Your manager gets what Merlin Mann could not, the most important tasks are the ones you need to do ^right now^, to completion.

It's interesting that Bethlehem Steel is mentioned. Charles R. Schwab, the Bethlehem Steel boss, someone who Thomas Edison described as a ^hustler^, engaged Ivy Ledbetter Lee to improve productivity at Bethlehem for managers. [1] What is not mentioned is the fact Lee was a business owner of an early PR company and approached Bethlehem for business. His hack to Bethlehem management, set aside 15 minutes at the end of a day and specify six tasks you need done tomorrow;

* Prioritise them, one to six;

* Do each task, in order, till finished;

* Work your arse off;

* Left-over tasks are added to tomorrows list;

* Repeat;

I coin this, JIT task task management [3] and that simple behaviour your manager shows reflects this simple idea. I Merlin Mann totally misses this fact. [4] I was so impressed with Lees idea I wrote an article and some software to explore this idea.

References

[1] James Clear, "The Ivy Lee Method" ~ http://jamesclear.com/ivy-lee

[2] "Zero Tasks: Maximum Six. Add new tasks to leftovers. Prioritise. Kill one task at a time. Repeat.", http://seldomlogical.com/2016/NOV/19/zero-tasks/

[3] A month ago: " To-Do Lists Are Not the Answer to Getting Things Done" ~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12999565#13002833

[4] Merlin Mann, "Inbox Zero" (July 23, 2007) ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9UjeTMb3Yk