Funny that I planned to start a series on how I do my productivity system two weeks ago, wrote about it and then forgot about it last week.But now it’s actually starting.

I’ve used a variant of this concept without that name for years upon years. Not sure when I started to call it a hitlist, but at some point it just needed a name.

For a long time I used a “Next” collection or project in what ever task management system I was doing at a time. Where the idea is to just have like the next 5-10 items I am going to do. In some periods I’ve done it in separate notebooks, other times as a part of the task management system. Usually only when it’s been on paper, because it doesn’t really work for me in digital. Except for when I’ve done systems that are more based on files and notes like Taskpaper and Agenda and kept separate files for Next.

Anyways. At the moment I use Rhodia dotpads for it, most of the time. And some times I use a pocket notebook for it. As of the time of writing my pocket notebooks of choice is passport sized Travelers notebooks in dot grid.

And the way I use this is that I open the notebook and I have one half for the next things I’m doing and one half for capture. In pocket notebooks I use one page for each and in the dotpad I usually just draw a line in the middle. The ideal for me is when I’m able to limit myself to 5 next items, because it isn’t distracting or discouraging and it is few enough to be able to be relatively flexible.