The Ivy Lee Method is a hundred years old and it still beats most productivity systems built this decade. The rule is brutally simple: each evening, write down your six most important tasks for tomorrow, in priority order, and work through them one at a time without touching the next until the previous is done. When Charles Schwab paid Ivy Lee $25,000 for this advice in 1918, he said it was the most profitable lesson he ever learned. The method hasn't changed. The problem is the tools have never caught up.
A plain list app captures the six tasks fine — but it hides them the moment you close it. A heavy project-management platform is overkill and turns a five-minute evening ritual into a ten-step workflow. What the Ivy Lee Method actually needs is a visual wall: something you can glance at and instantly see your priority stack, move a card when the day shifts, and get a push notification that links you straight back to the task. That's the gap TaskLoco fills.
What to Look for in an Ivy Lee Method App
Before recommending any tool, it's worth being clear about what the Ivy Lee Method actually demands — because most apps either undershoot or wildly overshoot it.
Visual priority ordering. The method is sequential by design. Task one must feel unmistakably different from task six. A flat list buried in a sidebar doesn't do that. You need something spatial — cards you can reorder and read at a glance the way you'd arrange sticky notes on a desk.
A friction-free evening ritual. The setup each night should take under five minutes. If the app asks you to assign owners, set dependencies, pick a project, or fill in custom fields, it has already failed the method. The ideal tool gets out of your way.
A mechanism to resurface the list at the right moment. Ivy Lee's insight was about single-tasking and focus — but focus requires a cue to return to the list when the day pulls you sideways. An app that only sits there passively is relying on your willpower. An app that sends a push notification deep-linking back to your priority note works with your brain, not against it.
Apps like Todoist, Things 3, and Apple Reminders handle the list part adequately. None of them give you a spatial, visual wall. Project tools like Asana or Monday.com give you plenty of visual views, but the setup cost per task is absurdly high for a six-item daily ritual. The sweet spot is a tool that looks like a wall of sticky notes, behaves like a task manager, and actively reminds you where you were.
Why TaskLoco's Wall Is Built for Ivy Lee
TaskLoco organizes everything as sticky notes on a wall you can actually see and rearrange. Each of your six Ivy Lee tasks becomes a note card. You drag them into priority order in about thirty seconds. The visual weight of their position — note one at the top left, note six at the bottom right — makes the sequence feel real in a way a numbered list in a text file never does.
The evening ritual maps almost perfectly to TaskLoco's creation flow. Hit the plus button, type your task, drop it on the wall, repeat six times. No project required, no template to fill out, no collaborator to assign. Five minutes, done. In the morning, your wall is waiting exactly as you left it, synced across every device you use.
Where TaskLoco separates itself is the reminder behavior. Premium reminders fire as push notifications — to your phone and your computer — and they deep-link straight back to the original note. You don't get a generic alert that says "You have a reminder." You get tapped on the shoulder and dropped directly onto the task. For the Ivy Lee Method, that's the difference between a system that works and one that gets ignored by 10 a.m.
TaskLoco Premium also gives you a calendar view, so your six daily tasks sit alongside any time-blocked appointments. You can see the shape of the day before it starts. Attach a reference file to a task note — a brief, an image, a PDF — and it's right there when you open the task, not buried in a separate folder somewhere else. That 10GB of file storage means you can attach real working documents, not just thumbnails.
Team sharing works the way email does: share a note and the recipient can clone it and make it their own. No permissions matrix, no access levels to configure. If you're running the Ivy Lee Method with a team — each person owning their own six tasks — everyone stays in their own lane while the manager can share context notes without overhead.
Free Tiers, Premium, and Which One You Actually Need
TaskLoco has two free tiers and one paid tier, and knowing the difference saves you from hitting a ceiling unexpectedly.
TaskLoco Lite is the native iPhone and Android app. It's completely anonymous — no sign-in, no account, no data leaving your device. You get up to 20 notes stored in a JSON file on the phone. For the Ivy Lee Method, 20 notes is technically enough to run the system for three days before you're rotating old tasks out. But Lite has no reminders, no sync, and no attachments. It's a great way to try the interface, but it's not the tool for a daily system you depend on.
TaskLoco Lite Plus+ is the web app and Chrome extension, free, sign in with Google, up to 30 notes synced across all your devices. The Chrome extension is genuinely useful here — one click captures any webpage into a note, which means you can clip a task brief, a reference article, or a spec sheet directly into your Ivy Lee wall without switching apps. Lite Plus+ still has no reminders and no file attachments, so the active-resurfacing piece of the method is missing.
TaskLoco Premium is where the full Ivy Lee experience lives: unlimited notes, reminders with push notifications, 10GB file storage, calendar view, and team sharing. The seven-day free trial gives you a real test drive before any charge hits.
The Chrome Extension: Capturing Tasks Before They Disappear
One underrated friction point in the Ivy Lee Method is the task-capture problem. You're reading an article, reviewing a document, or browsing a project update, and you realize: this needs to be on tomorrow's six-task list. The old habit is to open a notes app, try to remember the context, and type something vague. The new habit, with TaskLoco's Chrome extension, is a single click.
The extension pops open from your browser toolbar. You're looking at a webpage — a design brief, a client proposal, a GitHub issue — and you click the extension. TaskLoco captures the page title, URL, and whatever you want to add, and drops it as a note on your wall. That note becomes a candidate for tonight's Ivy Lee selection. No tab-switching marathon, no losing context.
This matters more than it sounds. The Ivy Lee Method requires that each evening you select only six tasks from everything on your plate. The richer and more organized your capture system, the better your six-task picks will be. Garbage in, garbage out applies to priority selection just as much as anything else.
On mobile, TaskLoco Lite Plus+ and Premium run through your phone's browser — not a native app. That's worth knowing if you prefer native app gestures. The trade-off is that the web experience is full-featured, synced, and fast. For a daily planning ritual that mostly happens on desktop in the evening, the browser-based experience is a non-issue for most people.
How TaskLoco Compares
| Feature | TaskLoco | Generic Ivy Lee / to-do apps |
|---|---|---|
| Visual sticky-note wall | Full spatial wall — drag, reorder, prioritize visually | Most list apps have no spatial wall view |
| Free native mobile app | TaskLoco Lite — anonymous, no sign-in, 20 notes on-device FREE | Varies; most free tiers require sign-in |
| Free synced tier | Lite Plus+ — up to 30 notes, synced across devices, sign in with Google FREE | Some offer free sync with heavy feature restrictions |
| Push notification reminders | Premium — push to phone and computer, deep-links to the note | Most list apps have reminders but no note deep-link |
| Reminder deep-links to note | Yes — tap the notification, land on the exact task | Typically opens the app home, not the specific task |
| Optional email reminders | Yes — free optional add-on channel | Varies by app |
| Optional SMS reminders | Yes — optional add-on with free monthly quota | Rarely included |
| Chrome extension (one-click capture) | Free — captures any webpage into a note instantly FREE | Some have browser extensions; quality varies |
| File attachments | Premium — 10GB included; add-on storage up to 1TB | Some charge extra; some limit file types |
| Unlimited notes / tasks | Premium — truly unlimited notes and tasks | Many free tiers cap tasks or notes |
| Calendar view | Premium — calendar view built in | Some have calendar; often a paid add-on |
| Team sharing | Yes — included with Premium. Each team member requires a separate subscription — currently $9.99/month per person, but TaskLoco is offering a Charter Member special: 50% off for life, currently $4.99/month per person for the first 500 subscribers with code CHARTER50. | Most require permissions setup and access management |
| Full-text search | Premium — search across all notes and attachments | Usually available but often paywalled |
| Anonymous use (no account) | Lite — completely anonymous, no sign-in ever FREE | Nearly all competitors require an account |
| Gantt charts / project timelines | Not available — TaskLoco is note and task focused | Some project tools include Gantt views |
| Natural language task input | Not available | Some apps parse 'Tuesday at 3pm' from typed text |
| API / third-party integrations | Limited integrations | Many apps offer open APIs and Zapier support |
| Per-person pricing (no seat minimums) | Single flat subscription per person — no minimums, no tiers | Many charge per-seat with team minimums or annual lock-in |
| 7-day free trial (Premium) | Yes — no charge until day 8, cancel anytime | Trial length and billing terms vary widely |
Who Should Use Each
Use TaskLoco if…
- You want a visual wall where you can see and drag your six Ivy Lee tasks in priority order — not a buried sidebar list
- You rely on push notification reminders that deep-link straight back to the task to keep you on track through the day
- You want to capture tasks from the web in one click with a Chrome extension and attach reference files directly to the note
- You want one clean subscription per person with no seat minimums, no enterprise tiers, and a real free trial before committing
- You run the method with a team and need sharing that's as simple as forwarding an email — no permissions matrix required
- You want a calendar view alongside your daily six so you can see how tasks fit against your schedule
Use Generic Ivy Lee / to-do apps if…
- You need Gantt charts, project dependencies, or multi-phase timelines alongside your daily task list
- You rely on natural language input like 'remind me Friday at noon' typed directly into the task field
- Your organization requires enterprise SSO, compliance certifications, or extensive API integrations with existing tooling
- You need database-style custom fields, relational task structures, or formula columns built into your task rows
TaskLoco Premium is regularly $9.99/month per person. Right now, charter members can lock in 50% off the regular price — forever. That means $4.99/month per person today. And if our price ever goes up, you still pay half. Always.
Code CHARTER50 auto-applies at checkout. First 500 spots only — once they're gone, this offer is gone permanently. Act fast while spots last.
Every Premium subscription includes unlimited notes, 10GB file storage, reminders, calendar, and team sharing. Each team member requires a separate subscription. 7-day free trial — no charge until day 8. Cancel anytime.
Free Options: TaskLoco
TaskLoco Lite
- Native iPhone & Android app
- Completely anonymous — no sign-in
- Data stays on your device
- Up to 20 notes
- Free forever
TaskLoco Lite Plus+
- Web app + Chrome extension
- Sign in with Google
- Wall syncs across all devices
- Up to 30 notes
- Free forever
Lock In 50% Off — Forever
7-day free trial. No charge until day 8. CHARTER50 auto-applies at checkout.
🔒 Lock In My Charter SpotSee TaskLoco in Action
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ivy Lee Method and why does the tool matter?
The Ivy Lee Method is a daily prioritization system: each evening, write your six most important tasks for tomorrow in strict priority order, then work through them one at a time. The tool matters because the method lives or dies on two things — seeing the priority order clearly (which a visual wall delivers better than a flat list) and being pulled back to task one when the day pulls you sideways (which requires push-notification reminders that actually link to the task, not just a generic ping).
Can I try TaskLoco before paying?
Yes. TaskLoco Lite is free forever on iPhone and Android — no sign-in, no account, 20 notes stored on the device. TaskLoco Lite Plus+ is free on the web with 30 synced notes and the Chrome extension. TaskLoco Premium includes a 7-day free trial with no charge until day 8. Cancel anytime.
Do the reminders actually take me back to the task I set them on?
Yes. TaskLoco Premium reminders fire as push notifications to your phone and computer, and they deep-link directly to the original note. Tapping the notification drops you onto the exact task — not the app home screen, not a generic list. That's the detail that makes the Ivy Lee Method stick rather than drift.
What's the difference between Lite, Lite Plus+, and Premium?
TaskLoco Lite is the native iPhone and Android app — anonymous, no sign-in, up to 20 notes stored on the device, no sync, no reminders, no attachments. TaskLoco Lite Plus+ is the web app and Chrome extension — free, sign in with Google, up to 30 notes synced across devices, no reminders, no attachments. TaskLoco Premium is the full system: unlimited notes, reminders with push notifications, 10GB file storage, calendar view, and team sharing. Each team member requires their own individual subscription.
How does team sharing work in TaskLoco?
Team sharing in TaskLoco Premium works like email: you share a note and the recipient can clone it and make it their own. There are no permissions levels to configure and no access matrices to manage. If you're running Ivy Lee with a team — each person owning their own six tasks — you can share context notes without any administrative overhead. Each team member needs their own Premium subscription.
What is the TaskLoco Chrome extension and how does it fit the Ivy Lee Method?
The Chrome extension is free and available with Lite Plus+ and Premium. It lets you capture any webpage into a sticky note in one click — title, URL, and your own notes travel with it. For the Ivy Lee Method, this solves the task-capture problem: instead of vaguely remembering 'I need to deal with that thing I read,' you clip it to your wall as a concrete candidate for tonight's six-task selection.
How much does TaskLoco Premium cost?
$9.99/month per person (currently $4.99/month per person for first 500 charter members with code CHARTER50)
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TaskLoco is available on iPhone, Android, Chrome, and every web browser.