They’re all partly right. But we think there’s a better take — grab the best parts of the methodology and start using them right now. Here’s how.
- GTD: A System for Decluttering Your Brain
- The Five Pillars of the GTD Method
- Why You Need a GTD Planner App
- First Steps: Setting Up GTD in SingularityApp
- How to Capture Every GTD Task in One Net
- Processing Your Inbox the GTD Way
- Organizing Projects the GTD Way
- The Weekly Review in GTD (Getting Things Done)
- From Chaos to Clarity: Your GTD Implementation Plan
GTD: A System for Decluttering Your Brain
Getting Things Done was born in 2001 when productivity consultant David Allen realized people were drowning in information overload. But not because they were working too hard — because they were thinking about work the wrong way. His book became the bible of time management and has sold millions of copies worldwide.
The core idea of GTD in plain English: your head makes a terrible filing cabinet. Your brain is brilliant at processing information but awful at storing it. When you try to juggle a grocery list, tomorrow’s presentation, and a new project idea all in your head at once, you get mental mush. GTD says: capture everything into an external system and organize it so every task has a clear home and a clear next step.
The Five Pillars of the GTD Method
GTD runs on five simple actions that turn a flood of chaotic thoughts into a decision-making system. At each step, you’ll address a specific problem: capturing an idea, deciding what to do with it, organizing it, reviewing it, and prioritizing it.
Here are the five steps, in order:
- Capture — catch everything.
What it is: Any thought, idea, or task gets immediately recorded in an external “Inbox” — not stored in your head.
What it does: Your brain stops burning energy on frantic “don’t forget!” loops and frees up space for actual thinking.
- Clarify — process the pile.
What it is: Every item from your Inbox runs through a pre-set decision algorithm: Does it require action? Is it one step or many? Who’s doing it?
What it does: Instead of vague “hmm, I should probably do something about this...” feelings, you get concrete tasks with deadlines and owners.
- Organize — everything in its place.
What it is: Sorted tasks get filed into lists by type — projects, next actions, waiting for, calendar.
What it does: You always know where to find what you need and can quickly switch between different types of work.
- Reflect — trust but verify.
What it is: Regular reviews of all your lists, projects, and commitments so the system stays current and complete.
What it does: Your digital (or analog) command center doesn’t turn into a junk drawer — it stays a living decision-making tool.
- Engage — the hardest part.
What it is: Choosing which task to do based on four criteria: context, time available, energy level, and priority.
What it does: You work at peak efficiency because your task always matches your current capacity and circumstances.
The Six Horizons of GTD Planning
GTD doesn’t just handle day-to-day tasks — it connects them to your big-picture goals through a system called Horizons of Focus.
There are six levels:
- Ground level — current tasks and next actions
- Horizon 1 — active projects
- Horizon 2 — areas of responsibility (e.g., work, family, health)
- Horizon 3 — near-term goals (1–2 years)
- Horizon 4 — medium-term vision (3–5 years)
- Horizon 5 — life purpose (values and mission)
Each level shapes the one below it: your values define long-term goals, those goals generate projects, and projects produce concrete tasks.
In theory, it’s beautiful. In practice, GTD often crashes into reality — wrong tools, hard to maintain, not enough discipline. So let’s break down how to actually implement all of this without the pain.
Why You Need a GTD Planner App
Back in 2001, David Allen recommended a paper planner or a filing cabinet for your GTD system. Maybe that made sense at the time. But try digging through a pile of paper slips to find a task from two weeks ago, or filtering all the calls you need to make from home. Technically possible, but in practice, paper turns the method into a nightmare.
A digital app is way more practical. For a comfortable GTD workflow, your planner needs these features:
- Instant capture — add a task in 3 seconds from anywhere
- Flexible structure — unlimited nesting of projects and subtasks
- Contexts and tags — group tasks by location, tools, or people
- Calendar — track events and deadlines at a glance
- View modes — focus on what matters without distractions
- Review reminders — so you don’t abandon GTD after week two
- Sync — access everything from any device
- Collaboration — delegate and track team tasks
If your current planner checks all these boxes, great — keep using it. If not (or if you’re feeling adventurous), give SingularityApp a try. We’ll walk you through exactly how to set up and use GTD using our app as an example.
First Steps: Setting Up GTD in SingularityApp
Good news — 90% of the core GTD structure is already built into the planner. That means you won’t need to spend 5 hours on setup before you can actually start getting things done.
Here’s how each section in the sidebar maps to David Allen’s method:
- Inbox — the funnel for everything that crosses your mind, a.k.a. your capture bucket. Spotted a useful article while scrolling? Toss it in the Inbox. Remembered you need to buy your mom a birthday gift? In it goes. Your boss rattled off three action items in the hallway? All of them, straight to Inbox. The golden rule: capture first, free your brain, organize later.
- Today — automatically collects all tasks due today plus any overdue items. You can sort by deadline or priority, group by project, and even track them on a Kanban board.
- Upcoming — all future tasks with a set date. Peek ahead at the week or month, gauge your workload, and shift things to less hectic days.
- Calendar — the same data as Plans but in a familiar calendar grid (Day/Week/Month/10 Days). Syncs with Google Calendar.
- My Projects — this is where multi-step items live. Big goal = Project. All the steps to achieve that goal = tasks within the Project. Think “Plan the team offsite,” “Find a new job,” or “Bathroom renovation.”
- Someday — a holding tank for ideas and plans with no set timeline. “Learn Spanish,” “Finally read Dune” — anything you want to do eventually, just not right now. Periodically review this section and either promote items to active projects or delete what’s no longer relevant (yes, that’s totally allowed!).
- Archive — the vault for completed tasks and projects. No worrying that you’ll forget something during your weekly review.
A Few More Tweaks for Your GTD Setup
Remember that 90% we mentioned? Now let’s add the remaining pieces to your GTD system in SingularityApp — the parts that aren’t built in by default but that you’ll definitely need:
- Next Actions — identify which tasks are ready to be tackled right now. The easiest way is to tag them “Next_Action.” For example, your “Job Search” project might have five tasks but the very first thing you need to do is “Update resume.” That’s the one you tag as “Next_Action.”
- Waiting For — track what other people are doing for your projects. Submitted documents to the bank? Create a task “Waiting on mortgage approval” with a “Waiting_For” tag. Delegated a report to a direct report? Log “Get report from Sarah by the 15th” with “Waiting_For” too. This way you never lose track of things that are out of your hands.
- Reference Material — create a home for useful information that doesn’t require any action. Passwords, SOPs, addresses, future ideas. SingularityApp has a notebooks and notes feature for this. Create a notebook called “📁 Reference” and drop everything in there.
Contexts in Getting Things Done
Contexts are filters for your tasks based on location, tools, or people. Why do you need them? Picture this: you’re home for the evening, and your to-do list shows “Meet with the client,” “Call the vendor,” and “Pick up groceries.” The first two are useless right now — you can’t take a meeting, and calling a vendor late at night isn’t exactly professional. But grabbing groceries? That you can do.
Here are some context tags you might create:
- home — tasks you can only do at home (“Fix the leaky faucet,” “Do laundry”)
- office — work tasks (“Prep the presentation,” “Run the standup”)
- calls — all phone calls (great for batching)
- errands — your shopping and errand list
- computer — tasks that require your laptop
- 1on1_topics — things to discuss with your manager
Now, when you’re in a specific place or have certain tools at hand, you filter by the matching tag and only work on what you can actually get done.
The system is ready. Let’s figure out how to capture tasks properly.
How to Capture Every GTD Task in One Net
The first step of the GTD method is to dump everything swirling around in your head into one place. Sounds simple but this is exactly where most people trip up: it’s awkward to write things down while driving, you’re too lazy to log tasks from emails, and “eh, I’ll remember it” is always lurking.
SingularityApp solves this problem head-on by giving you a dozen ways to instantly capture any thought.
In the App
Open it, hit the plus button, type something like “Sort out the refinance paperwork” — done. The task lands in your Inbox and stops taking up space in your head. At this stage, don’t waste time on details. Write it however it comes to you (just make sure future-you can understand it — not something cryptic like “Sarah thrs p.r. ????”).
On your smartphone, you can add a SingularityApp widget to your home screen for quick entry (or just long-press the app icon). On your computer, use the system tray icon or a keyboard shortcut (e.g., Ctrl+Space on Windows) to pop open the capture window on top of whatever you’re working on.
Voice Input
The mobile app has voice input with smart recognition. Hold down the plus button and say “Call the doctor tomorrow at 3 PM” — the app creates a task “Call the doctor” with a reminder set for tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
This feature is especially handy when your hands are full, you’re driving, or you’re on the go. The planner recognizes text, dates, days of the week, and times.
Telegram Bot
SingularityApp also has its own Telegram bot — a great option if you’re already a Telegram user. Add it to your contacts once, and then just send it messages or forward messages from other chats. Everything that hits the bot automatically turns into tasks in your Inbox.
Say you’re chatting with your sister on Telegram and suddenly remember you need to get her a birthday gift. Without switching apps, you message the bot “Buy a birthday gift for my sister.” The odds of forgetting under the “yeah yeah, I’ll add it in 5 minutes” excuse? Close to zero.
Email Integration
Every SingularityApp user gets a personal email address for adding tasks. Send an email to it, and a task appears in your Inbox with the subject line as the title and the body as the description.
This is especially useful when processing your work email. Got a message with a client request? Forward it to your SingularityApp address immediately. No need to keep the email in your head or leave it flagged in your mail inbox.
The whole point of the Capture step is making sure no potentially important thought slips through the cracks. So:
- Capture even weird or questionable ideas — you’ll filter them out during processing.
- Don’t agonize over wording, reminders, or tags — just write the gist.
- Don’t try to organize right away — everything goes to Inbox first, then gets sorted during the Clarify step.
Once you build the habit of capturing every thought, your brain will stop wasting energy trying not to forget things — and finally get down to real work.
Processing Your Inbox the GTD Way
As you’ve probably figured out, just dumping stuff into your Inbox isn’t enough. The magic of turning chaos into a system happens during processing.
Take each task from your Inbox one by one and run it through a mini-algorithm of five questions.
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Does this require action?
Your Inbox won’t just contain tasks — it’ll have ideas, dreams, and interesting information you don’t want to lose. Delete anything that’s no longer relevant. Items that don’t require any action from you go to Someday or your Reference notebook.
Example: “Article About Investments” (Repost from Telegram via Bot) — No Action Needed but Useful Information. Moving It to the Reference Notes. -
Is it one step or multiple?
If something can be done in a single action — it’s a task. If it needs multiple steps — it’s a project. In GTD, a “project” is anything that requires more than one action.
Example: “Organize the conference” — clearly not a one-step deal. You need to find a venue, invite speakers, book catering, prep materials. Create a new project in SingularityApp: “Conference 2025.” -
Will it take more than 2 minutes?
The famous GTD two-minute rule: if a task takes less than two minutes, do it right now, while you’re processing. The logic is simple — organizing such a tiny task in your planner would take longer than just doing it.
Example: “Send the meeting invite to Mike” takes under 2 minutes (you already have a template ready) — do it now. But “Find a venue for the hackathon” needs more time — keep processing. -
Am I doing this myself, or can I delegate it?
If someone else can handle it — delegate. Create a task with clear criteria and a deadline, tag it “Waiting_For,” and check in periodically.
Example: “Find a venue for the hackathon” — can’t really hand this one off, you need to do it yourself. “Prep materials for the presentation”? You can delegate that to your designer. Create a parallel task “Get mockups from Alex by the 15th” and tag it “Waiting_For.” -
Is there a specific date or time?
Actions with a hard time commitment go on the calendar. Everything else goes to your Next Actions lists with the appropriate context tags.
Example: “Find a venue for the hackathon” — no hard deadline. Add the context “Computer” and the tag “Next_Action.” “Client meeting Thursday at 3:00 PM” — that goes straight to the calendar.
Now you know exactly where to start and what to do next. Once you get comfortable with the algorithm, you’ll be able to turn any idea into a concrete plan in a couple of minutes.
Organizing Projects the GTD Way
You already know that multi-step items need to become projects. But what if you’re not just dealing with an “elephant” like “Organize the conference” — what about a massive, colossal undertaking like “Launch a startup” or “Buy a house”? These projects can involve dozens of sub-projects, hundreds of tasks, and stretch over years.
This is where one of SingularityApp’s key features shines — unlimited project nesting. Even your most ambitious plans fit into a manageable structure. Each level adds detail to the one above it while staying easy to navigate.
The secret to a working hierarchy: every project should have a clear goal and at least one task tagged “Next_Action.” For quick project navigation, use color coding and emoji. For example: 🎯 for annual goals and 🏠 for household stuff.
Modern Context Ideas for Your GTD Planning System
You don’t have to limit yourself to the classic “home” and “office.” Create contexts that actually make sense for your life. Here are a few options beyond locations:
- By energy level — “deep_work” (complex analysis), “routine” (mechanical tasks), “creative” (brainstorming and ideation)
- By time available — “15min,” “1hour,” “focus_block” (needs hours of uninterrupted concentration)
- By people — “1on1_topics,” “with_team,” “solo” (blissful solitude)
- By tools — “AI_tools,” “design_software,” “offline”
GTD Planning and the Someday List
Someday is the most underrated part of GTD. Most people turn this folder into a graveyard of random ideas, forgotten plans, and lists like “100 books every professional should read.” But when used properly, Someday can become a powerful incubator for future projects.
To make Someday work as a system, follow these simple rules.
- Group tasks by category using naming conventions. Use emoji prefixes: “📚 Data science course,” “💰 New MacBook — when the price drops,” “💡 Startup idea: app for urban gardeners.” This helps you scan the list quickly.
- Add context to every idea. Not just “Chinese language” — make it “Learn Mandarin” with a description like “For working with APAC clients, once I have the time and budget for classes.” Explain to yourself why you want it and what’s stopping you right now.
- Include the date you added it. The date helps you see how long an idea has been rattling around and how long you’ve been putting it off. If “Buy an alpaca farm” has been sitting in Someday for 4 years, maybe it’s not really your thing?
- Don’t be afraid to delete. If an idea hasn’t sparked any excitement in six months to a year, delete it without guilt. Farewell, alpacas!
- Review once a month. Regularly scan this section. What’s ready to move into active projects? What’s lost its relevance? Without this step, Someday really will turn into a digital landfill.
Reviewing and updating your tasks and ideas is actually a critical part of GTD time management — it’s what keeps the whole architecture running. Which brings us to the regular review system.
The Weekly Review in GTD (Getting Things Done)
David Allen calls the weekly review the “critical success factor” — and he’s right. It’s the only way to actually trust your GTD planning system. And when you trust the system, your brain relaxes and stops frantically trying to remember everything.
The goal of the review is to make sure your system reflects reality, every project has a defined next action, and you’re on top of all your commitments. Set aside 1–2 hours each week (Friday evening or Sunday works great) and run through this checklist:
- Clear out your Inbox — process all accumulated items using the algorithm (we covered this in the processing section).
- Scan your calendar — what happened last week, what’s coming up next week.
- Update your projects — which ones moved forward, which are stalled, where you need new next actions.
- Check the “Waiting_For” tag — who needs a nudge, has everything delegated been delivered.
- Review Someday — what’s ready to promote to active projects, what should be deleted.
SingularityApp has a dedicated review mode for this. It automatically highlights projects that haven’t been reviewed in a while. Set your intervals (e.g., weekly for active projects, monthly for long-term ones) and add a recurring task called “Weekly GTD Review.” When the time comes, the system will tell you what needs attention.
3 Tips to Keep Your David Allen GTD System From Falling Apart
- Start with mini-reviews. For the first few weeks, do 25-minute reviews instead of hour-long ones. Consistent and surface-level beats perfect but once a month.
- Anchor it to an existing habit. Review over your Saturday morning coffee or in your favorite chair on Sunday evening — find a stable trigger.
- Track the benefits. Keep a tally — how many projects are moving, how many tasks you’ve closed, how your stress level has changed. Visible results motivate you to keep going.
Interested in the methodology but don’t want to dive into the deep end with contexts and hierarchies? Start with GTD Lite.
What you need:
- Inbox — for quick capture
- Today — tasks for the day
- Projects — active items only
- Someday — deferred ideas
Simplified rules: Everything new goes to Inbox. Important and urgent items go straight to Today. Sort into projects and tasks once a day. Quick review once a week.
Scaling up (when you’re ready): Once you’ve settled into the capture-and-review rhythm, start adding contexts, next actions, and multi-level projects. GTD Lite is like training wheels — you can take them off once you’ve got your balance.
From Chaos to Clarity: Your GTD Implementation Plan
Like any productivity method, GTD takes habit-building. Roll it out gradually:
- Days 1–2 — Download SingularityApp and explore. Dump everything from your head into the Inbox. Don’t organize — just capture.
- Days 3–4 — Process your Inbox using the algorithm. Create your first projects. Set up basic contexts and lists.
- Days 5–7 — Start using the system in your daily work. New tasks go straight to Inbox, review your “Next_Action” tag list every day, and work through tasks by context. On Sunday, run your first weekly review.
Your first steps are done. Now the key is not to turn organization into procrastination. GTD is a tool for doing work, not a replacement for it. If playing with tags, contexts, and project hierarchies is eating up more time than actual tasks, something’s gone off the rails.
Other than that — the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Good luck!
