I Tried the “Ticky Tack” Method While WFH — And the Results Were Mixed

Several months ago, I lost my trusty planner on a bus from New York to Boston, and my personal organization just hasn’t been the same since. Yes, I could buy a new one, and I really must! But in the meantime, I’ve been trying different to-do list tricks and productivity methods ever since. While I love the 25-minute bursts of the Pomodoro method, I like testing out new frameworks. 

So, when I came across this Reddit thread on just that topic, I dove into the comments. And when I emerged, I had a new trick to try: the “ticky tack” method.

According to Reddit user vtfan08, this method has two steps. First, “Pick 1-3 medium-to-large items to complete each day — don’t expect to complete more than this is a day.” This advice reminds me of the Ivy Lee Method, where you pick just six tasks to do in a given day and complete them in order of priority. 

The second step, per this Redditor: “As smaller ‘ticky-tack’ items come up (scheduling meetings, replying to emails, database updates, etc.), I write them down, and knock them out all at once at the end of the day.”

Simple, right? I decided to try adopting it into my own work-from-home workflow for a day to see how well it works for me.

Honestly, I was dreading this self-imposed trial. I typically start my day answering emails, making updates in our work management platform, and generally getting organized — all tasks that I’d now deem ticky tacks under this new lens. But you don’t know if there’s a better way until you try! So I pushed on. 

I took out my notepad and made a to-do list of three big items for the day: Assigning out a big batch of stories, editing a few stories, and writing a story myself. Then, I started a section for those smaller items, as they came up. Throughout the day, I added to-dos like writing an outline for an infographic, emailing a story source to set up a time to talk, replying to several other emails, and ordering contact lenses because I was nearly out. 

I couldn’t follow the method perfectly. For instance, Apartment Therapy uses Slack to communicate and dozens of messages pop up throughout the day that I can’t just neglect until I’ve completed my Big Three. Some of those messages require taking a little detour, like responding to an edit or finding a piece of information, so that threw a slight wrench into this tightly focused approach. 

Overall, though, I stayed pretty true to the method — and it felt so wrong. I missed answering emails throughout the day, which I typically do either as they come up or as a brain break in between other work tasks. And though some of the ticky tack items that came up weren’t technically urgent, it felt a bit irresponsible to put them off until the end of the day.

That said, by the late afternoon, I’d finished all three major tasks on my to-do list. I hadn’t gone down any inbox rabbit holes or gotten sidetracked trying to order new contact lenses, which would have been likely to happen otherwise. Though I can’t say I’ll be following this method to the T going forward — it just doesn’t jibe well with my job, which often calls for ongoing communication and flexibility to take on new tasks throughout the day — I did learn from it. 

While my preferred to-do list is approximately 50 items long (I love to check little boxes!!), I intend to curate them more carefully in the future. Outlining just a few key goals did help me focus, unclutter my mental map, and ultimately, it may have upped my productivity for the day.