Getting Things Done

The Getting Things Done system has five steps:

Capture all the problems and ideas that are taking your attention.
Clarify what each one means and what you need to do about it.
Organize the decisions and actions you’ve clarified.
Reflect on everything in front of you to choose what to tackle next.
Engage with the task (get it done).

Devote time to each step individually, rather than trying to go through all five at once: Take some time to sit and capture everything in your head, go through and clarify all those items during another sitting, and so on.

Most people do these five steps naturally, but not as efficiently as they could. Many people fall into one of these traps:

They don’t capture everything, leaving too many open loops in their heads.
They don’t clarify sufficiently, so they have ambiguous to-do lists, notes, and reminders that don’t tell them exactly what to do.
They don’t organize efficiently, so the reminders get lost and tasks don’t get done in a timely way.
They don’t spend enough time reflecting, so they have lists, calendars, and reminders that are overloaded and out-of-date.
They tackle whatever is the most immediate and demanding instead of making strategic decisions about what to engage in.

Let’s talk about each step, and in later chapters we’ll explore them in more detail.

Step 1: Capture

The first critical step is to capture every idea, reminder, and piece of information and get it out of your head. Capture _everything—_big and small, short-term and long-term, anything in your life that you feel should be different and that you have some motivation or commitment to change—from career strategy ideas to a reminder to fix that gadget in your junk drawer.

Put all these things into “containers,” which can be:

Paper notebooks, note cards, or pads
Physical in-trays
Emails or text messages
Digital or audio note-taking systems/apps

Whatever type of container you use, make sure that it is always with you so that you can capture something as soon as the thought enters your head.

There are three requirements for a successful capture system:

Capture every open loop. If you still have things floating around in your head, you won’t have the mental energy to sort through and empty your containers (that’s the next step).
Have as few capturing buckets as possible. If you have too many, the system will get unmanageable and you won’t be able to go through the containers regularly.
Empty your containers regularly. If your containers get backlogged, things get lost and your brain won’t trust your system, so it will keep reminding you of things even after you’ve captured them. You don’t have to complete the tasks in order to empty the containers—you just have to clarify and organize them.

Step 2: Clarify

Before you can organize all that you’ve captured, you need to decide the intended outcome for each item, then figure out the immediate next action you need to take to make progress toward that outcome.

Based on what you determine for each item, you’ll either:

Throw it away. If it doesn’t require any action and you won’t need the information later, toss it.
Keep it for your reference files. These items don’t require any action, but they have information that may be useful later.
Do it. If the next action takes less than two minutes, do it now.
Label it a project. The GTD system defines projects as anything that requires more than one step and can be finished within a year—anything from planting your garden to learning new software at work. Put a sticky note on it labeling it a project and put it in a Pending pile.
Decide to delegate it. If the next action will take longer than two minutes, consider whether you’re the best person for the job. If not, put a sticky note on it marking that you’re delegating it and to whom, and put it in the Pending pile.
Save it for later. Label items that don’t require any action now but you might want to follow up on in the future as “Someday/Maybe.” If you want to create a reminder to reconsider it on a specific date, make a note of that date so you can put it in your tickler file or on your calendar in the next step. Put all these items in the Pending pile.
Decide the next action. If it’ll take longer than two minutes and you can’t delegate it, label it “Next Action” and put it in the Pending pile.

Here’s a flowchart that shows Steps 1 to 3 more clearly. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the possible actions and items—the flowchart shows that it’s fairly intuitive.

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Step 3: Organize

In the clarifying step you made a decision about the next step for each item; now you’re going to physically sort them into files, lists, and calendar items. Based on what you decided in the last step, put each item in one of the following places:

Trash: Although you threw away some items during Step 2, you might still come across items that, upon further consideration, you decide you don’t need.
Reference files: This is where you’ll store information you may want later.
Projects list: This is an index of your projects that are in the planning process.
Project Support Materials file: This file holds project plans, research, invoices, and other documents.
Waiting For list: This is where you’ll keep track of tasks you’re waiting for someone else to complete or items you’ve decided to delegate.
Someday/Maybe list: This is the place for things that don’t require any action now, but might later.
Tickler system: This system of files functions like your Someday/Maybe list, but creates date-specific reminders to revisit items.
Calendar: Schedule actionable items that need to be done at a certain time.
Next Actions list: This is your to-do list of items to be tackled as soon as possible.

Let’s cover each in more detail.

Reference

Reference materials don’t require any specific action but might be useful to have on hand in the future—whether it’s menus from your favorite food delivery spot or a list of contacts for members of the committee you chair.

Reference materials can be stored physically in filing drawers and cabinets or digitally in computer files. If you have emails that you want to keep for reference, you can print them out for your physical filing system or create folders in your email server so they don’t clog up your inbox. For other digital documents, experiment with different methods of organizing (e.g. digital folders, the cloud, or organizing apps and software) to find what works best for you.

There are two types of reference systems:

Subject-specific, which means you’ll have one folder or one filing cabinet dedicated to one type of document (e.g. past contracts you may need for future reference).
General reference, which is the catch-all for anything that doesn’t fall into a specific category. It’s critical that you have an easily accessible, well-organized general reference file so that those random notes and documents don’t end up in a pile that overwhelms you—undermining the whole system—or you inadvertently bury actionable items.

Projects List and Project Support Materials File

The GTD program defines projects as anything that takes more than one step and can be completed within a year. That includes everything from enrolling your kid in school to planting your garden to learning new software at work.

Since projects require multiple steps to complete, the Projects list helps you keep track of the outcomes or finish lines for each one so that you can:

Regularly determine the appropriate next action
Know when you’ve completed a project

You’ll probably accumulate support materials—such as research, invoices, and other documents—for many projects. Organize these by project or topic and keep them in separate files; your Projects list merely serves as an index of these files.

You can keep your files of support materials with your reference files, or in a more accessible location if you’re working on a project that calls for you to consult your support materials several times a day. Whatever your system, keep it as simple as possible.

Waiting For List

Many of your projects will include steps that require someone else’s input or action before you can take your next action. Any time you’re waiting on someone, add the item to your Waiting For list so you can keep track of everything and follow up when necessary.

Additionally, if you’re invested in the outcome of an item you’ve delegated to someone else, add that item to your Waiting For list.

Someday/Maybe List and Tickler System

Some things you’ve captured won’t be actionable yet—maybe a flyer for a concert that’s still a few months away, or an idea for a project you might want to do someday but don’t have time to begin now.

There are two options for these types of items:

Someday/Maybe list: This is a running list of things you might want to act on in the future, from learning a new language to making a personal website. You’ll review this list regularly so that you can decide when the time is right to pursue one of these ideas.

You might want to have various categories of Someday/Maybe lists, such as “Recipes to Try” and “Books to Read.”

Tickler system: A tickler system is typically organized as a file that holds information and reminders you don’t need until a certain point in the future (for example, a flyer for a play that doesn’t debut for another three months). You can also use your calendar for this, for example making a note on March 15 that tax day is one month away.

Calendar

Among the actionable items that take longer than two minutes and that you can’t delegate, there will be some that are time-sensitive and others that just need to get done as soon as possible.

Use your calendar to track all time-sensitive tasks and information, including:

Actions that are time-specific, such as appointments
Actions that are day-specific, such as deadlines
Information that is day-specific, such as directions for an appointment or short-term reminders like “call Suzie when she gets back from vacation”

The only items that should go on your calendar are things that must happen on that day or not at all.

That means no more daily to-do lists; you’ll have a Next Actions list instead, which we’ll talk about next. Daily lists are ineffective for two reasons:

Through the course of the day, you’re likely to get new information and new task assignments that require you to constantly add to and reconfigure your to-do list. Then, not only are you probably ending each day with a discouraging list of things you didn’t get done, but you also have to spend time copying those things over into a new list for the following day.
It’s easy to add things that are aspirational rather than absolutely necessary, so your to-do list gets bogged down with extra tasks and you lose sight of what absolutely has to happen today. Better to have the calendar strictly show things that must happen that day and supplement with a short list of things you’d like to do if you have time.

Next Actions List

The Next Actions list is essentially the catch-all for tasks that are actionable, take longer than two minutes, and can’t be delegated. Reference your Next Actions list whenever you have free time to tackle a task.

If you have more than a few dozen next actions on this list, it helps to divide them up into categories based on what you need or where you need to be to tackle them. For example, make a list of the calls you need to make, and another list for tasks that require you to use a computer.

Step 4: Reflect

You can have all your to-dos organized to a tee, but it does you no good if you don’t regularly review and reflect on them. Regularly reflecting on all your lists and files helps you make smarter choices about which tasks to tackle; that makes the difference between writing down that you need milk and remembering it when you’re at the grocery store.

Review your calendar most often, because it holds the tasks that have to get done within a certain time window. The Next Actions list will be the second most frequent, so you can see what needs to be done when you have time between scheduled tasks.

Review Everything Weekly

Given the fast pace of life, even an organized system can collect some debris over the course of a few busy days. Instead of taking the time to constantly keep your organization system spotless, try your best to maintain it and set aside time once a week to clean everything up.

Think of it like cleaning your house: You keep things pretty well ordered through the week but it’s not worth your time to deep clean everything every day, so you leave the deep cleaning and laundry for Sundays.

Once a week, review your Projects, Project Plans, Next Actions, Waiting For, and Someday/Maybe lists. During the Weekly Review, you should also:

Capture anything you haven’t captured yet
Clarify any items that you haven’t clarified
Take stock of your whole organization system to make sure everything is running smoothly
Update your lists
Clean up and clear things out where needed

The only way to keep your mind clear is if you trust the system, and in order to trust it, you need to maintain it and keep things current. The Weekly Review is essential for this.

Step 5: Engage

The previous four steps—and the entire GTD system—is designed to help you determine how to engage, as in choosing which things to do when. You can only feel confident about what you’re doing if you also feel confident about what you’re not doing at any given moment.

Through capturing, clarifying, organizing, and reflecting, you’ve crystallized the actionable steps you need to get done as soon as possible in your Next Actions list. Use the following three models to choose which item on that list to tackle at any given time.

The Four-Criteria Model: Decide How to Act in the Moment

When you have a few minutes to work on an item on your Next Actions list, use these four criteria to decide which item to tackle by process of elimination:

Context: Certain tasks require you to be at a certain location or to have access to a certain tool (for example, at the office or in front of a computer).
Time available: Some tasks require an hour of focused attention, so if you just have a few minutes before your next appointment this isn’t the time for that task.
Energy available: Certain tasks require a lot of mental or physical energy, while others don’t need much. Only tackle what you have the energy to take on.
Priority: Some tasks naturally have a higher payoff than others, so prioritize those. After narrowing down your options with the first three criteria, use the next two models to prioritize based on your intuition and judgment.

The Threefold Model: Evaluate Your Work

In order to determine what to do, you also need to understand what type of task it is. To further prioritize, categorize your task as one of three different types of activities:

Predefined work is essentially anything on your Next Actions list and calendar. You’ve already clarified and deemed that these tasks are important, so make them a high priority.
Work as it shows up encompasses all the unanticipated tasks that pop up during your day—your boss walks in your office to talk about a new project, or you find out your aunt is in the hospital and you need to send flowers. Prioritize these tasks when they’re more urgent and important than your predefined work; otherwise, put them in your in-tray.
Defining your work is the time you spend maintaining your GTD system, clearing your containers, clarifying tasks, organizing, filing, and doing the actions that take less than two minutes. Prioritize time to do this during your Weekly Review.

The Six-Level Model: Put Your Work in Context

In order to prioritize the options in front of you, you also need to have a context for how they fit into the bigger picture of your life and priorities. If your boss asks you to chair a committee at work, it may seem important until you stop and consider whether devoting your time and energy to that helps you achieve your professional goals.

Consider these six different levels—or horizons—of perspectives to determine your priorities:

The Ground is the current actions on your Next Actions list.
Horizon 1 is current projects with relatively short-term timelines, such as organizing a conference or finding a new dentist. Your projects dictate many of your actions.
Horizon 2 is areas of focus and accountabilities, or the roles and responsibilities you have, from job duties to maintaining your health and family commitments. This horizon isn’t comprised of tasks but rather the interests and responsibilities that help to determine what projects and actions you’ll take on.
Horizon 3 is goals, another horizon that dictates your projects, actions, and accountabilities. Specifically, horizon 3 encompasses goals for the next one to two years.
Horizon 4 is vision, or your goals for the next three to five years. Again, this influences your shorter-term goals as well as your areas of focus, accountabilities, projects, and actions.
Horizon 5 is purpose and principles; this is the big-picture context of your life. All your actions, projects, focuses, goals, and visions are defined by and also lead you toward your purpose and principles.

In Part 2 of this summary, we’ll talk about how to apply these models to your prioritizing and decision-making.

Chapter 2: An Overview of the GTD System