Introducing ivy: Bring the Legendary Ivy Lee Method to Your Slack Workspace

Hey Dev.to community! Today I'm excited to announce the launch of ivy – a free Slack app that brings the power of the Ivy Lee productivity method directly to your team's workspace. Add it to slack in: https://tryivy.app What is the Ivy Lee Method? For those unfamiliar, the Ivy Lee method is a century-old productivity technique that's brilliantly simple yet remarkably effective. In 1918, productivity consultant Ivy Lee suggested this approach to Charles M. Schwab, then president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation: At the end of each workday, write down the six most important tasks to accomplish tomorrow Prioritize those six items in order of importance When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task until it's finished Then move to the second task, and so on At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list for tomorrow Repeat this process every working day This method has stood the test of time because it works—it reduces decision fatigue, encourages focus, and provides a clear structure for daily work. Why We Built Ivy Many of us have tried using the Ivy Lee method with paper notebooks, to-do apps, or even just text files. But these approaches have limitations: Task lists aren't visible to your team There's no accountability or reminders Your priorities don't live where your work happens (in Slack!) Ivy solves these problems by bringing this legendary productivity method directly into your team's Slack workspace, making it simple to stay focused while keeping your colleagues in the loop. Key Features

Apr 16, 2025 - 18:54

Introducing ivy: Bring the Legendary Ivy Lee Method to Your Slack Workspace

Hey Dev.to community! Today I'm excited to announce the launch of ivy – a free Slack app that brings the power of the Ivy Lee productivity method directly to your team's workspace.

Add it to slack in: https://tryivy.app

What is the Ivy Lee Method?

For those unfamiliar, the Ivy Lee method is a century-old productivity technique that's brilliantly simple yet remarkably effective. In 1918, productivity consultant Ivy Lee suggested this approach to Charles M. Schwab, then president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation:

At the end of each workday, write down the six most important tasks to accomplish tomorrow
Prioritize those six items in order of importance
When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task until it's finished
Then move to the second task, and so on
At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list for tomorrow
Repeat this process every working day

This method has stood the test of time because it works—it reduces decision fatigue, encourages focus, and provides a clear structure for daily work.

Why We Built Ivy

Many of us have tried using the Ivy Lee method with paper notebooks, to-do apps, or even just text files. But these approaches have limitations:

Task lists aren't visible to your team
There's no accountability or reminders
Your priorities don't live where your work happens (in Slack!)

Ivy solves these problems by bringing this legendary productivity method directly into your team's Slack workspace, making it simple to stay focused while keeping your colleagues in the loop.