By Dee Jones
A while back I wrote about SMEMA, a time management
technique created by Mark Forster.
The idea of SMEMA was pretty simple.
1. You write down three things you want to do in the
order you want to do them in.
2. You work on the first thing on your list for as long
as you feel like it, and then cross it off.
3. You work on the second thing on your list for as long
as you feel like it, and then cross it off.
4. You add two new items to the list. These can be the
things you were working on before, or two entirely different things. You can
even add fun things to the list, like spending time on YouTube, or watching
your favorite TV show.
5. Repeat steps two through four indefinitely. (Or for as
long as you feel like working on the list that day.)
SMEMA (which stands for ““The Simplest and Most Effective
Method of All”) is definitely simple. It’s also effective, as I know from
personal experience. Using SMEMA will
definitely help you get some work done on a lot of the project and tasks on
your to-do list. But SMEMA won’t necessarily help you get things *finished.*
Luckily, Forster created a similar technique where the
focus is on completing your projects and tasks. It’s called the Three Task
Method.
The Three Task Method (or 3T, for short) is actually
pretty similar to SMEMA. In fact, here’s how 3T works in a nutshell.
1. You write down three things you want to do in the
order you want to do them in.
2. You work on the first thing on your list for as long
as you feel like it, and then cross it off. And then you reenter this first
task to the bottom of the list.
3. You work on the second thing on your list for as long
as you feel like it, and then cross it off. And then you reenter this second
task to the bottom of the list.
4. You work on the third thing on your list for as long
as you feel like it, and then cross it off. And then you reenter this third
task to the bottom of the list.
5. When you finish a task, cross it off the list without
reentering it.
6. When you’ve completed two of the tasks on your list,
you add two new tasks to the bottom of the list.
7. Repeat steps two through six indefinitely. (Or for as
long as you feel like working on the list that day.)
I admit that 3T isn’t quite as fun as SMEMA. But if you
really want to focus on finishing some of the tasks on your to-do list, the
Three Task Method might be just what you need.
