Tag: “Clarify”

Updated and expanded in May 2024.

Processing is the stage of the GTD workflow in which you make decisions. You get all the stuff you have collected and, one by one, decide what are you going to do with them.

Perfection can kill your intention to implement changes and make things that lead you to a better situation. Many of my blog readers tell me how hard it is to apply GTD for them. They become desperate for not reaching the levels David Allen describe in his book. My answer is always the same: just start to implement it, then refine the details slowly but steadily. Find something you can improve in each stage of the process, small changes that do not involve too much difficulty. If you are able to chain these little improvements, the return obtained will be spectacular. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

There are 3 basic rules you should follow if you want that the Processing Stage to fulfil its mission properly:

In GTD, the inbox does not refer only to your e-mail inbox. It is a broader concept that includes all the things you have collected in different ways: tasks you have to do, ideas you have thought of, notes, bills, business cards, etc…