Task creation framework (GTD)

What is “GTD”?

GTD—or “Getting things done”—is a framework for organizing and tracking your tasks and projects.

One of the basic assumptions of GTD is that you are dumb—or, rather, that your subconsciousness is quite dumb when it comes to thinking about things you should have done. For example knowing you need to fix your bike before next week, but instead of reminding you when you actually drive by the bicycle shop, it implants an incessant feeling of “I need to remember… something” in your brain.

Jessica Kerr put it perfectly:

Pretend your brain is a white board. Is it covered with to-do lists and “DO NOT ERASE”? Is there space for drawing and combining ideas?

A primary objective of GTD is to convert both tasks and whims into physical and visible actions.

I use the following category names to track the lifecycle of GTD tasks.

1. Processing

2. Next actions

3. On hold

4. Projects

5. Wishlist

The "Processing" list

The Processing list is where you capture ideas and tasks as they occur to you. The barrier for adding something to your in list should be as low as possible—write it down, type it up, or speak it.

When you first start to use a GTD framework you should take some time to write down all things you want to—or have to—do. These so-called open loops include all things that aren’t as they should be, where they should be, and so on.

The items on your Processing list should be processed one by one in the order they appear on your list. When processing an item in your in list the first question you need to ask is: is it actionable?—in other words, do you need to do something? If the answer is NO, you either throw it away if you no longer need it, keep it as reference material, add it to a “some day/maybe list”, or incubate it.

If the item you’re currently processing is actionable—in other words: something should be done about it—you should ask the question “what is the next action?” The next action needs to be a physical and visible action. In other words, not “plan cake lottery”, but “e-mail Arthur and Camille and remind them to bake their cakes”.

This very thing—that a next action should be the next physical, visible action to move the project closer to its goal—is perhaps the most important “rule” in GTD. By using a few extra seconds to come up with what physically needs to be done, you make sure that your “next action” lists will only contain the things you can choose to do at any moment. The “pre-processing” has already been done (the actions themselves may very well be planning tasks, though) and this greatly lowers the resistance to do the things.

When you have determined the next action, you should consider if it takes less than two minutes to do it. If this is the case: do it. Right away. The reason for this is simple: if the action takes two minutes or less, the overhead of tracking it will be large compared to how long it takes to just do it. If it takes more than two minutes you should delegate it if appropriate—noting what was delegated, and when—on a waiting for list, or add it to your own next actions list of things you want to do as soon as you have the time. Unless your secret superpower is delegation, next actions is probably where most things will end up. If the open loop will take more than one action to close, the overall goal should also be noted on a projects list which will be explained in a few sections.

The "Next actions" list

Another name for these actions is “as-soon-as-possible actions”—it is simply those things from which you will pick out what to work on.

The "On hold" list

When you delegate work to others, send an e-mail you expect (or need) a reply to, order something, or have a task that is “blocked” because you are waiting for someone else to do something, it should be written down on your waiting for list. These items should always be marked with the current date.

The "Projects" list

GTD’s definition of a project is very broad. It defines any objective that requires more than one action as a project. These projects should go on your projects list. This list is simply a list of project titles and—if you like—descriptions and intended outcomes of the projects. When reviewing the projects list, you will make sure that there is always at least one action on your next actions list for each project, thus making sure that your projects aren’t forgotten.

The "Wishlist" list

GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done