GTD Primer

What is GTD?

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a productivity method created by David Allen. The core idea is simple: your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. By capturing everything into a trusted system and processing it with clear rules, you free up mental space to actually think and do.

GTD is not about doing more. It’s about having a clear head and knowing what to do next.

The Five Steps

GTD breaks down into five stages. TR-1 supports all of them.

1. Capture

Get everything out of your head and into the system. Tasks, ideas, commitments, reminders — anything that has your attention. Don’t judge or organise yet. Just capture.

In TR-1, use the inbox or the quick-capture tool. If you’re working with an AI agent via MCP, the agent can capture tasks on your behalf during a conversation.

2. Clarify

Process what you’ve captured, one item at a time. For each item, ask:

Is it actionable? If not, delete it, file it as reference, or move it to someday/maybe.
What’s the next action? Define a concrete, physical next step. Not “plan the project” but “draft the outline in Google Docs.”
Is it a project? If it takes more than one action to complete, it’s a project. Create one and add the next action.

TR-1’s inbox processing flow walks you through this decision for each item.

3. Organise

Put things where they belong:

Next actions — concrete tasks you can act on, optionally tagged with a context (@computer, @phone, @errands, @office)
Projects — outcomes that require multiple actions, each with at least one next action
Waiting for — things you’ve delegated or are blocked on
Someday/maybe — ideas and possibilities you’re not committing to yet
Reference — non-actionable information you might need later

TR-1 provides all of these lists. Contexts help you filter for what you can do right now given where you are and what tools you have.

4. Reflect

Review your system regularly to keep it trustworthy:

Daily review — scan your calendar and next actions. What needs attention today?
Weekly review — the cornerstone habit. Review every project, process your inbox to zero, update next actions, scan someday/maybe. This is what keeps the whole system working.

TR-1 has built-in daily and weekly review workflows. The MCP server also supports agent-assisted reviews — an AI agent can walk through your projects and flag what needs attention.

5. Engage

With a clear head and a trusted system, choose what to do based on:

Context — what can you do where you are, with the tools you have?
Time available — how much time do you have before the next commitment?
Energy — are you sharp enough for deep work or better suited for quick tasks?
Priority — given the above, what’s the highest-impact action?

TR-1’s next actions list, filtered by context, is your working view. The “today” view shows tasks you’ve committed to for the day.

Key Principles

The two-minute rule

If an action takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. Don’t capture it — just do it. The overhead of tracking it is greater than the effort of completing it.

One next action per project

Every active project must have at least one defined next action. If a project has no next action, it’s stuck. The weekly review catches these.

Mind like water

The goal is not to be busy. It’s to be appropriately engaged — responding to what comes at you with the right level of effort, like water responding to a stone. A trusted system makes this possible because nothing is falling through the cracks.

The inbox is not a to-do list

The inbox is a temporary holding area. Process it to zero regularly. Items should move to next actions, projects, someday/maybe, or the trash — not sit in the inbox indefinitely.

GTD with AI Agents

TR-1’s MCP server makes GTD compatible with AI-assisted workflows. Agents can:

Capture tasks as they come up during conversations
Run daily reviews to brief you on your day
Flag stale projects that are missing next actions
Suggest next actions based on your current context

The system stays yours. Agents interact with it through the same GTD structure — they don’t replace the method, they make it easier to maintain.