Any time somebody can combine D&D, vomit, and GTD in the same essay, I am a happy reader. Great post, Merlin.

You hinted at a problem that bears emphasizing: Many of us have a tendency to fall into one of two traps. Either we go heads-down on our Priority One task to the exclusion of all else, or we get so caught up in minutia that our P1 doesn’t get attention. We can’t stay in either mode for very long without causing problems.

Yes, I must work on the code that has to be ready for QA on Friday, but my boss asked me an unrelated question via email that only needs a two sentence reply. He’s going to be pissed if I don’t get back to him, but if I open up my email client I risk getting sucked in for hours and not getting my code done.

After years of struggling with this, I finally seem to have it licked by combining GTD with your dash idea. I keep an index card on my desk with a list of task areas: email, branch updates (it’s a programmer thing), personal tasks, straighten, check in with boss, check in with project manager, etc. When I first arrive at my desk, I give each category a dash of activity, usually starting with five minutes each. Any categories that need attention get a second, longer pass. I use a timer, since watching the clock is too easily fudged.

The dashes force me to prioritize within each category and prevent me from wandering off into the weeds. Pretty quickly I have the minutia under control and can roll up my sleeves for some serious coding. Often I’ll revisit the dashes again later in the day— usually after a natural break like lunch, bathroom trip, or an interruption by a coworker —but many days I find that I don’t need to revisit at all and can just follow my nose.