Getting Things Done was published in 2001 for paper-based workflows. The iPhone-first version is simpler than the canonical setup. Here is what works.
The five steps, condensed
Capture, clarify, organise, reflect, engage. The capture step is what changes most on a phone — voice and quick text replace the legal pad.
Capture is the only mandatory step
If you nail capture, the rest of GTD is recoverable. If you skip capture, no system survives. A frictionless mobile capture button is non-negotiable.
Clarify weekly, not daily
Daily clarification is GTD purity that nobody actually does. A 30-minute Sunday session that processes the inbox into projects and next-actions is the practical version. The weekly review template covers this.
Contexts are dead
@Phone, @Computer, @Errands made sense in 2001. They make no sense in 2026 because every device does everything. Replace contexts with energy levels — "low energy", "deep work", "30 minutes" — and you get the original benefit without the bookkeeping.
The 2-minute rule still works
If a task takes less than 2 minutes, do it now. This is GTD's most resilient rule because it survives any tool change. Inbox zero relies on it.
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