled in many directions who need to say no more often. More: the Eisenhower matrix.
Personal Kanban
Put your work on a board with columns (Ready, Doing, Done) and limit how many things are in Doing at once. From Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry, borrowing an idea from Toyota's factories.
Suits: visual thinkers juggling several projects. More: Personal Kanban.
Time blocking
Split your day into blocks of time and give each one a job. Cal Newport's version adds a rule that matters: when the day breaks, redraw the plan for the hours that are left.
Suits: people with control over their calendar and big tasks that need long, quiet stretches. More: time blocking.
The two-list strategy
Write 25 goals, circle five, and treat the other twenty as things to avoid. It's often credited to Warren Buffett, but the story rests on one secondhand account. The idea is useful anyway.
Suits: people with too many good ideas and not enough focus. More: the two-list strategy.
The rapid planning method (RPM)
Tony Robbins' method plans around outcomes. For each one, decide the result, write why it matters, then list the actions and pick the few that count most.
Suits: goal-driven people who plan weekly and want their tasks tied to a reason. More: the rapid planning method.
Side by side
"How well Noodle supports it" is about the app as it is today. "Built in" means Plan does it for you, "Works with a small habit" means it fits if you follow one simple rule, "Partly" means pieces are missing, and "Use another tool" means another app will serve you better.
| Method | Best for | Effort | How well Noodle supports it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivy Lee method | A short, ranked list every day | Low | Built in |
| Eat the frog | Beating procrastination | Low | Works with a small habit |
| Daily highlight | One thing that matters on busy days | Low | Works with a small habit |
| 1-3-5 rule | Sizing a day with mixed tasks | Low | Partly |
| Done list | Seeing progress | Low | Works with a small habit |
| Bullet journal migration | Pruning tasks that keep sliding | Medium | Partly |
| Eisenhower matrix | Sorting urgent from important | Medium | Partly |
| Personal Kanban | Several projects, seen at once | Medium | Use another tool |
| Time blocking | Protecting long stretches of focus | High | Use another tool |
| Two-list strategy | Choosing goals | Low, now and then | Works with a small habit |
| Rapid planning method | Tying tasks to outcomes | High | Partly |
How each one works in Noodle
Ivy Lee is what Plan was built around: six is the soft limit (a seventh task asks "Put it on another day?" but never blocks), you drag tasks into order by the six-dot handle, and unfinished tasks move to the next day by themselves.
Eat the frog and the daily highlight need one habit: drag that task to the top. Noodle has no frog or highlight flag, so the first slot is the flag. Home's Today card shows your first three open tasks, so the top task is the first thing you see.
1-3-5 asks for nine tasks, which goes over Plan's six. You can still add them (the day reads "9 of 6" and suggests moving one), but there are no task sizes. Order them big, then medium, then small.
The done list fits because past days in Plan are read-only and keep finished tasks crossed out. For wins you didn't plan, add them and tick them right away, so they're in the record too.
Bullet journal migration is half there. Open tasks move on each night by themselves, with "Carried N days", which skips the rewriting that makes migration work. After three carried days, Noodle offers Reschedule or drop (Do today, Pick a date, Drop it), so the migration question still gets asked. For the full habit, review open tasks each evening yourself.
The Eisenhower matrix has no quadrants or labels in Plan. The workaround: put "do now" tasks on today, use Move to another day for "schedule", and Drop for "delete". Delegating isn't something Noodle can do, since there's no sharing.
Personal Kanban needs a board, and Noodle doesn't have one. Plan's six-task soft limit is a little like a work-in-progress limit, and To organize works like an inbox, but if you want columns, use a board app.
Time blocking needs times, and Plan has none. Block the hours in your calendar app, use Plan's order as the order of your blocks, and add reminders with a date and time for fixed appointments.
The two-list strategy works as a note: tap the + tab, write both lists, file it in a category like Goals, and find it later in Search by describing it. Then use ⋯ → Plan it on the note to put a step for one of your five on a day.
RPM works as one saved item per outcome, with the result, purpose and actions as text (or a voice note), plus any links and photos as parts of the same item. Plan it turns actions into linked tasks, and Reminders cover the deadlines. There are no templates, so you type the headings yourself.
Combining methods
Most of these mix well because they answer different questions. Ivy Lee sets the length of the list, and the frog decides what goes first. Add a highlight and you can run all three on one list.
- Done: Call the insurance company about the claimThe frog: dreaded, so done first
- Write the first draft of the talkToday's highlight
- Reply to the school about the trip form
- Watch the tile-cutting video before the storeLinked to How to cut tiles without cracking them
- Order the birthday presentCarried 1 day
- Return the library books
Other pairs that work well:
- Two lists + Ivy Lee. The two lists pick your five goals once a season. Ivy Lee makes sure each day has at least one step for one of them.
- RPM weekly + Ivy Lee daily. Plan outcomes on Sunday, then each evening pull the next actions into tomorrow's six.
- Time blocking + the frog. Block your calendar, and give the frog the first block of the morning.
- Eisenhower + migration. Sort new tasks with the four boxes, and let Reschedule or drop catch the ones that keep sliding.
- Any method + a done list. Every Friday, scroll back through the week's past days in Plan. Seeing what you finished takes five minutes and helps more than it sounds.
How to choose
- New to planning? Start with Ivy Lee. It takes five minutes a day.
- Your big task never gets done? Try eat the frog for a week.
- Your days belong to other people? The daily highlight asks for only one thing.
- Your list is a graveyard of old tasks? Read about migration.
- You control your calendar and need deep focus? Time blocking, in a calendar app.
- Too many ambitions? The two-list strategy, then RPM for the five that survive.
Give any method two weeks before judging it. The first few days always feel awkward, and most of the benefit shows up once it's a habit.
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