r/gtd

What is the best or fastest way to setup a GTD system again? What did you personally do?

I'm planning to start GTD again. I have 5 past GTD systems / attempts filled with info from my multiple trys at trying to maintain a GTD system. In the past, I have resorted to starting from zero a couple times, but it seems really inefficient (archiving & updating lists, doing a mindsweep) and subject to missing some stuff (incompleteness). However, processing any of my past GTD systems seems way too time consuming for relatively little gain compared to starting from zero and hoping for the best (adding to the system it as a remember things).

I expect myself to have another non-current GTD at some point, so I'd like to be able to quickly get back on track if I notice it myself slipping in the early stages, but also for when the late stages of overfilled In-Trays happen (as I keep adding to them after not maintaing GTD, but never process the in-tray).

How can In-Tray processing & doing Weekly Reviews easier & consistently (i.e. not skip/delay)? What did you personally do?

I'm wanting to prevent myself from dropping GTD again. What tends to happen is my In-Tray gets overfilled from not zeroing it out when I've scheduled for the day, my Weekly Reviews don't get done when I've scheduled it for the week, or I put them off but never get around to it.

Instead of only processing my in-tray at a 30-60 minute block at the end of the day (which requires too much energy & effort in myexperience), I've thought of maybe processing it immediately unless I have something going on currently. I don't see how I can process my in-tray otherwise through the day as doing it whenever I feel like I need to is distracting, unreliable, and possibly preoccupying.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing for my weekly reviews: doing the related step in the weekly review when it comes up. Things like replacing completed next actions; reviewing my calendar, waiting, project, or someday/maybe list when I feel the need to,

It's just too difficult for me to sit down & go through my in-tray processing or weekly review checklist at a dedicated time. Doing it "immediately, unless busy" seems like the best compromise, as I feel like "doing it whenever I feel the need to" can be a bit distracting to monitor.

The GTD method, at its core, is a set of thinking procedures made to avoid constant rethinking.

And after the thinking is done, it's a matter of choice where we would like to keep this saved decision about something that's turned concrete.

For analog systems, where this basically started, that limitation thankfully created the most minimalistic setup for GTD.

Which is:

• Folders
• Lists

Additionals are:

• Calendar
• Reference storage
• Ticklers
• Checklists

And just like features help fasten this process, they are not absolutely necessary.

It can exist in:

• Obsidian
• OneNote
• Microsoft To Do
• Simplenote
• Logseq
• Any app, plain notepad, or Google Docs
• Digital or paper based

GTD is becoming second nature for me because, at its core, it's a set of decisions. Not new apps or new features, but decisions.

Although having a good app or analog tool helps streamline this process more easily, it's still a matter of choice.

Since the GTD method is tool agnostic, we can combine it with any other method.

Like:

• Bullet Journal
• Deep Work
• Pomodoro

Recently, I was using this app called Twos on the web version, and I found it really helpful. Not because of the app itself, but because of the idea of writing our thoughts for the day like a log. BuJo complements GTD really well.

I feel that the BuJo system helps thoughts flow easily into the system. And since we only have one day to focus on, it stays clear within our GTD principles.

This doesn't have to be limited to just that app either. Even Microsoft To Do's My Day feature does the same thing if we treat it as the current day of a BuJo.

I'm curious to know your thoughts on this and what you think about it.

Something I've been wrestling with: I run a GTD-ish setup with Claude wired to my task manager via MCP, and I'm trying to write the one memory prompt that makes the "engage" loop feel natural without being intrusive.

Here's my current draft (swap in whatever tool you use):

>When I complete a task (signaled by "done" / "finished" / "closed it" / "shipped"): – Mark it complete – Fetch the next item on today's list – Surface it as: [project] – [next physical action] plus any blocker note I left – If today is empty, ask whether to pull from tomorrow, drop into someday, or stop
>
>When I'm just talking about a task (no completion verb): – Don't touch the list. Wait for an explicit verb.
>
>When I add a new task via chat: – Confirm title, project, and tags before creating – Default to inbox unless I specify a horizon. Warn me if it's a shared project.

Four things I'm genuinely unsure about and would love takes on:

1. Weekly review: anyone baking GTD weekly review into the memory prompt? My instinct is no. The review is the one place I want the friction of doing it manually, and I'm considering explicitly forbidding Claude from running one. But maybe I'm overcorrecting?
2. Completion verbs: "wrapped", "killed it", "out the door" all show up in how I actually talk. Am I missing obvious ones? Where does it stop being reliably parseable?
3. What to surface next: just title + project, or full context (notes, last touched, related items)? Too much feels like a status report, too little forces follow-ups.
4. The "just venting" problem: how do you phrase the "wait, don't act" instruction so the LLM actually respects it? Mine still occasionally jumps the gun on the next task when I'm just complaining.

Curious what people running similar setups actually have written down. Even rough fragments or "this didn't work" examples are useful.

Sharing your prompt verbatim would be much appreciated.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on how to manage low-priority, flexible recurring tasks within the GTD framework.

Take household chores like mopping the floor or cleaning the toilet as examples. They don't have hard deadlines—they can be done daily, weekly, or honestly, monthly if your tolerance level is high enough. Previously, I would schedule them in my daily tracker, but if I wasn't in the mood, I'd just snooze them to the next day. This quickly turned into an endless cycle of daily procrastination.

This got me thinking: If a task can be repeatedly postponed without any real consequence, does it even belong in my primary GTD system?

My current workaround:
I have completely removed these tasks from my GTD app and moved them to a separate spreadsheet. Column A lists the chore, Column B logs the last completed date, and Column C tracks the days elapsed. I just glance at it during my free time, and if a number looks too high, I'll go do it. Honestly, stripping these inherently "delay-prone" tasks out of my daily system has brought me immense peace of mind.

My questions:
While the spreadsheet works for now, I'm curious about how others handle this. In a proper GTD setup, how do you categorize and manage these flexible, easily procrastinated chores? Do you dump them into the "Someday/Maybe" list, or do you use a different methodology entirely?

Would love to hear your insights and workflows! Thanks!

I just recently swapped from an analog system to the ToDo and it has been super helpful. I can churn through my email inbox fast, and with a shortcut almost instantly move the email to project support folder, create a task, and more precisely describe the doing.

But.

I cannot in a smart way combine the ToDo of my personal account, with the ToDo of my work account. I can change between the two somewhat fast, but it’s clearly not really working, and I end up neglecting my personal side of things.

Previously I tried out FacileThings, and I really really liked the way they had it neatly separated, but in the same place. The issue I was having there was with the capture part. When going through emails I’d basically start doing the clarify process but then stop dead in the tracks after deciding already it was something I needed to do something about, only to get back to it later. Basically almost doing the work twice. Also the clarification process was somewhat more tedious since everything needs to be connected. To be fair, it was super nice, but felt like more work.

Does anyone else struggle with something like this, or am I missing something obvious in my process? I don’t even mind paying some money for the solution, just so long it actually works for me.

I learned the term “possibility space” recently while researching dopamine and motivation.

At the same time I’m rewiring my brain to understand that possibility space can be either helpful or harmful depending on context, I keep thinking back to learning GTD 10+ years ago and discovering the value of constraints.

The “Next Action” in GTD is basically the ultimate constraint on a problem that could have hundreds of possible actions.

You intentionally collapse possibility space:

• NOT forever,
• not because the other options are bad,
• but because keeping too many possibilities mentally active creates cognitive load

And I’m starting to wonder if that’s part of why identifying a true Next Action reduces stress so reliably.

You stop asking:
What are all the things I could do?

and (at least) temporarily answer:
“What is the one thing I’m actually doing next?

That feels different from simple task management. It feels more like regulating attention and reducing unresolved cognitive branching.

So here is my dilemma.

Currently I work a full time job, in construction on the management side.

Additionally I want to start something on my own that I never focus on while at work. I am trying to get my Supervisor License so I am currently studying for that.

I also run a small design company on the side as well, again I don't conduct this business while I am at work.

My wife recently started a business that I am helping out with in terms of marketing and admin stuff. It is a catering/food drop business.

I am married and also have 2 kids, 8F and 5M. 5M has autism so he does take a bit more attention but I also focus on my 8F making sure she does her homework and does her chores, etc.

I am trying to balance everything but I don't feel like 24 hours in a day is enough.

How can I balance everything? Currently trying to fit bits and pieces of each business everyday but I sometimes feel like i should give it a day of focus at a time, so Monday Evening Business 1, Tuesday Evening Business 2, Wednesday Evening ?Business 3. My kids would be priority everyday though.

Just trying to see how I can be productive, be efficient but not get drained out everyday.

I would say roughly I need 1 to 2 hours of focus on each business after work to be on top of it. I also doze off and get distracted by things which does not help.

Some things I want to work on and incorporate in my daily life I just don't know if i can:

1. Reading, I want to read books, even if it is just a chapter or 2 a day
2. Journaling, I have a task journal for all these things above but a daily life journal, i have one I just don't really keep up with it unless I go on Vacation which means last time i wrote it in it was March and Previously from that was... New years?

I take multivitamins everyday to stay healthy, I don't eat sugar or fried food, health wise i feel healthy but i just want to do work. I don't like sitting still but i do feel tired at times since I will sleep at 11 sometimes and my eyes open without an alarm around 4 which keeps me tired.

I am sorry if I am piece mealing information, I don't know what is relevant and what is irrelevant, I just have alot on my mind, it actually took me 7 days to finally sit down and post this since I have not been able to give it proper focus.

Hello.

Currently I am reading the book and trying to implement the GTD System.

But somehow I am struggling at the start with the physical stuff (larger items). Intuitively I sorted everything according to categories: Books, Tools, Tech/Cables, and so on… But somehow it still feels messy/unfinished.

Now I thought about sorting everything, each item, in an alphabethical A-Z System simply in Boxes, similar to the documents structure.

How do you handle physical stuff, what do you think?

I'm a law student. As a law student, I need to write papers/briefs/etc. For really big and more open ended projects, I found it really hard to clarify a next action for them. I end just writing down "work on the draft" or something like that. Figuring what I need to do is part of the creative process of going through cases and picking out helpful or not-so-helpful language, and then trying to put that together into a coherent argument. I guess I'm wondering how these sorts of projects fit into my GTD practice.

Should I just block of several hours of time to just get in there and get messy? For anyone that has work that is similar to this, how does it fit into your GTD practice?

Has anyone experimented with physical workflow/state cues in GTD?

I’ve noticed over the years that physically signaling a mode sometimes affects my cognition more than just mentally deciding what I’m doing.

At one point I literally put the word “CAPTURE” fullscreen on one of my monitors because I kept drifting into organizing or planning instead of actually capturing. I’ve also experimented with sticky notes, timers, desk objects, and environmental prompts tied to different modes.

More recently I started experimenting with a small cube with different GTD/workflow states on each face. When it’s flipped, the active face becomes a physical cue for the mode I’m supposed to be in.

What’s been interesting isn’t really the object itself, but how much easier mode-switching can feel when the state is externalized somehow instead of held entirely in my head.

Curious if other long-time GTD people have experimented with:

• environmental prompts
• physical reminders
• rituals tied to certain contexts
• visible/tangible workflow cues
• ways to reduce friction entering a mode

https://preview.redd.it/qg0m5qbjrc0h1.png?width=1320&format=png&auto=webp&s=862b2410577b564ef077f29b92c6bdae841fa7e1