Getting Things Done (GTD)

  • A framework for organizing and tracking tasks and projects.

  • Humans don’t have the capacity to keep things to-do memorized in the brain.

  • GTD is effective in reducing stress and freeing up the brain for productive thinking.

How?

We need a bunch of lists:

  1. Inbox
  2. Next Actions
  3. Waiting For
  4. Projects
  5. Someday / Maybe

and a few more tools:

  1. Calendar
  2. Tickler File

Inbox

  • Capture ideas as they occur.
  • Should be easy to add to. No need for organizing, and should be low effort to add.
  • Helps in offloading things from the mind.
  • Take an hour to add everything in your mind to the Inbox when you’re starting out for the first time

Processing the Inbox

  • Should happen continuously.
  • The inbox should be processed one by one in the order they appear.

Processing flow

“Is it actionable?”

  • If “No”:

    • throw it away if you no longer need it.
    • Keep it as Reference material if you need it.
    • Add it to a Someday / Maybe list
    • Or sit on it. (incubate it)
    • If its something you need to remind yourself about later, put it in your Calendar or your Tickler File

  • If “Yes”:

    • “What is the next action?”

      • Should be visible, physical actions.

    • “Can it be done under 2 minutes?”

      • If "Yes":
        • Do it!
      • If “No”:
        • If appropriate, delegate it to someone else. Note it down in Waiting For list.
        • Otherwise, add it to the Next Actions list
        • If it takes more than one action to close, make a Project for it.

Next Actions

  • Items to do as soon as possible.
  • Simply, what you will pick next when you want to work.

Adding Contexts

  • Tags put on Next Actions lists saying where the action can be done, and what equipment you will need.

    Examples: @home / @work / @computer

  • Good idea to also have an @everywhere for things that can be done from anywhere.

  • You can also have Agenda Contexts if you have regular meetings with people. These are things you wanna discuss the next time you meet them.

    Example: @Dave

Waiting For

  • When you delegate to someone, send an email waiting for a reply etc. put the tasks here.
  • Stuff that are being blocked because you’re waiting for someone.
  • Should always be marked with the delegated date.

Projects

  • Anything that requires more than one action is a project.
  • The projects list is simply a list of titles and maybe a description and the outcomes of it.
  • When reviewing projects, make sure there is at least one Next Action for each project.

Someday / Maybe

  • Stuff that you don’t wanna lose sight of, but don’t wanna do right now either.
  • Stuff like your million dollar idea you wanna do someday.
  • Projects contain things that currently have Next Actions and are reviewed regularly which makes them different.
  • Should be reviewed weekly in the weekly review.

Calendar

  • For things you have to do on a certain date or a time, and nothing else.
  • Not a way to schedule things you think you want to get done by some date. Adding these will just dilute the calendar. Put those in the Tickler File

Weekly Review

  • Set off some time each week for the review.
  • Takes like 30 mins to 1 hour.

What to do

  • Make sure each project has at least one next action.
  • Make sure each Next Action is something you will want or need to do during the next week. If not, move them (and / or the project it belongs to) to Someday / Maybe. Or you can delete it if you will never do it.
  • Look through the Someday / Maybe list and see if there’s anything that should be moved to current Projects or Next Actions. If you’re moving a Project, make sure to add the Next Action for it as well!

Trigger Lists

A list of keywords to remember any things you wanted to do, but haven’t captured in the system.

Lists like:

  • Boss
  • Co-workers
  • Projects started, not completed
  • Projects that need to be started
  • People I need to get back to

Tickler File

  • Stuff that you might want on a certain day goes here. Stuff with deadlines should end up in the calendar instead.

    • Tickets for the concert on a specific day
    • Reminders of things you’d wanna do on a specific date
    • Notes from a past lecture you want to review in a week

  • Every day, you just open the current date’s Tickler file and you have everything you need for the day!