Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity methodology developed by David Allen in 2001, designed to help individuals achieve stress-free productivity by capturing all commitments, clarifying actionable steps, organizing systematically, reviewing regularly, and engaging with work appropriately. The core principle is that your mind is for having ideas, not holding them—by externalizing all open loops into a trusted system, you free mental bandwidth for creative thinking and appropriate engagement. GTD achieves what Allen calls a "mind like water" state: responding appropriately to whatever appears without overreaction or underreaction, enabling peak performance through complete clarity on all commitments.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 17 focused tables and 119 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
Table 1: The Five Core Workflow Steps
| Step | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
Write "Call dentist" in inbox app immediately when thought occurs | • Collect every task, idea, commitment, and open loop into designated collection tools (physical inbox, digital app, notebook) • capture as soon as something gets your attention—never rely on memory | |
Ask "Is it actionable? What's the next physical action?" for each inbox item | • Process each captured item by asking: Is it actionable? If yes, define the next physical visible action • if no, decide to trash, incubate (Someday/Maybe), or file as reference | |
Put "Call dentist" on @Phone context list, file research article in reference folder | Place clarified items into appropriate lists and folders: Next Actions by context, Projects list, Waiting For, Calendar (time-specific only), Reference, Someday/Maybe |