GTD Primer

A concise introduction to Getting Things Done (GTD) and how TR-2 implements its core principles on top of plain markdown files.

Section: 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 a clear head and knowing what to do next.

The five steps

GTD breaks down into five stages. TR-2 supports all of them — using plain markdown files, no database, no opinions about how you sync.

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.

In TR-2: ⌘⇧I from anywhere opens the quick-capture sheet. The captured line is appended to inbox.md at the vault root. An AI agent with filesystem access can append to the same file on your behalf.

2. Clarify

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

  • Is it actionable? If not, delete the line, file it under a reference project, or tag it @someday.
  • 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 its own .md file. Create one and add the next action.

In TR-2: open inbox.md, drag items to the right project, or use the bulk-action bar to move several at once.

3. Organise

Put things where they belong:

  • Today — anything you’ve committed to today. Tag a task @today or give it a due:YYYY-MM-DD on or before today. The Today view collects both.
  • Next actions — concrete things you can act on. Tag @next. The Next view aggregates these across all projects.
  • Scheduled — actions waiting on a date. Give the task a due: in the future; it appears in Scheduled until the day arrives.
  • Someday — anything you might do but aren’t committed to. Tag @someday. Excluded from Today and Scheduled; visible in Someday.
  • Projects — multi-step outcomes. Each project is a markdown file in an area folder.

A task line carries its own state. You don’t move it between buckets; you change the tokens. The lists are derived from the files.

- [ ] Ship the new homepage @today #marketing due:2026-05-25
- [ ] Reply to vendor RFP @next
- [ ] Pick a vacation destination @someday

4. Reflect

Review regularly so the system stays trustworthy.

  • Daily — clear the inbox. Run through Today. Glance at Next.
  • Weekly — walk every project file. Re-evaluate @next tasks. Move stale items to @someday or delete them. Check the ## Done sections to see what shipped.

TR-2 doesn’t enforce a review cadence. The artefacts make review cheap: the files are plain text and git log (if you use it) is your activity log.

5. Engage

Pick something and do it.

In TR-2:

  • Open Today — your committed list for the day.
  • Or open Next — pick one based on the time and energy you have.
  • Or open a specific project and work from its task list.

Mark tasks in progress with [*] and done with [x] as you go. Both human edits and AI edits land in the same files.

How TR-2 differs from classic GTD

GTD predates plain-text task systems by 20 years. A few choices TR-2 makes:

  • No contexts beyond tags. Classic GTD uses @phone, @errands, @office. TR-2 treats every #tag as a context — make #calls if you want it, or don’t. The Tag views are first-class.
  • One project per file. A project is whatever lives in a single .md file. This makes scope tangible and git history readable.
  • Folders are areas. GTD distinguishes “projects” (multi-step outcomes) from “areas of responsibility” (ongoing). In TR-2: folders are areas; files inside them are projects.
  • done: is the audit trail. Each completed task gets a done:YYYY-MM-DD stamp. The Done view sorts by it; git blame corroborates it.

A starter vault

Three folders covering the usual GTD scopes:

~/Tasks/
  inbox.md
  Work/
    current-quarter.md
    follow-ups.md
  Personal/
    house.md
    health.md
  Someday/
    travel.md
    learning.md

The “Someday” folder is just convention — anything tagged @someday shows up in the Someday view regardless of where it lives. Use whatever folder structure your brain prefers.

See also