Getting Things Done (GTD)
Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
Created by productivity consultant David Allen and published in his 2001 book of the same name, Getting Things Done — or GTD — is a workflow for managing commitments. Its core insight: open loops in your head create background anxiety that drains focus. The goal is to capture every commitment in an external system you trust completely, freeing your mind to do the actual work.
The five steps
Capture everything that has your attention — tasks, ideas, errands, worries — into a single inbox. Clarify each item: is it actionable? If yes, what's the next physical step? Organize the results into lists by context (calls, errands, computer, etc.). Reflect on those lists at least weekly to keep the system trusted. Engage by working from the lists with full attention.
The two-minute rule
During clarify, if a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. The overhead of capturing, organizing, and later finding the item again is more expensive than just doing it. This single rule clears most of the small-task pile that quietly overwhelms most people.
Why people give up — and how not to
GTD's reputation for being heavy is earned: the system breaks down without the weekly review. Skip the review and the lists go stale, you stop trusting them, and you slide back to keeping things in your head. Start small — one inbox, one next-actions list, one weekly review on Friday afternoon — before adding contexts and projects.