Productivity methods
Getting Things Done, in five steps.
Get every commitment out of your head into a trusted system, decide what each one needs, and review it weekly.
· 3 min read · 5 steps
- Created by
- David Allen
- Book
- 2001, revised 2015
- Steps
- Capture, clarify, organise, reflect, engage
- Best for
- Many open loops
What it is and where it began.
Getting Things Done, or GTD, is a method for keeping track of everything you have committed to. Its core idea is that your head is for having ideas, not holding them: write every open loop down in a system you trust, and your mind is free to focus on the task in front of you.
David Allen described it in his book Getting Things Done, first published in 2001 and revised in 2015 [2]. His company describes five steps: capture, clarify, organise, reflect and engage [1].
There is research that fits the idea. In a 2011 study, unfinished goals kept intruding on people's thoughts while they worked on something else, and making a specific plan for those goals reduced the effect [3]. Allen's method came before the study and does not rest on it.
How to do it, step by step.
Capture everything
Collect every task, idea and commitment in an inbox: a notebook, a tray or an app. Get it all out of your head [1].
Clarify what each item means
For each item, ask whether it is actionable. If not, delete it, file it as reference, or park it for someday. If it is, decide the very next physical action. If that takes under two minutes, do it now [2].
Organise it where it belongs
Put actions on lists by context or project, dated items in the calendar, things you wait for on a Waiting for list, and ideas on Someday/Maybe.
Reflect every week
Once a week, review all your lists, empty your inboxes and look ahead. The weekly review is what keeps the system trustworthy.
Engage with confidence
Choose what to do now from your lists, based on where you are, the time and energy you have, and what matters most.
Who it suits, and its limits.
It suits you if
- You juggle many projects and roles, and things fall through the cracks.
- Your head is busy at night with things you must not forget.
- You like a complete system and are willing to keep it up.
Where it falls short
- It takes time to set up and a weekly review to keep alive. Skip reviews for a few weeks and the lists stop being trusted.
- It is strong on capturing and organising, weaker on choosing between important things. Many people add priorities on top.
- The full system with contexts and many lists can feel heavy for a simple job.
Common mistakes to avoid.
Capturing without clarifying
An inbox with 300 unprocessed items is just a new pile. Empty it regularly by deciding what each item is.
Projects without a next action
"Website relaunch" is not something you can do. Every project needs at least one concrete next step.
Skipping the weekly review
It is the habit that makes the system work. Put it in your calendar.
Building the perfect system first
Spending weeks on lists and tags is procrastination. Start with an inbox and a next-actions list.
How to do it in thisflow.
Each step uses a feature that is in the app today.
Capture with quick add
Quick add works everywhere and never asks for a required field. Tasks without a project land in the Inbox, ready to clarify.
Organise in projects and sections
Projects hold outcomes, sections group the steps, and subtasks break a task into next actions.
Someday and start dates
Someday parks ideas you are not committing to now. A start date hides a task until its day.
Contexts as tags and filters
Use tags like @calls or @errands as contexts, and save a filter for each so it shows in the sidebar with a live count.
A weekly review that repeats
Add "Weekly review every friday 15:00 for 45m" in quick add, and it comes back every week.
Questions and answers.
What is the two-minute rule in GTD?
When you clarify an item and the next action takes less than two minutes, do it right away. Tracking it would take longer than doing it.
Do I need a special app for GTD?
No. David Allen's method works on paper. Any tool with an inbox, projects, a calendar and a way to park ideas will do.
What is a next action?
The very next physical, visible thing you would do to move something forward, like "Call Anna about the venue" rather than "Plan the party".
How long does it take to set up GTD?
A first full capture often takes a few hours. After that, a daily look at your lists and a weekly review of about an hour keep it running.
Sources
Numbers in the text, like [1], point to these sources.
- [1]David Allen Company: What is GTD?gettingthingsdone.com/what-is-gtd/
- [2]Wikipedia: Getting Things Doneen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done
- [3]Masicampo & Baumeister (2011): Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. J Pers Soc Psycholpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21688924/
More methods to try.
Personal kanban
Put your work on a board, and limit how many things are in progress.
Eat the frog
Do your most important and least appealing task first thing.
The 1-3-5 rule
One big task, three medium and five small ones: a list that fits in a day.
Get it out of your head.
Free during the beta. Quick add, an Inbox, Someday and saved filters.