Four Methods of Completion (Completion, Deletion, Delegation, Deferment)

A task-disposition heuristic: do, delete, delegate, or defer after clarifying what the item requires.

The four-method framework gives an unresolved task a disposition: do it, remove it, hand it to an agreed owner, or defer it with a reliable review trigger. It resembles common task-processing practices, including Getting Things Done. The purpose is to reduce ambiguous commitments, not prove that all tasks can be completed immediately.

Deletion, delegation, and deferment are not the same as completion. A request may first require clarification, decomposition, negotiation, or a decision about whether it is a commitment at all. Deferred work needs a trustworthy reminder, and delegated work needs an accepted outcome and follow-up appropriate to the responsibility.

When to use it

When tasks are repeatedly reread or remembered without a decision about what happens next.

How it can help

Give unresolved work an explicit next status, owner, and review trigger where needed.