Getting Started with Eightly

This guide introduces you to Eightly as a personal practice and shows you how to get started with just a notebook and pen.

You’ll learn how to:

• Set up your notebook and create a Master List.

• Choose a timeframe, define a boundary and choose what matters.

• Use Themes, Purposes and Direction to guide your choices.

• Recognise Competing Demands and reflect on your choices.

• Begin a fresh Eightly cycle.

What is Eightly?
Eightly is a framework for making choices and protecting the attention you give to them.

Who’s it for?

Eightly is for people who are ready to choose what matters.

People juggling work, personal responsibilities, unfinished tasks and things they keep putting off.

People wanting to make deliberate changes, build a habit, make progress towards a personal long-term goal or create space for something important.

Prefer a copy to keep?
Download the free Eightly Getting Started Guide (PDF) to use alongside your notebook.

Other Ways to Use Eightly

The Eightly framework can be used in other ways.

Eightly for Teams helps groups to agree on what matters and align with business goals.

Little Eightly is a guided, visual approach designed to help children to make choices about what matters to them.

Timeframe, Boundary and Choice are the three pillars of Eightly. The diagram above shows the relationship between each pillar alongside Competing Demands which may draw you away from what you have chosen.

The Expanded Model introduces Direction, which sits outside the cycle, but can guide your choices over time.

Getting Started – Notebook Setup

You will need a notebook and a pen.

Before you write your first Eightly, turn to the back of your notebook and create a Master List.

The Master List is a holding space for tasks, commitments and ideas, so you don’t have to keep carrying them in your head. Add things from your inbox, calendar, memory or requests from others as they crop up.

When it’s time to create your Eightly, you can choose items from your Master List.
Review your Master List occasionally to remove items that are no longer relevant.

Use the pages at the front of your notebook for your Eightly lists.
Use a page marker if you have one. This makes your current list easy to access and helps keep it visible.

The Eightly Cycle

Eightly is based on a simple sequence:

1. Choose a timeframe
2. Choose a boundary
3. Choose what matters (chosen items)

Timeframe

A timeframe is a container for your boundary and chosen items. It gives the cycle a beginning and an end. A timeframe is a period of time you choose, such as the next two hours, a day, a weekend or a project window.

Boundary

Your boundary limits how much you commit to and makes it clear what you are protecting your focus and attention for within the timeframe.

Think of it like a forcefield around the things you choose.

Your boundary has two parts:

1. Boundary size (1 - 8): The maximum number of items you choose to include within your timeframe. This is your chosen limit.

2. Boundary declaration: A short statement describing what you are protecting your focus and attention for.

Your boundary declaration can be broad or specific.
The boundary also helps you to notice Competing Demands.
The boundary is always defined before you choose your items.

Themes and Purposes

Themes and Purposes are optional. They can help shape your boundary and guide your choices.

A Theme describes what you want your boundary to protect, for example, Family, Health or Work. Everything within the boundary must relate to your theme.

A Purpose establishes a common reason for choosing items within in your boundary, for example, to make progress, prevent problems or bring things to a close.

If you use both, each chosen item must align with both.

For example, if your theme is ‘Family’, your chosen items must be family related. If your purpose is ‘prevent problems from happening’, then your chosen items must help to prevent problems from happening.

You can use either one or both together. You don’t need to record them separately if they are clear from your Boundary Declaration.

Choice

Choice is the act of choosing what matters within your timeframe and boundary. You can choose items from your Master List to create your Eightly List.

For each chosen item, be specific about what you intend to do and why it deserves a place on the list. For example, take a 20-minute walk before lunch because I want to move more during the day, or choose the bathroom tiles so the home refurb can continue next week.

If an item is too large, simplify it or break it down into smaller, more manageable items.

Optionally, you can apply a time limit to each of your chosen items so that you don’t give more attention and focus to an item than you intended. This helps you to commit to your chosen timeframe.

Direction

Direction is something you want to work towards over time, such as a long-term goal, a change you want to make or a habit you want to build.

If you have a Direction, write a short statement about it inside the front cover of your notebook.

When choosing what matters, consider whether there is something you could do within your timeframe that would help you move towards your Direction.

For example, if your Direction is to become fitter and healthier, you might choose to do a 5 km run or prepare a healthy meal.

Items chosen to support your Direction don’t need to come from the Master List. Mark them with (Direction) to make the connection with the statement in the front of your notebook visible.

For example:
(Direction) Take a 20-minute walk before lunch because I want to move more during the day.

Competing Demands

A Competing Demand is something that takes your focus and attention away from a chosen item.

Your boundary helps you to decide whether a Competing Demand deserves your attention now or if it can wait.

Record Competing Demands under your Eightly list as soon as you have time. You may add Competing Demands to your Master List if they are important.

Completed Items

You can cross completed items off your Eightly list and your Master List.

Unfinished Items

If an item is unfinished or hasn’t been started, it remains on your Master List if it was already there. You can record any progress you’ve made as a percentage against items on your Master List.

An unfinished item doesn’t automatically become part of your next Eightly.

End of the Cycle

At the end of an Eightly cycle, take time to reflect. What went well? What didn’t go so well? What did you learn? Did you make good choices? What competed for your attention?

The Next Cycle

At the start of the next cycle, begin with a fresh list.

You don’t carry items forward. If an unfinished item needs your attention and focus, choose it again if it is important for the new cycle.

Example Eightly Lists

The following examples show different ways to use Eightly. Each example includes a timeframe, a boundary and chosen items with reasons for their inclusion.

Themes and Purpose are shown separately in some examples to help illustrate how they work.

Example 1 - A General Daily Eightly

Timeframe: Today (17/10/2026)
Boundary (4): Things I’ve chosen to do today that will make a difference.

Chosen Items:

1.      Send revised proposal to client so the next stage can proceed.
2.      Book overdue dentist appointment to maintain dental health.
3.      Clear the kitchen table before 6pm for family dinner.
4.      Choose bathroom tiles so the home refurb can continue next week.

Example 2 - A General Daily Eightly with Direction

Direction (written inside the front cover of the notebook):
Improve my health by becoming more physically active

Timeframe: Today (17/10/2026)
Boundary (5): Things I’ve chosen to do today that will make a difference.

Chosen Items:

1.      Send revised proposal to client so the next stage can proceed.
2.      Book overdue dentist appointment to maintain dental health.
3.      (Direction). Take a 20-minute walk before lunch because I want to move more during the day.
4.      Clear the kitchen table before 6pm for family dinner.
5.      Choose bathroom tiles so the home refurb can continue next week.

Example 3 – A Family Themed List

Timeframe: This weekend
Boundary (4): Activities with my family this weekend.

Theme: Family (shown separately for illustration; it can also be expressed in the Boundary Declaration)
Chosen Items:

1.      Prepare breakfast together so we can enjoy some time without rushing.
2.      Take the children to the park on Saturday afternoon so we can spend time outdoors together.
3.      Have a family games evening without phones so we can enjoy each other’s company without distractions.
4.      Read a bedtime story together to make bedtime something to look forward to.

Example 4 – A Purpose-Guided Eightly

Timeframe: This weekend
Boundary (3): Things that will help to prevent future problems.

Purpose: Prevention (shown separately for illustration; it can also be expressed in the Boundary Declaration)
Chosen Items:

1.      Check car tyre pressures before Monday for safer travel next week.
2.      Back up important documents to protect against losing the originals.
3.      Clear the leaves from the drain so the driveway doesn’t flood when it rains.

Write, Reflect and Return

Write it down.
Reflect at the end of the day.
Choose again tomorrow.

You write.
You reflect.
You return.

One notebook. One clear list. One fresh start tomorrow.
Do what matters. Every day.

Want to Explore Further?

Here are three short reads to support you as you begin:

• Write It Down. Make It Happen — Why writing by hand helps intention turn into action, and where Eightly begins.

• The List You Don’t Have To Finish — Why Eightly isn’t about completion, and how to avoid turning it into another source of pressure.

• Start Fresh, Every Day — Why beginning again, without carrying things forward by default, keeps Eightly light and effective.