# Markers: Give Yourself Permission to Win Your Day You planned eight tasks for today. All of them matter. By 3pm you've done five, and the remaining three are staring at you. You feel behind — even though five tasks is a great day. Sound familiar? The problem isn't your productivity. It's that your task list treats every item the same. There's no line that says "above here is a win; below here is a bonus." Markers draw that line. --- ## What Are Markers? Markers are visual section dividers in your task list. They're not tasks — you don't complete them, they don't have durations or priorities. They're structure. A quiet line across your list that says: "everything above here is one section, everything below is another." They look like this: ``` Buy groceries Call the dentist Finish the proposal ◆ IF TIME ALLOWS ───────────────── Reorganize the closet Research new laptop Clean out the garage ``` That single line changes everything. Your day now has a built-in win condition: finish the tasks above the marker, and you've won. The tasks below? They're still there — you haven't abandoned them. But they're clearly marked as stretch. Aspirational. Bonus. > [!tip] The Simplest Change That Makes the Biggest Difference > Many people report that just adding an "if time allows" marker to their @today list is the single most transformative change they make. It doesn't change *what* you do — it changes how you *feel* about what you've done. --- ## Why This Works If you're drawn to MakeTimeFlow, you're probably someone who wants to do a lot. You have ambitious days. You see what's possible and you reach for it. That's a strength — but it can also mean you rarely feel like you've "won" the day, because the bar keeps moving. Markers work by separating **commitment from aspiration**. Above the marker: "I'm committing to these today." Below the marker: "I'd love to get to these, and I might, but my day is a success without them." This isn't lowering the bar. It's being honest about what a realistic, great day looks like — and then letting yourself feel good when you achieve it. The aspirational tasks are still visible, still available if you build momentum. But they're no longer silently raising the bar on what counts as "enough." --- ## Common Marker Patterns Markers can divide your day in different ways. Here are three patterns people find most useful: ### The Commitment Boundary **"if time allows"** — Draws a line between what you're committed to and what's stretch. This is the most popular marker and often the only one people need. ``` Finish the report Review Sarah's PR Team standup ◆ IF TIME ALLOWS ───────────────── Start the new design spec Read that article Jake sent ``` ### The Work Mode Shift **"quick wins"** — Separates deep, focused work from lighter tasks you can knock out between meetings or when energy dips. Useful for structuring your day around energy, not just priority. ``` Write the strategy doc (deep work) Debug the login flow (deep work) ◆ QUICK WINS ───────────────────── Reply to the Slack thread Update the spreadsheet Order more printer paper ``` ### The Life Domain **"home & family"** — Reminds you that your task list is for your whole life, not just work. Your [[Flourishing Map]] tracks six life dimensions — markers help you honor all of them in a single day. ``` Client presentation Review quarterly numbers ◆ HOME & FAMILY ────────────────── Pick up kids at 3:30 Start the slow cooker Call mom about Sunday ``` > [!info] Make Them Your Own > These are starting points. Some people use "deep work ends" to mark when they'll shift to collaboration. Others use "evening" or "after work" to section off personal time. Markers are free-form text — name them whatever makes sense for your day. --- ## How to Create Markers ### From the + Marker Button Each bucket section has a small **+ marker** button in its header. Click it to see the three curated options above, or type a custom title. ### From Quick Add or the Outliner Type `-- ` (two dashes and a space) before any text, and MakeTimeFlow automatically converts it to a marker: ``` -- if time allows -- deep work ends -- home stuff ``` The `-- ` prefix is stripped and the task becomes a visual divider. This works in the Zen quick-add input, the outliner, or anywhere you create tasks. --- ## Markers in Your Daily Workflow ### During BeginWell When you plan your day in the [[Rituals|morning ritual]], add a marker after the tasks you're truly committing to. This is the moment to be honest with yourself: what would make today a success? Put those above the line. Everything else goes below. ### During the Day As you work through your @today list, the marker gives you a clear milestone. When you cross everything above it, pause and notice: *you won the day*. If you still have energy and time, keep going into the stretch section. If not, you're done — with nothing to feel bad about. ### During Shutdown In your [[Rituals|evening ritual]], markers make triage fast. Tasks below the marker that didn't get done? Move them to @next or keep them for tomorrow. No guilt — they were always clearly marked as stretch. --- ## How Markers Behave Markers are deliberately simple: - **No checkbox** — you don't complete a marker, you complete the tasks around it - **No duration or priority** — they're structure, not work - **No card view** — double-click or press Enter to edit the title inline - **Keyboard navigation** — `j`/`k` moves through markers just like tasks; `Space` is a no-op on markers - **Drag to reorder** — move markers up and down as your day evolves - **Preserved during bulk moves** — when you move all @today tasks to @next, markers stay put in their bucket > [!tip] Quick Edit > Double-click a marker or press Enter when it's focused to edit its title. Press Escape to cancel. The trash icon lets you delete a marker you no longer need. --- ## Combining Markers with Other Features ### With Your [[Daily Highlight Task|Daily Highlight]] Your Daily Highlight is your one most important task. Put it at the top of @today, above all markers. The highlight is your anchor; markers organize everything beneath it. ### With [[Organizing Your Tasks in Flow|Projects and Contexts]] Markers section your day by *time or energy*. Projects organize tasks by *what they're for*. Contexts organize by *how you'll do them*. These are complementary — you might have tasks from different projects above and below a marker. ### With [[Closing the Loop - From Done to Delivered|Closing the Loop]] When you complete a task above a marker and press `>` for a followup, the followup goes to @next by default — not below the marker. Your commitment boundary stays clean. --- ## The Deeper Principle Markers embody a core MakeTimeFlow belief: **realistic planning is not the same as low ambition**. Putting ten tasks on your list and finishing six doesn't feel like a win — it feels like failure. Putting six tasks above a marker and four below it, then finishing six, feels like a great day. Same tasks. Same outcome. Completely different experience. The ambitious tasks below the marker aren't wasted. They're your aspiration, sitting right there, ready for a day when you have extra energy or a meeting cancels. But they don't define success. You do. --- ## Related - [[Task Trust System]] — The bucket system that markers enhance - [[Daily Highlight Task]] — Choosing your ONE most important task - [[Rituals]] — Morning and evening rituals where markers shine - [[Task Text Format]] — The `-- ` prefix and other task shortcuts - [[Organizing Your Tasks in Flow]] — Hierarchy and contexts alongside markers