Why MYN FRESH Prioritization Works So Well

April 17, 2014

As many of you know, one of the things that distinguishes the MYN system from 1MTD (and from nearly all other task list systems) is its use of start dates for FRESH Prioritization. FRESH Prioritization is where the task list is configured to automatically sort older Opportunity Now tasks lower in your list. The instruction for FRESH Prioritization is to put today’s start date on nearly all new tasks so that newer tasks start at the top of your list, similar to an e-mail inbox. The result is that older tasks automatically scroll lower in your list, unless you manually promote them higher.

Advantages

One reason this works so well is that newer tasks tend to have more energy and more relevance for today. Older tasks tend to lose their importance as our priorities move on over time. So this helps ensure that you’re looking at the right things first.

The other reason this works so well is that we tend to bite off way more than we can chew, and our list grows huge. By allowing low-energy tasks to scroll down out of sight, we can focus better on our more pertinent activities. Eventually you’ll move those old, less energetic tasks down to the over the horizon section, or even delete them.

Neglected List?

Perhaps the biggest advantage of FRESH Prioritization is this: even if you delay removing old dead tasks, they are not bogging down the top of your Opportunity Now list. This makes the list much more usable over the long-term. It also means that if you neglect maintaining the list for a while, the top of the list still stays meaningful.

So if you have not advanced from 1MTD to MYN yet, consider doing that. You get a lot of advantages in MYN over controlling long lists, and this is one of those advantages.

Michael Linenberger

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5 Responses to Why MYN FRESH Prioritization Works So Well

  1. macorganizer says:

    Dear Michael
    Have you thought about using evernote as a task management system for macusers

  2. Michael Linenberger says:

    I used Evernote for years, for notetaking. Switched (back) to Onenote as soon as they solved their multiplatform issues. When I used Evernote, I tested the tasks features, and felt it did not have the task features needed to support MYN (providing a list view that sorts first on Priority, second on Start Date descending, hides tasks with future start dates, hides completed tasks).
    Michael

  3. Oliver Fernandez Avellaneda says:

    Dear Michael,

    Your MYN system is awesome, and I am I really enjoy the benefits of using it. However I find that the only big thing missing from it is the chance to see future tasks before they appear. Is good that they don’t disturb us before the time and don’t add extra pressure by being there, but sometimes they appear too suddenly, and a warning a few days in advance would be nice. Using your own terminology, we don’t see the tasks as they approach our horizon, they just teleport in front of us.

    Keep up the good work. Kind Regards.

    Oliver

  4. Michael Linenberger says:

    Oliver, thanks, and check out this article I wrote a few months ago, about this very topic, may be a solution for you (if you are using Windows Outlook for tasks):
    http://www.oneminutetodolist.com/blog/showing-tomorrows-tasks-in-the-myn-task-list-optional-configuration-for-myn-outlook/
    Michael

    • Cesar says:

      When I create a task I do a brief mental check of the estimate amount of time the task may take and I assign then a start date taking that estimate in consideration. So when it pops up I have an appropriate time to define the next actions with enough time to complete it. It has worked fine for me.

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