Lists are the heart and soul of the Dozen system.
The lists are divided into two groups
Active lists – where you collect, filter, and execute cards to run your life.
Storage lists – where you store cards that you’ll deal with again later.
A card is created, or moves to an active list, when some issue about it needs your attention. Once that issues is resolved, the card moves to a storage list again until something else about it needs to be done.
The placement of a card in a list indicates its status; for example, DOING TODAY or DONE.
Active lists
INBOX
This is where you capture all of the ideas, big and small, that occur to you during the day. It will be a mish-mash of goals, tasks, events, reminders, etc. Every time you think of something you need/want to do or remember, make a card for it in the INBOX. Don’t worry about formatting cards the right way at this point – just quickly make a card every time you think of something. Just jot down enough to remember – captured ideas will get processed later.
SCHEDULED EVENTS
I make a card for each scheduled event in my life. That may not work for everyone, but most of mine repeat, so that’s pretty easy.
CURRENT GOALS
These are the high level objectives you have for where you are in your life right now.
ACTIVE PROJECTS
ACTIVE PROJECTS operationalize your CURRENT GOALS. These are the projects that you’re working on right now. There won’t be a task for every one of them every week, but they are actively happening, or need to happen soon.
DOING THIS WEEK
These are the things you have decided to do something about this week.
DOING TODAY
This is the list I consult to find out what I’m supposed to be doing! These are the tasks you will execute today, one at a time. The list is rebuilt every day by dragging cards from SCHEDULED and DOING THIS WEEK.
WAITING
Sometimes the status of a task is that it’s in someone else’s court, so you can’t do anything about it right now. Those cards go here until that thing is back in your control again. This would be the place for a card where you’re waiting for a package to be delivered, for example, or for someone to get back to you with an answer.
DONE
Drag a card here when you’ve finished the one well-defined task you were supposed to do about it next. It feels great!
Storage lists
ADMIN
These cards manage all of the administrative relationships and tasks that are necessary to function like a normal adult. It astonishes me how many of these entities I deal with, even with a pretty simple life (which helps me see why it was impossible to manage all of that in my head!).
PEOPLE
The cards in this list represent every person or group you deal with on a regular basis.
FUTURE PROJECTS
These are projects that you may want or need to pursue at some point in the future, but you don’t intend to do anyting about them right now.
REFERENCE
Because your cards become smarter over time, as you add information to them. Store cards here that you have completed, but would like to keep for future reference