The job on your list can stay the same for days even as the work changes. Look at what you’ve already made before deciding what to carry over.
What happened in the time you set aside?
In this fictional example, Jo set aside 45 minutes after dinner for a family album. She spent about 20 minutes on it, chose three photos and wrote one caption. Her calendar tells her what she meant to do. The page in front of her tells her what’s finished: two photos still need captions.
Which part still needs doing?
Jo wants to send the page to her aunt on Sunday. She’ll keep the captions. Her brother Ben was on the trip. She’ll ask him for the beach name instead of searching her old email. The decorative cover was her own idea. She can drop it without holding up the page.
Leave the next move on the page
Jo slips this note inside the album: “Page 6, lower left: ask Ben which beach this was. Top right: copy the date from the back of the ferry photo. The picnic caption is done.”
Put the note where you’ll resume: inside the album, beside the tool, or at the top of the file.
A note to leave with the work
Fill in only the lines you’ll want when you come back.
Finished and worth keeping: Still needed: Can change or drop: Start here next time (page, file or person):
From “What to do with today’s unfinished list” · hoursgiven.com/guides/unfinished-day