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What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. - Tim Ferriss
Focus List
Your dedicated space to work on what matters right now
What Is the Focus List?
- Your personal workspace for daily focused work
- Curate activities from your projects that need immediate attention
- Separate urgent work from everything else in your life
- Integrate sticky activities (recurring daily tasks) alongside project work
- See progress on each activity as you work
- One place to see everything you're actively working on today
Why Focus List Matters
- Task overload paralyzes you - Focus List eliminates noise by showing only what matters now
- Context switching kills productivity - Curate your work for deep focus
- Progress visibility motivates - See criteria progress in real-time
- Reduces decision fatigue - You decide what's "in focus" once, not constantly
- Perfect for delegation accountability - Assignees know exactly what to prioritize
- Works with your rhythms - Sticky activities remind you of daily routines
Building Your Focus List
- Click "Add Activity" button at the top
- Search for a task (project) by name
- Select the task to see all its activities
- Choose which activities from that task matter "right now"
- Add them to your Focus List individually or add all at once
- Activities appear in your Focus List immediately
- Drag to reorder by priority - your order is automatically saved
Activities vs Sticky Activities
Regular Activities
- Part of a specific task/project
- One-time execution or project-specific
- Added manually by you or assigned by task owner
- Example: "Write proposal for Client X" or "Review Q2 budget"
Sticky Activities
- Recurring on a schedule (daily, weekly, etc.)
- Not tied to a specific project
- Appear in separate "Start of Day", "Anytime", "End of Day" sections
- Example: "Morning email review" or "End-of-day status update"
Working With Activities
- Click activity title to open deep-dive view
- Check the checkbox to mark activity complete (all criteria must be met)
- View progress: "X of Y criteria met" shows immediately
- Open an activity to define criteria if none exist (warning badge shows)
- Remove from Focus List with the ✕ button (doesn't delete the activity)
- Reorder by dragging - changes save automatically
- Activities stay in Focus List until removed (they don't auto-remove when complete)
Deep Dive: The Activity Detail View
- Click an activity to open full-featured workspace
- View all criteria with completion status
- Click criteria checkboxes to mark individual items complete
- Auto-completes activity when all criteria are met
- Tabs available for: Work Sessions, Notes, Criteria, Pictures, Financial, Documents
Criteria Management in Focus List
- View all criteria for an activity in the detail view
- Add new criteria on-the-fly (doesn't require editing)
- Check individual criteria as you complete them
- Activity auto-completes when all criteria are checked
- Edit criterion text without leaving Focus List
- Delete criteria if they're no longer needed
- Progress shows real-time: "2 of 5 criteria met" updates as you work
Work Sessions & Time Tracking
- Click "Work Sessions" tab in activity detail
- Start a timer for focused work intervals
- Pause/resume the timer as needed
- Stop timer to save the session
- View history of all sessions for this activity
- Sessions automatically track how much time you've invested
- Use for Pomodoro-style focus intervals or continuous tracking
Notes & Documentation
- Add notes directly within an activity (no need to switch windows)
- Notes save with timestamps and your name
- Great for capturing decisions, blockers, or progress updates
- Build a decision log as you work
- All notes accessible from the activity, keeping context together
Real-World Example: Daily Focus
Your Morning Routine
- Open Focus List - sticky activities appear based on schedule
- Morning Email Review (sticky, daily) - expand and work on criteria
- Add 3-5 project activities that matter today via "Add Activity"
- Reorder them by when you'll tackle them
- Your list now has all sticky routines + your project work
Deep Work Session
- Click one activity to open detail view
- See all criteria for that activity
- Start a work session timer
- Check criteria as you complete them
- Add notes about progress or blockers
- Activity auto-completes when all criteria done
- Return to Focus List, see updated progress
End of Day
- End-of-Day Review sticky activity appears
- Look at Focus List to see what you accomplished
- Open activities to verify completion
- Remove completed items from Focus List for tomorrow's clean start
- Add activities for tomorrow if you know what's coming
Focus List Strategies
- Limit to 5-7 activities - more becomes just another todo list
- Sticky activities are non-negotiable - they keep routines consistent
- Refresh daily - remove completed items and add what's urgent
- Order by energy level - high-focus work first, admin tasks later
- Use criteria as guardrails - if no criteria, you're not clear what "done" means
- Deep dive when stuck - notes and context often unstick blockers
- Don't let Focus List grow - if it's too full, nothing is actually "in focus"
Common Focus List Patterns
The Sprint Day (High Energy)
- Morning sticky activities - get routine work done
- 3 deep-work project activities - pick high-focus work
- Afternoon admin activity - wrap up loose ends
- End-of-day review - capture wins and plan tomorrow
The Reactive Day (High Interruptions)
- Sticky activities only - protect your routines
- 1-2 project activities max - expect these to be interrupted
- Use notes heavily - capture context when pulled away
- Work sessions track interrupted time - understand real productivity
The Deep Dive Day (Single Task)
- One project activity - all day on this
- Multiple work sessions throughout the day
- Sticky activities for breaks and routines
- Lots of notes on progress and decisions
When to Remove Activities
- After completion - remove to see progress and keep list fresh
- If no longer relevant - change in priorities happens, remove outdated work
- If blocked indefinitely - don't let them sit forever, reassess or archive
- If criteria keep changing - sign you don't understand what "done" means
- Removing doesn't delete - the activity stays in its task, just off your Focus List
Focus List vs Dashboard vs Templates
Focus List (Where You Work)
- Today's active work
- Your personal curated activities
- Deep context and progress tracking
- "What am I working on right now?"
Dashboard (Bird's Eye View)
- All your work across all tasks
- Progress on multiple projects
- Completion metrics and trends
- "How much have I accomplished this week?"
Templates (How Work Gets Done)
- Reusable processes and sequences
- Criteria and dependencies for quality
- Frameworks for recurring work
- "What's the proven way to do this?"
Tips for Maximum Focus
- Start small - 3 activities your first day, learn your rhythm
- Define criteria before adding to Focus List - "done" must be clear
- Use sticky activities to protect important routines
- Reorder multiple times a day - priorities shift
- Take notes liberally - future you will thank you
- Check work sessions - understand where your time actually goes
- Remove completed items daily - creates psychological win
- If list feels overwhelming, you have too many activities