Now: choose a finishable next action
Keep the Now list very short—often one active task. Choose it based on real commitments, consequences and available capacity, not merely recency. Write the next visible action, not a project label: “send the revised quote” is clearer than “client work.” If the task depends on a reply, your next action might be to request the missing information or set a follow-up date.
Next: make the handoff easy
Next holds work that is defined and likely to matter soon, but is not the current focus. Give each item a useful next action and any relevant context. When the current task ends—or priorities change—promote one item from Next. This prevents the feeling that everything must be started at once.
Later: defer with a reason
Later is not a graveyard for uncomfortable tasks. Record why an item is not active: a deadline is further away, a dependency is missing, capacity is reserved for a client commitment, or the idea needs review next month. Add a date or trigger for reconsidering it when necessary. Otherwise it will quietly become an untrusted backlog.
Re-sort when something new arrives
A new request is not automatically the new Now. Ask what it changes, what promise is affected and which task it would displace. If there is no room, renegotiate timing or scope rather than pretending the existing work will fit around it.
Use this as a method, not a promised app feature
Cadence does not include built-in Now/Next/Later columns or automatic prioritisation. Its weekly board lets you place tasks on days and move them as plans change. You can use the idea informally while reviewing that board, or apply it in another tool. For daily choice, see how to choose one focus task; for a larger reset, use the weekly review checklist.
Now, next, later against other methods
| Method | Sorts by | Good for | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now, next, later | Readiness and timing | Backlogs where everything feels urgent | Later can become a graveyard |
| Eisenhower matrix | Urgent and important | Separating noise from value | Most things land in one box |
| Must, should, could | Commitment | Scoping a release | No sense of order |
| Numbered priority | Rank | Short lists | Breaks down past ten items |
Rules that keep it honest
- Now holds one to three items. If it holds seven, it is a list, not a focus.
- Next is ready to start. If it is waiting on someone, it belongs in later with a note.
- Later is reviewed weekly. Promote, delete or leave, on purpose.
- Something leaves now before something enters.
Mapping it onto a week
On a week board, now is today's column, next is the rest of this week, and later is next week or a note elsewhere. Each morning, the question is only what moves from next into today.
Where Cadence fits, and where it does not
Cadence is a weekly planner for Mac and iPhone: one board, a column per day, tasks you drag when plans change. It has no timers, projects, tags or recurring tasks, so the method on this page is something you run yourself and place into the week. It costs $19 once for Mac, with no subscription and sync through your own iCloud. More in the weekly planner guide.
Try it this week
- Write every open task on one list, without sorting.
- Mark at most three as now.
- Mark what is ready and unblocked as next.
- Move everything else to later, and delete anything you would not miss.
- On Friday, look at later for five minutes and promote or delete.
The first sort takes about twenty minutes. After that it is a two-minute morning habit. The relief comes less from the labels than from having decided, for today, what you are not doing.
Questions people ask
How many items can be in now?
One to three. The limit is the method.
What if everything is urgent?
Then ask what happens if each waits until tomorrow. Usually one or two have real consequences and the rest have noise.
Where do ideas go?
Into later, with enough words to understand them in a month.
How often should I re-sort?
Briefly each morning, and properly once a week when you review later.
Does this work for a team?
Yes, as a shared language. "Is that now or next?" is a quicker conversation than debating priority numbers.