Dalo 4+

This is a long-list task manager. It was created to help you take full advantage of one of the most effective productivity methods invented by Mark Forster.

The beauty of Mr. Forster’s method lies in the combination of how simple it is to use and how well it takes care of certain aspects of our psychology.


THE ISSUE

Sometimes we get mental resistance towards working on tasks that seem time-consuming, tedious or difficult. This resistance makes us try to avoid doing this work, usually by means of procrastination, until the very last moment. Or we don't even make an attempt, leaving stale tasks in our to-do lists. We may well have sorted our tasks by priority or due dates, grouped them into projects, but if we are not psychologically ready to do them, it may be all for nought.

So, how to avoid this resistance and how to be psychologically ready for the time-consuming, tedious or difficult tasks?


THE SOLUTION

Trust yourself that you subconsciously already know what needs to be worked on. Then rely on your subconsciousness and select the tasks from your list which stick out for you. Find the one that you actually want to do now and start there. Only do as much work as you want on each selected task. You don’t have to finish it in one go.

These simple principles can help eliminate procrastination as there is no pressure to finish or to work for too long. Even the smallest step will do.


THE METHOD

• Write all your tasks into one long list
• Scan the list and select the tasks that stick out
(Helper question: What do I want to do more than the previous task I selected?)
• When you find the task that you want to do now, start working on the selected tasks from the end (last selected = first to do)
• Only do as much work as you want on each task
If the task is not finished, complete a step, another step is added to the end of the list
Make a new selection, repeat 
(Any new tasks are added to the end of the list)


FEATURES

• Automatically adds new steps, where needed
• Pages mimicking the original paper-based method
• Minimal, keyboard-shortcut driven interface, focusing on speed and efficiency
• Schedule tasks for the future (perhaps unorthodox for the method but useful in practice)
• Sync via iCloud with other Macs, iPhones or iPads (iOS devices require a separate app purchase)
• Fast navigation and search
• Stats and graphs
• Automatic archiving of completed pages


Note: Mark Forster http://markforster.squarespace.com