Getting Things Done on paper (David Allen)

A reference for David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD): where it came from, the five steps, every list, the weekly review, the tickler file, the horizons of focus, how people run it on paper, what the research supports, and what Journalwright Studio should take from it.

Checked against sources on 2026-09-28. Where a detail couldn't be confirmed from a primary source, it's marked (unconfirmed).

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1. At a glance

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2. Summary

Getting Things Done is a system for getting every commitment out of your head and into a trusted set of lists, then deciding what to do next based on where you are, how much time and energy you have, and what matters. It has five steps: capture what has your attention, clarify what each thing means and what the next physical action is, organise the reminders into the right lists, reflect by reviewing weekly, and engage by choosing what to do with confidence. The lists are an inbox, next actions sorted by context (calls, errands, computer, home), projects (anything needing more than one step), waiting for, someday/maybe, a calendar for things that must happen on a day, reference, and a tickler file of 43 folders that "mails" things back to you on a date. Above daily actions sit "horizons of focus": projects, areas of responsibility, goals, vision and purpose. David Allen published it in 2001 and rewrote it in 2015. It took off with software and "life hacker" communities, and a strong paper culture grew around it, including Merlin Mann's Hipster PDA (index cards and a binder clip, 2004). The science is indirect but decent: unfinished goals nag at the mind, and writing a specific plan quiets them. The weak spot is the weekly review, which most people skip. For Journalwright Studio it fits as a capture box, a short next-actions block by context, a waiting-for strip, and a weekly review checklist, with a lighter version for low-spoon weeks.

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3. History and origin

Who created it

David Allen was born on 28 December 1945 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He studied at New College of Florida and did graduate work in American history at UC Berkeley. He left the PhD and, by his own telling, had "35 professions before age 35", including teaching karate (he holds a black belt) (karate detail from press profiles, unconfirmed). He is an ordained minister of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA), a new-age church. In the 1980s he moved into management consulting and executive coaching, including productivity work for Lockheed. He founded the David Allen Company, which he runs with his wife Kathryn, to teach GTD through seminars, coaching and certified trainers worldwide. He moved from Ojai, California to Amsterdam in 2014.

His company's bio says Forbes named him one of the top five executive coaches in the US, and that Time called Getting Things Done "the definitive business self-help book of the decade".

Timeline

Cultural context

• Knowledge work and email. GTD arrived just as email took over office life. Its promise of "inbox zero" (a phrase Merlin Mann popularised, not Allen) fitted the moment.
• Tech and life hacking. Engineers liked its flowchart logic. Karlsson's 2006 thesis notes GTD was embraced most by people in IT, and describes a "life hacker" subculture with Allen as its icon.
• Paper revival. The Hipster PDA was a joke about expensive PDAs, but it made paper GTD cool and cheap. The same instinct later fed the Bullet Journal (2013).
• Spiritual undertone. "Mind like water", a phrase Allen took from martial arts, frames productivity as calm presence, not speed.

Key quotes

• "Being creative, strategic, and simply present and loving don't require time—they require space." (gettingthingsdone.com)
• On the Weekly Review: "Do it, it lives and grows. Don't do it, it dies."
• On the tickler file: it "demands only one-second-per-day new behavior to make it work".
• On setup: tools should be "simple enough that if you were sick in bed with the flu you could still easily maintain them." (Paper Organizers Setup Guide)
• On horizons: "Whereas we may have some lower levels in control, there are often incomplete and unclear issues at higher levels".
• Widely quoted: "Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them." (wording varies between editions; unconfirmed exact text)

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4. Philosophy and principles

Stated goals

• "Stress-free productivity": clear head, confident choices.
• Control (things are captured and handled) and perspective (you know what matters).
• Be present with whatever you're doing, because nothing else is nagging.

Core beliefs

1. Open loops drain attention. Anything you've committed to but not captured and decided keeps pulling at your mind.
2. The mind is a poor office. Memory is for thinking, not storage. Put reminders in a trusted external system.
3. Decide the next action. Vague items ("mom", "taxes") create resistance. A concrete physical next step ("call mom about Sunday") makes action easy.
4. Outcome + action. Every project needs a clear outcome and at least one next action.
5. Trust comes from review. Lists only calm you if you know they're complete and current, which takes a weekly review.
6. Bottom-up first. Get control of daily stuff before working on higher goals.
7. Choose in the moment. You don't rank tasks in advance. You choose by context, time, energy, then priority.
8. Mind like water. Respond to each input in proportion, then return to calm.

The problem it solves

• A head full of loose to-dos and background worry.
• Things falling through the cracks.
• Lists that don't get used because they're vague or stale.

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5. Core components

5.1 Capture

Collect "what has your attention" into as few inboxes as possible. On paper: one pocket notebook or a stack of index cards, plus an in-tray at home for mail and paper. Rule: capture everything, and empty inboxes regularly. The first big capture is a "mind sweep", often an hour or more, using a trigger list (work, home, health, money, people, errands).

5.2 Clarify (process)

Take one item at a time from the top. Never put anything back in "in".

What is it?
   |
Is it actionable?
   |-- NO --> Trash
   |          Someday/maybe (incubate) or Tickler
   |          Reference
   |
   '-- YES -> What's the successful outcome?  (more than one step = PROJECT, add to Projects list)
              What's the next action?
                 |-- under 2 minutes -> DO IT now
                 |-- someone else    -> DELEGATE -> Waiting for
                 '-- me, later       -> DEFER -> Calendar (if day/time specific)
                                                 or Next actions list (by context)

5.3 The two-minute rule

If the next action takes less than two minutes, do it during clarifying. Filing it would take longer than doing it. (Karlsson's thesis notes that skipping the rule is one route to GTD becoming procrastination.)

5.4 Next actions lists and contexts

Each action is a concrete, visible, physical step ("Call clinic re refill: 509-555-0100", not "meds"). Lists are sorted by the context you need: a phone, a computer, a place, a person. The official paper guide gives the example that if you need to be at your computer, the action goes on a "Computer" list. The 2015 edition loosens contexts, since phones now do almost everything; many people now use energy or time contexts (@low energy, @15 min) instead.

5.5 Projects list

Any outcome needing more than one action within about a year. Written as an outcome ("Name change done on bank account"). Allen's horizons article says most people have 30–100 projects. The list is an index, not a plan; plans go in project support.

5.6 Waiting for

Items you've delegated or are expecting: who, what, date asked. Reviewed weekly; follow up when stale. This list is very useful for bureaucracy (insurance appeals, document changes, landlord repairs).

5.7 Calendar: the "hard landscape"

Only three things go on the calendar: time-specific actions (appointments), day-specific actions (must happen that day), and day-specific information (useful to know that day). No "I'd like to" items, so the calendar stays trustworthy.

5.8 Someday/maybe

Ideas and possible projects you're not committed to now. Reviewed weekly to activate or delete. Keeps the projects list honest.

5.9 Reference

Non-actionable information you want to keep. Allen favours a simple A–Z general file. The paper guide notes a paper organizer can't hold all reference; expect folders or digital storage too.

5.10 The tickler file (43 folders)

Twelve monthly folders plus 31 daily folders (1–31). Put an item in the folder for the day you want to see it again. Each day, empty today's folder into your inbox and move that folder to the back. At month's start, redistribute the month folder into the daily folders. Allen calls it being "your own post office", and says it takes "one second per day". Examples he gives: tickets, receipts awaiting delivery, meeting papers, reminders to pay taxes, car maintenance. The idea is older than GTD: date-labelled tickler cards were used in early 20th-century law offices, and clinics use them to track vaccination due dates.

5.11 Weekly Review

Allen calls it "the critical success factor". The official checklist (David Allen Company, 2008):

Get Clear

1. Collect loose papers and materials into the in-tray.
2. Get "IN" to zero: process all papers, notes, voicemails and email.
3. Empty your head: write down any new projects, actions, waiting-fors and someday/maybes.

Get Current

1. Review action lists: mark off done items, note new steps.
2. Review previous calendar data for leftover actions.
3. Review upcoming calendar, long and short term.
4. Review waiting-for list.
5. Review project (and larger outcome) lists: each project needs at least one next action.
6. Review any relevant checklists.

Get Creative

1. Review someday/maybe: activate or delete.
2. Be creative and courageous: add any "new, wonderful, hare-brained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas".

Allen suggests early Friday afternoon, so small actions it surfaces can still reach people at work. He recommends putting "do weekly review" in your calendar for the next four Fridays.

5.12 Horizons of focus

From gettingthingsdone.com ("The 6 Horizons of Focus", 2011, updated 2018):

Priorities flow top down, but Allen suggests getting control bottom up first.

5.13 Engage models

• Four criteria for choosing an action in the moment, in order: context, time available, energy available, priority.
• Threefold nature of work: doing predefined work (from lists), doing work as it shows up, and defining work (clarifying).
• Six-level model: the horizons above, used to judge priority.

5.14 Natural planning model

For projects that need thought: purpose (why), principles (standards), vision (what done looks like), brainstorm, organise, next actions. On paper, one page per project.

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6. Setting it up

The official paper guide suggests ten tabbed sections: Notes/In, Calendar, Next Actions Lists, Agendas, Projects, Project Support, Someday/Maybe, Focus & Direction, Reference, Contacts. It recommends blank forms over pre-printed fields, which are "visually distracting".

First setup (half a day, or split over a week)

1. Get supplies: a binder or notebook with ten tabs (or fewer, see below), a capture tool (index cards or a pocket notebook), an in-tray, optionally 43 folders.
2. Collect: gather all loose paper, notes and stuff into the in-tray.
3. Mind sweep: write every open loop, one per line or card. Use a trigger list (work, home, body, money, people, errands, paperwork, someday).
4. Clarify: go top to bottom with the decision tree. Two-minute items: do them.
5. Organise: write next actions on context pages; outcomes on the projects page; delegated items on waiting for; dated items on the calendar; maybes on someday/maybe.
6. Check: every project has at least one next action.
7. Schedule the Weekly Review: a fixed slot.

Minimal paper set (for most people): one notebook with five sections: In, Next actions (by context), Projects, Waiting for, Someday/maybe. Use the calendar you already have.

First day

• Carry the capture tool everywhere. Capture anything that pops up.
• Once in the day, clarify the inbox.
• When you have a gap, look at the context list for where you are.

First week

• Days 1–3: capture and clarify daily; expect the lists to feel huge.
• Day 4: prune: move doubtful projects to someday/maybe.
• Day 5 (Friday): first Weekly Review, following the checklist. Expect 1–2 hours.
• Days 6–7: notice which lists you never look at; merge or drop them.

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7. Daily practice

About 10 minutes, plus capture during the day.

Morning (5 min)

1. Check the calendar: the hard landscape first.
2. Empty today's tickler folder into your inbox (if you use one).
3. Glance at next actions for today's contexts.

Through the day (seconds each)

• Capture every new commitment or idea to the capture tool.
• When you have time, choose an action using the four criteria: Where am I? How much time? How much energy? What matters most?

Once a day (5 min, any time)

1. Clarify the inbox to zero: trash, do (under 2 min), delegate, defer, file, incubate.
2. Cross off done actions; write the next one for that project.

Prompts

• What's the very next physical action?
• What does "done" look like?
• Who am I waiting on?
• What's on my mind right now?
• What can I do from here, with the energy I have?

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8. Rhythms

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9. Page anatomy

Capture card (3×5 index card, Hipster PDA style)

+----------------------------------+
| IN                      date ___ |
|----------------------------------|
| - ______________________________ |
| - ______________________________ |
| - ______________________________ |
| - ______________________________ |
| - ______________________________ |
+----------------------------------+

Next actions by context (one notebook page)

Half-inch headings; 5–8 lines each; checkbox left.

+---------------------------------------------+
| NEXT ACTIONS                    week of ___ |
|---------------------------------------------|
| @ CALLS                                     |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| @ ERRANDS / OUT                             |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| @ HOME                                      |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| @ COMPUTER / PHONE                          |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
| @ LOW ENERGY                                |
| [ ] _______________________________________ |
+---------------------------------------------+

Projects list

+---------------------------------------------+
| PROJECTS  (outcome, written as done)   NA?  |
|---------------------------------------------|
| ____________________________________  [ ]   |
| ____________________________________  [ ]   |
| ____________________________________  [ ]   |
+---------------------------------------------+
  NA? = has a next action on a list (tick at review)

Waiting for

+---------------------------------------------+
| WAITING FOR                                 |
| WHO        | WHAT                | ASKED    |
|------------+---------------------+----------|
| __________ | ___________________ | __/__    |
| __________ | ___________________ | __/__    |
+---------------------------------------------+

Day page (GTD-flavoured)

+---------------------------------------------+
| DATE / TITLE / TAGS                         |
|---------------------------------------------|
| HARD LANDSCAPE (calendar)                   |
|  9:00 ____________   2:00 ____________      |
|---------------------------------------------|
| IN (capture)                                |
| - __________________________________        |
| - __________________________________        |
|---------------------------------------------|
| NEXT, BY WHERE I AM                         |
| @out [ ] ________   @home [ ] ________      |
| @call[ ] ________   @low  [ ] ________      |
|---------------------------------------------|
| WAITING: ______ from ______                 |
+---------------------------------------------+

Weekly review (one page)

+---------------------------------------------+
| WEEKLY REVIEW                  date ______  |
| GET CLEAR                                   |
| [ ] loose papers in  [ ] in to zero         |
| [ ] empty my head                           |
| GET CURRENT                                 |
| [ ] next actions     [ ] last week's cal    |
| [ ] next 2 weeks' cal [ ] waiting for       |
| [ ] projects (each has a next action)       |
| [ ] checklists                              |
| GET CREATIVE                                |
| [ ] someday/maybe    [ ] one bold idea:     |
|  _________________________________________  |
+---------------------------------------------+

Tickler (paper, book-friendly)

A card box or accordion file with tabs 1–31 and Jan–Dec. In a bound book, a page with 31 short lines stands in (you write "see page" pointers, not papers).

TICKLER - OCTOBER
 1 ______   9 ______  17 ______  25 ______
 2 ______  10 ______  18 ______  26 ______
 ...
 8 ______  16 ______  24 ______  31 ______

Horizons (Focus & Direction page)

PURPOSE (50k) ________________________________
VISION 3-5 yr (40k) __________________________
GOALS 1-2 yr (30k) ___________________________
AREAS (20k): health | money | home | work | people | ____
PROJECTS (10k): see projects list
RUNWAY: calendar + next actions

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10. Worked examples

Sample data only (made up).

A day (Tuesday, day off)

HARD LANDSCAPE
 10:30 Dentist (bus 4, leave 9:55)
 Day-specific: library books due

IN
- neighbour's package?
- idea: soup for the week
- Sam's birthday Sat
- form from clinic arrived

CLARIFY
 neighbour's package -> 2 min, texted them (done)
 soup -> project "Freezer has 4 soups"; NA @home: list ingredients
 Sam's birthday -> project "Sam has card by Sat"; NA @out: buy card
 clinic form -> NA @home: fill section 2; tickler Thu to mail

NEXT, BY WHERE I AM
 @out   [x] return library books  [x] buy card
 @home  [x] list soup ingredients [ ] fill clinic form s.2
 @call  [ ] pharmacy re refill
 @low   [x] sort mail pile
WAITING: insurance appeal from Blue Plan (asked 9/2)

A week (Friday Weekly Review)

GET CLEAR    [x] papers in  [x] in to zero (14 items)  [x] head empty (+5)
GET CURRENT  [x] actions: 11 done, 4 moved
             [x] last week's cal: follow up with Dr. re results
             [x] next 2 weeks: shift swap Wed -> NA @call manager
             [x] waiting: insurance appeal 31 days -> NA @call Blue Plan
             [x] projects: 12 active, 2 had no NA (fixed), 1 done
             [x] checklist: monthly bills
GET CREATIVE [x] someday: "learn to bind books" -> still someday
             [x] bold idea: ask about four-day schedule
Took 40 min. Energy: medium.

A month (Horizon 2 check + tickler)

OCTOBER - AREAS
 health   : refill, dentist, walks 3/wk -> ok
 money    : bills ok; appeal pending -> waiting
 home     : soup project done
 work     : schedule ask -> waiting on manager
 people   : Sam card done; call J -> NA added
 papers   : name change: bank done, DMV next -> NA @out
Tickler: moved November folder into days 1-30.

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11. Variations and offshoots

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12. Community practice

What people actually do (GTD forums at forum.gettingthingsdone.com, Reddit r/gtd and r/bulletjournal, blogs, YouTube setup tours):

• Paper for capture, digital for lists is the most common hybrid.
• Pure paper: Moleskine or A5 notebook with context pages; or a Filofax/ring binder with tabs (easy to add and remove pages).
• Index cards: one card per context or project, a clip or small box. Loved because cards can be tossed when done and reshuffled.
• Contexts shrink: many people now use three or four (@out, @home, @phone, @anywhere) or energy/time contexts.
• Weekly review is the sticking point: forum threads constantly ask how to keep doing it; common fixes are a shorter checklist, a fixed café visit, or a "mini review" midweek.
• Customised checklists: Allen encourages writing your own weekly review list.
• Aesthetic camp: GTD spreads in bullet journals, stickers per context, coloured tabs.
• Minimalist camp: one notebook, one list per context, cards thrown away when done. Some write "NA" in the margin next to lines instead of separate lists.

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13. Official products and formats

• Books: Getting Things Done (2001; revised 2015, Penguin, 352 pp), Ready for Anything (2003), Making It All Work (2008), Getting Things Done for Teens (2018, with Mike Williams and Mark Wallace) (unconfirmed), Team (2024).
• Paper Organizers Setup Guide (David Allen Company, 32 pages, letter or A4 PDF; revised 2019). Covers ten sections, linking projects to actions, and email with paper.
• Editable PDF organizer with GTD forms (calendar, next actions, projects, project support, focus & direction, contacts), sold in the official store.
• Seasonal GTD Organizer printed planners were released some years (e.g., the 2017 GTD Organizer) (release cycle unconfirmed).
• Courses and coaching: David Allen Company and licensed global partners.
• Tickler supplies: any 43 folders; several office brands sell pre-labelled 1–31 / Jan–Dec sets.

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14. Tools and supplies

• Capture: 3×5 index cards and a binder clip; or a pocket notebook (A6). Keep a pen clipped to it.
• Lists: A5 or letter ring binder with ten (or five) tabs; or a bound A5 notebook with page tabs.
• Paper: 80–100 gsm is fine; lists get handled a lot, so heavier card (200+ gsm) for index cards lasts longer.
• Pens: any; a pen that doesn't smudge when pages rub (gel with quick-dry, or ballpoint).
• In-tray: one tray or box at home for mail and paper.
• Tickler: 43 manila folders in a drawer or accordion file; or a card box with 43 dividers.
• Label maker (Allen likes one for reference files); optional.
• No stickers or colour needed: context headings and @ signs do the work.

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15. Digital and hybrid versions

Apps: OmniFocus (built around GTD), Todoist, Things, TickTick, Microsoft To Do, Nirvana, FacileThings; plain text files. The 2015 book avoids naming tools.

E-ink

• reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, Boox: a PDF binder with tabs (hyperlinked sections) works well for lists; handwriting capture is fast. Many sell GTD PDF planners.
• The X4 e-ink companion: no handwriting. It can't hold lists you write. It can hold simple check-ins (e.g., "Inbox cleared", "Weekly review done") and could show a read-only page. See 25b.

Scanning: paper capture scans into a digital inbox. Journalwright Studio pages already have a SEND TO strip and page code, which could stand for "send to inbox/project".

Lost versus gained

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16. Evidence and research

Heylighen & Vidal (2008): the cognitive analysis

• Paper: Francis Heylighen & Clément Vidal, "Getting Things Done: the science behind stress-free productivity", Long Range Planning 41(6): 585–605. Vrije Universiteit Brussel (ECCO).
• Type: theoretical review, no new data.
• Argument: the brain has strict limits on memory and processing, and relies on the environment as external memory, a trigger for actions, and a source of affordances and feedback. GTD builds this in: it turns open tasks into "actionable" external memories and executes them opportunistically by situation (context). The authors link this to situated, embodied and distributed cognition, and propose extending GTD to teams using stigmergy (coordinating through traces left in a shared medium).
• Heylighen's later summary (Substack, 2026): GTD is "a deliberately designed stigmergic system for the individual mind": external memory lowers stress, actionable traces trigger work, contexts use situational affordances, and feedback loops support flow.
• Limits: no data. Search-index extracts of the paper also note that GTD is hard to test because it has no explicit priorities or optimisation criteria to measure against (quote seen via search; full PDF not opened, it returned 403).

Masicampo & Baumeister (2011): planning quiets unfinished goals

• Paper: "Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2011). Florida State University.
• Design: several studies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5A, 5B) with undergraduates. Study 1: 73 students (69 after exclusions).
• Finding: unfinished tasks caused intrusive thoughts during reading, made goal words more accessible, and hurt anagram performance (the Zeigarnik-style effect). Writing a specific plan (how, when, where) for the tasks eliminated these effects. Those whose plans were most earnest (and later carried out) showed the least interference.
• Why it matters: it's the closest lab evidence for GTD's core claim that deciding the next action and parking it in a trusted place frees the mind. It didn't test GTD itself.

Implementation intentions

• Gollwitzer (1999), American Psychologist 54: 493–503: if-then plans hand control to situational cues.
• Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006), meta-analysis of 94 tests: medium-to-large effect on goal attainment (d = .65). Also found that plans make the cue more noticeable and the response more automatic. GTD's contexts ("when I'm @out, buy card") work like cue-linked plans.

Time management in general

• Aeon, Faber & Panaccio (2021), PLOS ONE meta-analysis (158 studies, 53,957 people): time management relates moderately to performance and more strongly to wellbeing and lower distress. Mostly correlational; strongly tied to conscientiousness and socioeconomic advantage.
• Claessens et al. (2007), review of 32 studies: time management behaviour goes with perceived control and less stress; the link to performance is unclear; training doesn't automatically transfer.

Studies of GTD users

• Karlsson (2006), MSc dissertation, Chalmers University / Northumbria University: exploratory study of GTD users' blog posts. GTD helped productivity but was not a full answer to work-life balance; it "does not make the tasks go away"; and it "can even contribute to procrastination" when people sort lists instead of working or skip the two-minute rule. Calls for longitudinal and comparative studies. Small, qualitative, not peer reviewed.
• No randomised or controlled trial of GTD was found.

Claimed versus supported

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17. Benefits

• A quieter head once commitments are written with a next step. Evidenced (plan making, lab).
• Better follow-through when actions are tied to places or cues. Evidenced (implementation intentions).
• Less forgetting through external lists and the tickler. Evidenced in theory, widely reported.
• More sense of control and less stress. Evidenced, correlational (time management research).
• Fewer dropped balls with other people (waiting for list). Claimed.
• Faster starts because the next action is clear. Claimed.
• Works on any paper, cheaply. Claimed (obviously true in practice).
• Better use of odd moments (context lists match where you are). Claimed.
• Big-picture clarity from horizons. Claimed.

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18. Pitfalls

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19. Accessibility and adaptations

• ADHD: GTD is popular in ADHD circles because it moves memory outside the head. Problems: the weekly review (executive function heavy), and lists out of sight are out of mind. Fixes: one visible place, fewer contexts, a body-double or fixed-time review, a short checklist, and cards you can see. Capture is the most valuable piece; start with just capture + next actions.
• Autism and sensory needs: clear rules and decision tree suit many autistic people. Keep layouts identical week to week, use blank forms (the official guide warns pre-printed fields are visually distracting), avoid colour noise.
• Chronic illness and low spoons: use energy contexts (@bed, @low, @good day). Allen's four criteria already include energy. The guide's "sick in bed with the flu" test is the right design goal. Keep a "flare list" of zero-energy actions.
• Depression: the mind sweep can be overwhelming. Do a small sweep (ten items). Choose one next action a day. Treat someday/maybe as permission, not failure.
• Anxiety: capture calms rumination for many (in line with Masicampo & Baumeister). But an endless list can feed anxiety; cap visible lists and keep the rest in someday/maybe.
• Trauma: bureaucratic tasks (documents, courts, medical) can trigger. Use the waiting-for list to hold them outside your head, and break them into tiny next actions. Mark hard items with a neutral symbol rather than writing details.
• Dyslexia and dysgraphia: short action lines, @ icons, checkboxes; voice memos as capture, then short written lines.
• Low vision: letter-size pages, large type, thick rules, fewer lines per page; index cards in bold marker.
• Motor or hand pain: index cards (move, don't rewrite); fewer lists; tick boxes; voice capture.
• Trans and gender-diverse people: name and gender-marker changes are multi-step projects with long waiting-for chains (courts, DMV, Social Security, bank, insurance). A projects page plus a waiting-for page is a strong fit. HRT refills and lab work belong in the tickler. Keep sensitive details in the Keeper, not in scanned pages.
• Shift workers: the shift is the hard landscape; put it on the calendar first. Contexts by place (@work break, @bus, @home) fit shift life well.
• Low income: paper GTD is nearly free. Waiting for and tickler help with benefits paperwork and deadlines, which avoids late fees. Don't buy the organizer; a notebook does it.

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20. Comparison

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21. Combining

• With the Bullet Journal (bullet-journal.md): the rapid log is your capture tool; add collections for Projects, Waiting for and Someday/maybe; add context tags (@out) to tasks; do a GTD weekly review, and BuJo migration monthly. This is the most common paper hybrid.
• With the Eisenhower Matrix (eisenhower-matrix.md): use the matrix at the weekly review to pick which projects get attention; use GTD contexts day to day.
• With a day-per-page planner like Hobonichi (hobonichi-techo.md) or Jibun Techo (jibun-techo.md): the day page is capture and hard landscape; lists live in the back or a second notebook.
• With a Traveler's Notebook (travelers-notebook.md): one insert per list (In, Next actions, Projects, Someday), swapped as they fill.
• With a five-year diary (five-year-diary.md): the diary holds reflection; GTD holds commitments. One line a day on what got done.
• With the Alastair Method (alastair-method.md): its column-per-day list can serve as a next-actions list with a light schedule.
• With check-ins and spoons: pick actions from the @low list on low-spoon days.

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22. Ready-to-use bank

Mind-sweep triggers

1. Things I said I'd do for someone
2. Paperwork and forms (benefits, taxes, IDs, insurance)
3. Health: refills, appointments, labs
4. Home: repairs, cleaning, supplies
5. Money: bills, subscriptions, refunds
6. Work: shifts, requests, training
7. People: calls, cards, visits
8. Errands: shops, post, library
9. Things that are bugging me
10. Someday: places, skills, projects

Context headings

1. @out · @home · @call · @online · @work break · @bus
2. @low energy · @good day · @15 min · @bed (flare list)
3. Agendas: one heading per person (landlord, doctor, manager)

Collections

1. Projects (write as done: "Bank shows new name")
2. Waiting for (who / what / date)
3. Someday/maybe
4. Checklists: packing, moving, before a shift, before an appointment
5. Tickler for this month (1–31 lines)

Prompts

1. What's the very next physical action?
2. What does done look like?
3. What has my attention right now?
4. Who am I waiting on, and since when?
5. What can I do from here with the energy I have?
6. What can move to someday/maybe to make room?
7. What would a "new, wonderful, hare-brained" idea be this week?

Trackers

1. Inbox cleared today (tick)
2. Weekly review done (tick)
3. Items captured today (count)
4. Mini review vs full review (dots: empty / half / full)

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23. Glossary

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24. FAQ

Do I need all the lists? No. Start with In, Next actions, Projects, Waiting for, Someday/maybe and your calendar. Add others when something slips.

Can GTD work fully on paper? Yes. David Allen Company publishes a paper organizer guide with ten sections. Many people use a notebook or index cards.

How long is the weekly review? Often 30–90 minutes. A short version (in to zero, waiting for, glance at projects) takes 10–15 minutes and is better than skipping.

What if I fall off? Everyone does. Allen expects it. Restart with a mind sweep and a weekly review; don't rebuild the system.

Do I need a tickler file? Only if you handle a lot of paper that matters on a date. In a bound journal, a 1–31 list on the month page does the job.

How is GTD different from a to-do list? It separates projects from actions, sorts actions by context, keeps a waiting-for list, and depends on a weekly review to stay trusted.

Where are priorities? GTD chooses in the moment: context, then time, then energy, then priority. Priorities come from the higher horizons and the weekly review. Add a star or an Eisenhower grid if you need more.

Is there research proving GTD works? Not directly. Research supports its parts (plan making quiets unfinished goals; if-then plans help follow-through), and a 2008 paper argues it fits cognitive science. No controlled trial of GTD was found.

Does GTD work for ADHD? Many ADHD people use it, mainly for capture. Keep it small and visible, and make the weekly review short and scheduled.

What changed in the 2015 edition? It was rewritten throughout, with fewer tool references and a looser view of contexts, reflecting smartphones and always-on internet (from reviews; not checked against the book).

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25. For Journalwright Studio

a. Printed book

b. E-ink companion (X4)

c. Proposed editor blocks

d. Proposed method layout: "GTD" (planned)

1. sky (Moon, sun & season)
2. events (Events: the hard landscape)
3. shift (Work shift)
4. lines preset "In" (n=3)
5. contexts (Next, by where I am: out, home, call, low; n=1)
6. waiting (Waiting for, n=2)
7. care (Care check-in)
8. checks preset "Inbox cleared"
9. body (Writing space, lines)

e. Don't adopt

• The full ten-section organizer in the monthly book: too heavy; Journalwright Studio books are journals. Offer the pieces as blocks and back pages.
• Physical 43-folder tickler: a bound book can't hold papers. Use a 1–31 pointer list.
• Long project lists on day pages: they repeat daily and crowd the page; keep projects on a month page.
• The full 11-step weekly review as the only option: too heavy for low-energy weeks. Always print a short version beside it.
• Due dates and reminders on the e-ink companion: notifications are out of scope.
• Account details or legal document numbers on scanned pages: they belong in the Keeper, which has no scan codes.
• "Productivity" framing as the goal: keep the calm purpose: a quieter head, fewer dropped balls.

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26. Open questions

• Does GTD as a whole reduce stress or improve outcomes compared with a simple list? No controlled study found.
• How many people keep the weekly review going past three months? No data found; forum reports suggest many don't.
• Does the Masicampo & Baumeister effect hold for long lists of real tasks, or only for a couple of lab tasks?
• What exactly changed in the 2015 edition's treatment of contexts? Reviews say "downplayed"; not checked against the text.
• Exact founding year of the David Allen Company (1996 is common, unconfirmed).
• Does paper versus app matter for GTD outcomes? No study found.

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27. Further reading

• David Allen, Getting Things Done (2015 revised edition): the method in full; start here.
• David Allen, Making It All Work (2008): horizons of focus and the control/perspective model.
• David Allen, Ready for Anything (2003): 52 short principles; easy on low-energy days.
• Heylighen & Vidal, "Getting Things Done: the science behind stress-free productivity" (2008): the cognitive-science reading of GTD.
• Masicampo & Baumeister, "Consider It Done!" (2011): the lab evidence for writing plans to quiet open loops.
• Gollwitzer, "Implementation intentions" (1999): if-then planning.
• David Allen Company, Paper Organizers Setup Guide (2019): the official paper setup.
• Merlin Mann, 43 Folders archive (2004–): the Hipster PDA and early paper GTD culture (the original site is now parked).
• Cal Newport, "The Rise and Fall of Getting Things Done", The New Yorker, 2020: argues GTD helps individuals but can't fix overloaded workplaces (not opened for this doc; the site blocked fetching).
• Daniel Karlsson, "Getting Things Done: an examination of David Allen's work-life system" (Chalmers, 2006): early qualitative study.

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28. Sources

All checked 2026-09-28.

1. David Allen Company, "What is GTD?" (the five steps). https://gettingthingsdone.com/what-is-gtd/
2. David Allen, "The 6 Horizons of Focus", gettingthingsdone.com, 26 January 2011 (updated 2 April 2018). https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/01/the-6-horizons-of-focus/
3. David Allen, "The Weekly Review" checklist (PDF), David Allen Company, 2008. https://gettingthingsdone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Weekly_review.pdf
4. David Allen Company, "Be your own post office" (tickler file), 24 November 2009. https://gettingthingsdone.com/2009/11/be-your-own-post-office/
5. David Allen Company, GTD & Paper Organizers Setup Guide (sample PDF), 2013, rev. June 2019. https://gettingthingsdone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/GT_Paper_Organizers_SAMPLE.pdf
6. David Allen Company, "Biography of David Allen" (PDF). https://gettingthingsdone.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/david_allen-bio.pdf
7. Penguin Random House, Getting Things Done by David Allen (revised edition, 2015). https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316489/getting-things-done-by-david-allen/
8. Francis Heylighen & Clément Vidal, "Getting Things Done: the science behind stress-free productivity", Long Range Planning 41(6): 585–605, 2008. VUB research portal. https://researchportal.vub.be/en/publications/getting-things-done-the-science-behind-stress-free-productivity
9. Francis Heylighen, "Getting Things Done: using stigmergy in your own work", Substack, 2 March 2026. https://francisheylighen.substack.com/p/getting-things-done-using-stigmergy
10. E. J. Masicampo & Roy F. Baumeister, "Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011. Author PDF. https://users.wfu.edu/masicaej/MasicampoBaumeister2011JPSP.pdf
11. Peter M. Gollwitzer & Paschal Sheeran, "Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis of effects and processes", Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38: 69–119, 2006. KOPS, University of Konstanz. https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/10973
12. Peter M. Gollwitzer, "Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans", American Psychologist 54: 493–503, 1999. University of Konstanz. https://www.socmot.uni-konstanz.de/publications/implementation-intentions-strong-effects-simple-plans
13. Brad Aeon, Aïda Faber & Alexandra Panaccio, "Does time management work? A meta-analysis", PLOS ONE, 2021. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245066
14. Brigitte J. C. Claessens et al., "A review of the time management literature", Personnel Review 36(2): 255–276, 2007. Emerald. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/00483480710726136/full/html
15. Daniel Karlsson, "Getting Things Done: an examination of David Allen's work-life system", MSc dissertation, Chalmers University of Technology / Northumbria University, 2006. https://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/63930.pdf
16. Wikipedia, "Getting Things Done". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done
17. Wikipedia, "David Allen (author)". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allen_(author)
18. Wikipedia, "Hipster PDA". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA
19. Wikipedia, "Tickler file". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickler_file
20. Bullet Journal, official site (Ryder Carroll). https://bulletjournal.com/