DECODING TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
A No-Nonsense Guide to the ‘Getting Things Done’ Method
Your guide to understanding what is the GTD Method by David Allen
A little personal history with GTD
When I fully completed my PKM back in July 2021, I used Notion’s databases to create an inferred version of GTD for tracking and prioritising my tasks. However, I was violating a lot of common principles laid out in “Getting Things Done” by David Allen because I didn’t read his book until recently, only inferring what I should be doing from tertiary information.
It was during the switch from Notion to Obsidian in October 2023, that I stopped using my inferred version of GTD and started researching the GTD Method in February 2024. The impact of this research profoundly changed my approach to time management.
I believe that the reason that “Getting Things Done” is a book that people own, but never read, is not due to a lack of quality in the idea but a lack of quality in the writing. For this reason, I am sharing my consolidated understanding of GTD, after studying this book back-to-front and what I have discovered from inferring GTD’s core message.
What is GTD?
GTD which stands for Getting Things Done, is a Time Management methodology for systematically externalising all commitments for effective prioritisation of energy and reducing Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue. Created by David Allen.
The Philosophy of GTD
GTD’s philosophy is based on overcoming nonlinear environments and achieving a state of “mind like water”, being able to respond to new inputs with clarity and flexibility, by managing action and not priorities or time.
You don’t manage five minutes and wind up with six. You don’t manage priorities, you have them. Instead, the key to managing all your “stuff” is managing your actions.
What you do with your time, what do you do with your body and focus relative to your priorities, those are the real options to which you must allocate your limited resources… The real issue is how we manage actions.
-David Allen
Ultimately, to enhance Executive Function and Creative Thinking by externalising all commitments into a trusted organisational system in a structured and systematic way, to allow for the reduction in Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue.
Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
-David Allen
Scope of Discussion
The GTD Method has a process for Knowledge Management. However, since the methodology is primarily about Time Management, these processes will be out of scope for this discussion.
Lastly, certain terminology and functions of GTD, have been rephrased or made redundant for precision. Justifications for these changes have been illuminated within the Personal Criticisms of GTD.
Key Definitions and Concepts
What is an Open-Loop & Closed-Loop?
An Open-Loop is an incomplete agreement made with yourself or an external party and can be anything physical or psychological, which commands your attention. An Open-Loop becomes a Closed-Loop once the agreement has been completed and no longer commands your attention.
An Open-Loop can be either Undefined, where the desired outcome and the Tasks to move towards its completion, haven’t been determined. Or, Defined, where the desired outcome and Tasks have been determined.
What is the Task?
A Task is a physical, visible activity that needs to be done to move an Open-Loop toward. The Next Task is simply the current Task that needs to be completed.
What is an Effort?
An Effort is a grouping of Tasks, which are related to an Open-Loop that requires multiple Tasks to complete or maintain.
What is an Inbox?
An Inbox is either a physical or digital place of information collection. The inputs into an Inbox can either be self-generated (self to self) or externally generated (someone to other). Multiple Inboxes may exist for different forms of information and may be manually or automatically collected. Examples;
- Mail or E-mail inbox
- Paper or digital note-taking spaces.
- In-try
What is a List?
A List is either a physical or digital place to track and categorise Open-Loops and subdividing Tasks by how they should be Engaged with to move a Defined Open-Loop towards becoming a Close-Loop.
The Four Core Activities of GTD
The GTD Method has four core activities; Capture, Clarify, Reflect, and Engage, to fulfil its four key objectives;
- To collect all Undefined Open-Loops for transformation.
- To transform Undefined Open-Loops into Defined Open-Loops.
- To facilitate implementation and renegotiation of Defined Open Loops.
- To move each Defined Open-Loop towards becoming a Closed-Loop.
The effectiveness of the GTD Method is only as good as the weakest point in the four core activities. Each needs to be integrated and supported for a consistent standard to be maintained.
To Capture
Capture is the activity of processing all physical or digital Undefined Open-Loops from all Inboxes. Success in the Capturing activity will depend on the following requirements;
- Every Open-Loop is collected within an Inbox.
- To have as few Inboxes as possible.
- Emptying the Inboxes regularly through the Clarifying activity.
To Clarify
Clarify is the activity of transforming an Undefined Open-Loop into a Defined Open-Loop. Success in the Clarifying activity will depend on emptying each Inbox, organising, and effectively answering the question; “What is it?”.
While Clarifying, there are some basic guidelines to follow;
- Process the top item in the Inbox first.
- Process one item at a time.
- Sort each item to its correct location.
- Never put an item back into the Inbox.
The first time you pick something up from your Inbox, decide what to do about it and where it goes. Never put it back into the Inbox.
-David Allen
First, deem if the Open-Loop is Actionable or Nonactionable;
- Trash It. No immediate or future Actionable.
- Incubate It. No immediate but potential future Actionable.
- Clarify It. There is immediate or near future Actionable.
Secondly, deem if the Next Task can be completed within two-minutes;
- Do It. If the Next Task is compatible within two-minutes.
- Defer It. If the Next Task isn’t compatible within two-minutes.
Thirdly, determine where and how the Next Task should be handled;
- Delegate It. If you're not the right person for the Task, communicate the desired outcome, priority and time-sensitivity of the Task to the right person and track its progress.
- Add to Calendar. If you are the right person and the Task absolutely has to be done by or on a specific time or day.
- Add to Next List. If you are the right person and the Task doesn’t absolutely have to be done by or on a specific time or day.
Lastly, contextualise and organise the Task into a List based on the following four factors; Context, Time, Energy, Priority, and Effort.
- Context. Does it require the use of a certain device or location?
- Time. How much time does it require to complete?
- Energy. How much or type of energy does it require?
- Priority. Given the options, which has the highest payoff?
- Effort. Is this related to an Open-Loop which is a multiple-step process?
The Two-Minute Guideline Two-minutes to Do It is a guideline and not a rule. If time allows for longer periods of Clarifying, then five or ten-minutes per Next Task may be allowed. While shorter periods of Clarifying may only allow for one-minute or less.
Organisation While Clarifying, these Defined Open-Loops will naturally result in Tasks being sorted and organised into Lists. The number of Lists and their structure can be anything, as long as it fulfils the following requirements;
- Incubation. A List of Nonactionable Tasks, held for the future.
- Next List. A List of Actionable Tasks, that are not time-sensitive. Sorted within one or multiple Lists based on their contextualise factors.
- Efforts. A List of Tasks which are categorised by their relation to a multi-step Open-Loop.
- Delegated. A waiting List of Open-Loops given to a third party.
- Calendar. Where Actionable Tasks which are time-sensitive are Listed.
To Reflect
Reflect is the activity of periodically reviewing all Defined Open-Loops and making adjustments to regain control and realign priorities. Success in the Reflecting activity will depend on regularly reviewing the Calendar and Lists.
There are two dimensions to Reflecting; The Interval and the Scope.
- Interval. Is the frequency that the review process is undertaken.
- Scope. Is the extent of future context, used in setting priorities.
Both Interval and Scope are linked together. Frequent review leads to a narrow Scope of review. While infrequent review leads to a broad Scope of review. Usually done; Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly.
- Daily. To review current Tasks.
- Weekly. To plan Tasks, and review current Efforts.
- Monthly. To plan Efforts, and review short-term goals.
- Yearly. To plan short-term goals, and review long-term goals.
- Decade. To plan long-term goals, and review life purpose.
Reflecting upon the Scope, allowing for the setting of Priorities on the Weekly and Daily basis, either from a Top-Down or Bottom-Up view. For example;
- Top-Down. Creating options to get to the destination.
- Bottom-Up. Picking from the options to get to the destination.
The Calendar and Next List(s) should be reviewed Daily and Weekly to dictate where time and energy should be used on a Daily and Weekly basis. Monthly and Yearly reviews are used to plan and review future Priorities and check the Delegated and Incubation Lists.
Lastly, it’s ideal to have a Purge Day at the end of each Week or Year while Reflecting upon your Lists, to remove completed or irrelevant Loops.
To Engage
Engage is the activity of performing and choosing which Task to complete. Success in the Engaging activity depends on the effective prioritisation of time and energy.
There are three ways of Engaging with Daily tasks; Doing Predefined Action, Doing Ad-hoc Action, and Defining Action.
- Doing Predefined Action. Is the activity of working through the appropriate Next List(s), based on matching the Next Task with the corresponding availability of Context, Time, and Energy. Giving preference to time-sensitive Tasks on the Calendar.
- Doing Ad-hoc Action. Is the activity of working through or prioritising unsuspected and unforeseen Open-Loops. Suspending Doing Predefined Action for Doing Ad-hoc Action, is an indication that the current activity is more important than Doing Predefined Action.
- Defining Action. Is the activity of working through Do It Tasks during the Clarifying process. Switching to completing these two-minute Open-Loops is an act of Engaging with the Open-Loops.
Getting Started with GTD
To begin using the GTD Method will require the gathering of all physical, digital and psychological Undefined Open-Loops into one place for processing. This has several benefits;
- It lends insight to the volume of commitments made.
- It shows where the end of the tunnel is.
- It prevents psychological distraction, since all that commands attention is in front of the user, allowing them to operate from a position of focus.
This process should take between 2 hours and 2 days depending on the number of Open-Loops, the complexity of the Open-Loops and the system being utilised.
Physical and Digital Gathering This entails searching the physical and digital environments for any Undefined Open-Loops and placing it or a reference to it within an Inbox.
Psychological Gathering This entails searching through the mind and writing out each thought and idea, as an Undefined Open-Loop and placing it within an Inbox. It is recommended to have a “Trigger List” to assist in clearing your head.
It’s important to capture everything so it doesn’t work away in the back of your mind and taking up RAM space. The point is to reduce your background RAM usage.
-David Allen
Personal Criticisms of GTD
Veterans of the GTD Method may have noticed that certain terminology, functions and concepts have been rephrased or made redundant. My justification for these changes is for the precision and condensing of the GTD Method to its core spirit and David Allan’s intended objective for GTD.
Consolidating the Organisation Activity
Organising is not a distinct activity separate from Clarifying, because Clarifying naturally lends itself to organising Open-Loops either automatically, through the use of software or manually during the Clarification process.
Rephrasing “Projects” to “Efforts”
The term “Project” was rephrased to “Efforts” because I don’t believe it’s within the spirit of GTD and is simply a holdover of business vernacular.
You don’t actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it…
I define a “project” as any outcome you’re committed to achieving that will take more than one action step to complete.
-David Allen
GTD’s philosophy is based on overcoming nonlinear environments, or simply put broad and ever-shifting responsibility. The project-oriented methodology is in contrast to this philosophy. Additionally, while GTD is meticulous in providing answers to nearly every edge case. It, however, doesn’t satisfy the question of ongoing commitments, which can’t be completed, and are related to an overarching Open-Loop.
For these reasons, I would suggest swapping out the term and definition to include this broader understanding and only subdividing the Open-Loops when an edge can be distinctly definable and has a deadline.
Squishy Lists
The creation of Lists, filled with crude placeholders that are not specific and clearly outline what the Next Task is, will lead to the formation of “squishy lists”. This is a common violation in GTD, where you have to rethink the Open-Loop again in the future, to understand what the Next Task is.
A “squishy list” is a List of Undefined Open-Loops which represent larger conceptual ideas, which are not clear and create more stress and actional paralysis. For example; “Reorg”, “Mum” and “German”. These are reminders and don’t give clear guidance on what should be done.
To know if you have fallen for this trap, take out a Task and ask yourself;
“Do I need to rethink this or is it absolutely self-evident what it is?”.
If it’s not the latter and you start accumulating these vague Tasks, you will soon find yourself resisting the Reflecting process. Tasks should be Clarified to the point where someone else, with no prior knowledge, can do it.
- “Buy a birthday gift for mum before X” not “Mum”.
- “Talk to X about outsourcing IT for proposal for reorganisation submitted to the executive committee” not “Reorg”.
- “Do German coursework on the phone for 15 minutes” not “German”.
Historical Development of GTD
Before GTD, Time Management methodologies often focused on prioritising tasks based on their importance and urgency, a concept which started with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, and led to the widely known Eisenhower Method.
This concept was formalised into business management culture with Alan Lakein’s book “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life” in 1973, with the ABC priority system. Which was extended into the ABCD priority system to mirror the Eisenhower Method popularised by Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in 1989.
The late 20th century saw a shift in the work environment, due to technological advancements and the rise of information volume. This presented challenges for traditional Time Management methods, which were not designed to handle a constant flow of information and the dynamic of modern Knowledge Work.
This led to the radical departure from traditional Time Management methods with the GTD Method. Rejecting this methodology for Context-Based Actions to maximise efficiency and flexibility, while focusing on the next actionable step, rather than planning out every detail from start to end. Using a review system to align current efforts with goals and responsibilities.
If you enjoyed this in-depth breakdown, give us a follow to be notified for more content like this!
