Basic GTD Workflow

Note

Getting Things Done is a system for productivity coined by David Allen and has become my favoured way of organizing my projects, reminders, and areas of focus in life. Here's a short overview of the aspects of GTD I use. While the book itself is still on my reading list, I have taken inspiration from the various articles on the internet and found/created a workflow that works for me.

There are four key elements of GTD for me and they are basically four lists:

Inbox

This is, to paraphrase, a place to "put something there right now and return to it at the end of the day", or simple "a place to put something". The inbox is the entrypoint, where every idea, article, video, project, plan, reminder, first ends up. During the day, while occupied with work or something else, I can be confident I always have a place to put something so I don't forget it. At the end of the day I review my inbox and move everything to its correct place in the system. The inbox is my favourite part of GTD, since it ensures nothing is forgotten and is a very quick way to "capture" thoughts that may otherwise fade away instantly.

Tickler

Another great idea, a tickler is there to remind you of something you need to do at a specific date and time - a bill, rent, groceries, any event, recurring or not. Anything you want to be reminded of at a specific point in time goes in here. This has been an absolute lifesaver for me on many occasions.

GTD

The bread and butter of the system. This is a list of projects that are most relevant to you right now. They can be anything - from a coding project to moving to a new house or going on a trip. Each project has actions that have to be done to complete it. The most important action being the next action - what is the next action you can do to move this project forward, and ultimately to completion? Every project should have a next action, so you never have to wonder what to do when working on the project.

Someday/Maybe

Not every project will be done now, or at all. But you want to keep them around for the future. Ambitions, goals, projects for the future, or just something that has caught your eye but you don't have the capacity to do right now - that goes in the someday/maybe list. Projects usually travel between the gtd and someday lists. The notion of projects and next actions is valid here as well, so that you can get a good head start.

Weekly GTD Review

A weekly review keeps the system in check, lets you keep track of your projects, move them around, come up with new ones, write down next actions, and ultimately, let you be more productive. Don't trust your brain to remember all that you want to achieve, let an external system be the host. And go Get Things Done.

I'll talk about my implementation of the system in Emacs and org-mode another time (or rather, my inspiration for it).