# Getting Things Done

**David Allen** · 2001

_Topics: Task management, Systems, GTD_

**Who it's for:** Anyone whose commitments have outgrown their memory and wants one trusted system.

David Allen's premise is that your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. Anything you're trying to remember quietly drains your attention, so the first job of any system is to get every commitment out of your head and into a trusted place.

From there, GTD is a five-step loop: capture what has your attention, clarify what each thing means and what to do about it, organize the results into lists you trust, reflect on those lists regularly, and engage — simply do the work. The signature move is defining the very next physical action for anything you're committed to.

## Key takeaways

- Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them — capture everything externally.
- For every commitment, decide the single next physical action.
- A weekly review is what keeps the whole system trustworthy.
- Organize by context and project so the right work surfaces at the right time.

## Related reading

- https://structureyour.life/books/the-bullet-journal-method.md
- https://structureyour.life/books/building-a-second-brain.md
- https://structureyour.life/books/eat-that-frog.md

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Structure Your Life — the operating system for your life. Canonical page: https://structureyour.life/books/getting-things-done