# Getting Things Done: a plain guide to David Allen's method

> GTD gets everything you have to do out of your head and into a system you trust, in five steps. What it is, how to start, the mistakes, and where it fits.

Source: https://priortasks.com/guides/getting-things-done/
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Getting Things Done, usually called GTD, is a method for getting everything you have to do out of your head and into a system you trust, so you can decide what to do next without carrying it all in mind. David Allen published it in 2001 in *Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity* and revised the book in 2015.

## The five steps

The [official GTD site](https://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/) describes the method in five steps.

1. **Capture.** Collect everything that has your attention, from tasks and requests to ideas and worries, in a small number of places you trust.
2. **Clarify.** Take each item and decide what it is. If you cannot act on it, throw it away, file it as reference, or park it for later. If you can, decide the very next physical action. If that action takes less than two minutes, do it now: Allen calls this the two-minute rule. If the outcome needs more than one action, it is a project, and you keep the project and its next action.
3. **Organize.** Put each reminder where you will see it at the right time. In Allen's setup that means a calendar for things tied to a day or a time, a list of next actions, a list of projects, a "waiting for" list for what other people owe you, and a "someday/maybe" list for ideas you are not committing to.
4. **Reflect.** Look at your lists regularly. A short look every day, and a longer [weekly review](https://priortasks.com/guides/weekly-review/) to keep the whole system current.
5. **Engage.** Choose what to do from the lists. Allen suggests four questions: where am I, how much time do I have, how much energy do I have, and what matters most.

## Why it works

Unfinished tasks tend to stay on your mind. In a set of studies published in 2011, E. J. Masicampo and Roy Baumeister found that unfulfilled goals kept intruding on people's thinking, and that writing a specific plan for them removed the intrusion even though the goals were not yet done (*Journal of Personality and Social Psychology*). That is the logic behind capturing and clarifying: once the next step is written down, your mind can let go of the item.

A concrete next action also has a lower start-up cost than a vague project. "Website" is a worry. "Email Sam to ask for the logo files" is something you can do in a minute.

There is little research on GTD as a whole. The case rests on findings like this one and on the many people who use it.

## How to start

1. **Empty your head.** Set a timer for 30 minutes and write down everything that is on your mind, one item per line. Do not sort yet.
2. **Process the list from the top.** Take one item at a time and never put it back. Ask whether it is actionable, then decide as in step 2 above.
3. **Make the lists.** Next actions, projects, waiting for, someday/maybe, and your calendar for things tied to a date.
4. **Review once a week.** Fix a time, and keep it.
5. **Choose from the lists.** Pick by where you are, the time you have, your energy and what matters most.

Here is what happens to five raw items:

| Raw item | What you decide |
| --- | --- |
| "Website" | A project: "Launch my portfolio site". Next action: "Write the About paragraph". |
| "Sam has not sent the logo" | Waiting for: "Logo from Sam, asked Monday". Look at it again on Friday. |
| "Mum's birthday on the 18th" | On the calendar, with the next action "Order flowers" this week. |
| "Learn guitar" | Someday/maybe. |
| "Reply to the landlord" | Takes two minutes: do it now. |

## Mistakes to avoid

- **Treating the inbox as a list.** Processing means deciding. An item that goes back into the inbox has not been processed.
- **Writing projects as next actions.** "Taxes" is a project. "Find last year's tax notice" is an action.
- **Letting the review lapse.** The system is only as good as your trust in it, and that trust depends on reviewing it.
- **Putting soft intentions on the calendar.** Keep it for things that really happen on a day or at a time, or you will stop believing it.
- **Building the perfect system.** More lists and labels do not help if you spend your time tending them.

## When it is the wrong tool

- **When you have few commitments.** A short list is enough.
- **For work shared with a team.** GTD is personal. Shared work needs a shared board.
- **When your problem is choosing between goals.** GTD organizes the work, it does not tell you what deserves it. Pair it with the [Eisenhower matrix](https://priortasks.com/guides/eisenhower-matrix/).
- **When the overhead is the thing you avoid.** A lighter method will survive longer.

## In Prior

Prior does not follow GTD to the letter. The steps map like this.

| GTD | In Prior |
| --- | --- |
| Capture | The quick add field on Today, <kbd>N</kbd> from any page, the global shortcut on desktop (<kbd>Cmd</kbd> <kbd>Shift</kbd> <kbd>Space</kbd> or <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> <kbd>Shift</kbd> <kbd>Space</kbd> by default), and the Android widget. |
| Clarify | Write the title as an action, give it a priority, and add a due date only for real deadlines. Add a project, checklist items or sub-tasks. |
| Organize | Areas and Projects. Statuses: **Todo**, **Waiting**, **Backlog**. The Calendar for what is tied to a time. |
| Reflect | The weekly review and the evening wrap-up. |
| Engage | Today, the Focus timer, and the Priority lens. |

Some details:

- **There is no separate task inbox.** A task you add starts as a next action (the status menu calls it **Todo**). The **Inbox** status is for tasks you have not clarified: it shows as its own group in **All tasks**, and a thought you park from the Focus page lands there. The **Inbox** entry in the sidebar is your email, not a task list.
- **Waiting for** is the **Waiting** status. The **Waiting** page lists what others owe you and how long it has been. **Follow up** sets a date in 2 days, next week or on a day you pick, or copies a ready-made reminder message. **Received** closes the item.
- **Someday/maybe** is **Backlog**. In the weekly review, **Someday** clears a task's dates and parks it there.
- **Projects need a next action.** The weekly review lists active or planned projects that have no open task you could start, and lets you add one on the spot.
- **There are no context lists** such as "at the computer". The Kanban layout of **All tasks** can group by project, priority or due date instead.
- **Review.** Press <kbd>Cmd</kbd> <kbd>K</kbd> or <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> <kbd>K</kbd> and choose **Weekly review**, or wait for the card on Today on Friday afternoon.

See [Statuses and the inbox](https://priortasks.com/docs/tasks/statuses-and-inbox/) for how the statuses behave, [Quick capture](https://priortasks.com/docs/tasks/quick-capture/) for the capture options, and [Weekly review](https://priortasks.com/docs/planning/weekly-review/) for the review.