GTD, without doing all the organizing yourself.

Writing “presentation Friday” takes a second. Figuring out what to do about it takes longer.

That’s where GTD gets useful—and where it can get hard to stick with. You have to decide what you’re trying to finish, choose a next step, and keep your lists up to date.

In thrw, you can work through those decisions with AI, then ask it to organize what you’ve agreed on. You don’t have to arrive with a perfectly thought-out plan.

What is GTD?

GTD stands for Getting Things Done, the personal productivity method developed by David Allen. You get things out of your head, decide what to do about them, and keep reminders where you’ll find them when you need them.

With sticky notes, the difference is easy to see.

You jot this down:

Prep for Friday’s presentation

Good. You’ve captured it. But when you come back to the note, you still have questions. What needs to be in the presentation? What would count as ready? What can you do right now?

Suppose you’re presenting why sales are down and what the team should do next. You can turn that reminder into a clear outcome and a few useful notes.

[Calendar]
Fri 5 p.m. — Sales presentation

[Projects]
Sales drop + next steps → team presentation

[Computer]
Draft 3 key points for the presentation

[Waiting For]
Sam — regional sales numbers (asked Tues)

The headings are places to keep the notes. You don’t need to write “Projects” or “Waiting For” on every sticky note.

Your Projects list reminds you what you’re trying to finish. At your computer, you can start with “Draft 3 key points for the presentation.” Sam’s numbers stay on Waiting For.

Friday at 5 is the scheduled presentation. It belongs on your calendar. That tells you when to show up; you still need a next action for getting ready.

The notes can be short. They just need to tell you enough to act.

You don’t need an outcome and a next action on every note, either. Work that takes several steps goes on your Projects list; actions you can take now go on your next-action lists. If you aren’t waiting on anyone, there’s nothing to add to Waiting For.

And you can absolutely start with “presentation Friday.” Capturing the thought comes first. GTD asks you to come back and decide what to do with it.

The method has five stages:

1. Capture: Get down what has your attention.
2. Clarify: Decide whether it calls for action, what the outcome is, and what to do next.
3. Organize: Put actions, things you’re waiting for, and appointments where they belong.
4. Reflect: Update your records and check that you still have a next step.
5. Engage: Choose an action that fits your situation and do it.

You capture the presentation, choose a first action, put the reminders in the right places, update them as things change, and do the work.

Less to keep in your head

You’re working on a report when you remember Friday’s presentation.

A few minutes later: “Did I ask for those numbers? Is Sam waiting on me?”

The unfinished work keeps interrupting you because you’re also trying to remember where you left off.

With the notes in place, you can check instead of trying to remember:

[Projects]
Sales drop + next steps → team presentation
  Draft due Wednesday

[Computer]
Draft 3 key points for the presentation

[Waiting For]
Sam — regional sales numbers (asked Tues)

You know the draft deadline. You have something you can start. You’ve already asked Sam for the numbers.

The work isn’t finished, but you don’t have to keep figuring out its status.

Experiments on unfinished goals found that making specific plans reduced interference with other tasks.

With GTD, you’re aiming to:

• Spend less effort remembering your work.
• Have a way to start on a big project.
• Know what you can do and what needs someone else’s reply.
• Take a break without constantly wondering what you’ve forgotten.

For that to keep working, you need to trust the notes. Which means keeping them current.

Why it gets hard to stick with

“Presentation Friday” comes to mind easily. The next part takes work.

• A — Capture it: Write down “Prep for Friday’s presentation.”
• B — Decide what to do: Work out the outcome and an action you can take now.
• C — Organize it: Write useful reminders and put them on your action lists, Waiting For list, or calendar.

A takes seconds. B and C ask more of you.

Remembering the work is easier than choosing the next step

You know you need to prepare. Getting from there to “Draft 3 key points” means thinking about what you want to say and what information you already have.

That takes practice. How small should the action be? Which parts can you start now? Which have to wait for someone else?

You get better at those decisions as you work with the method. On a tired day, though, it’s easy to leave the thinking for later. Your list still says “presentation prep.”

Then you have to write it down and put it away

Even after deciding, there’s more to do. Record the project outcome. Add the first action. Put Sam’s numbers on Waiting For. Keep the draft deadline separate from the presentation time.

One quick reminder has become several entries. More typing. More places to put things.

You’re organizing so work will be easier to do. The organizing takes work too.

If you get stuck at B, there isn’t much to organize at C. And even when you’ve worked out a plan, you may not feel like entering it all.

Reviewing gets put off too

GTD includes regularly looking through your lists: checking what’s done, following up on things you’re waiting for, and choosing next actions.

When you’re busy, that review is easy to skip. A few days later, there’s more to look through and less enthusiasm for opening the list.

You’ll find people working through the same problem in the GTD community.

You can understand the method and still struggle to keep up with it.

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Let AI help you work out the next step, too

You don’t need to finish all the thinking before opening thrw. AI can help at B, while you’re still deciding where to start.

For example:

I need to present why sales are down and what we should do next on Friday. I’m still waiting on regional numbers from Sam. What can I start now?

Talk through the outcome and possible first steps. Could you draft three key points from what you already know? What still needs supporting data?

You have a suggestion to consider, change, or build on. If something important is missing—such as what the presentation is about—you can fill it in during the conversation.

Once you’ve chosen a next action, ask for help with C:

I’ll start with the three key points. Organize the lists around that. The draft is due Wednesday and the presentation is Friday at 5 p.m. Keep Sam’s numbers on Waiting For.

Review the proposed entries and apply the changes. The outcome, action, waiting item, and appointment have their places without you entering each one separately.

When you finish something, update the record in the same chat:

Finished the three key points. Mark that done. Sam’s numbers still haven’t arrived, so leave that on Waiting For.

At B, you have help figuring out what to do. At C, you have help getting it into the system.

You still choose the goal and the work you’ll commit to. You check the suggestions and the changes. But you can start with a rough thought and work from there.

You can ask for help before you know what the next action is.

Try it in thrw

Your sales presentation is Friday at 5 p.m. The draft is due Wednesday. You asked Sam for regional sales numbers on Tuesday and haven’t heard back.

1. Capture the rough thought

Open Thrw Here and put it all in. This is capture; it doesn’t need to be organized yet.

sales presentation fri 5pm
why sales are down + what we do next
draft due wed
asked sam for regional numbers tues still waiting
maybe a blog post after? not sure

On mobile, you can use the microphone instead. Check the transcript before sending.

2. Work out the outcome and next action

You don’t have to know the next step already. Start in thrw’s AI chat:

Help me work out what needs to be ready for this presentation and what I can start now. I don’t have Sam’s numbers yet.

Discuss the suggestions. If you decide to start by drafting three key points, continue:

Let’s start with the three key points. Set up the lists for that. Note the Wednesday draft deadline in the project description. Put Friday’s 5 p.m. presentation on the schedule. Keep the blog idea separate and undated—I haven’t committed to it.

Review the items and where they’ll go, then apply the changes. Your notes can stay this short:

[Projects]
Sales drop + next steps → team presentation
  Draft due Wednesday

[Computer]
Draft 3 key points for the presentation

[Waiting For]
Sam — regional sales numbers (asked Tues)

[Calendar]
Fri 5 p.m. — Sales presentation

[Someday/Maybe]
Turn sales presentation into a blog post?

Your Projects list holds the outcome. The Computer list holds an action you can start. Sam’s numbers stay on Waiting For. The blog idea has a place without becoming another commitment.

Wednesday is a deadline for sending the draft. Friday at 5 is an appointment. Check that the two haven’t been mixed up.

3. Use the action list to work and the project list to review

When you have time at your computer, open your Computer list. “Draft 3 key points for the presentation” gives you a place to start.

When you want to check on the presentation as a whole, look at your Projects list. Drafting three points hasn’t finished the presentation, so the project stays open.

Check Waiting For when you need to follow up with Sam. You can still work on the parts that don’t need his numbers.

These are ordinary lists you create in thrw. The list tells you what kind of reminder it is, so each item can stay short. You don’t need to repeat the category in every title.

4. Update the next action when things change

When the numbers arrive, tell the AI:

Got Sam’s numbers. Mark his Waiting For item done and add “Make regional sales chart” to Computer.

Check both changes:

• Waiting For: Sam’s numbers are marked done.
• Computer: “Make regional sales chart” is a new open item.

Once the chart is finished, complete that action and add “Put sales chart in slides.” The next-action list changes as more work becomes possible.

When you’ve delivered the presentation, you can complete the sales presentation project.

If you use Claude Code or Codex connected through MCP, you can ask it to record updates too. Leave progress notes where you’re working, then check them in thrw later.

5. Pick up where you left off

When you return, ask:

Show me the open actions and things I’m waiting for on the sales presentation. What should I work on now to get the draft out by Wednesday?

The AI reads what’s recorded. If you finished something without marking it done, say so. Work through anything that’s still unclear.

You can do the same across lists during a GTD Weekly Review: what’s done, what you’re waiting for, and what needs a next action.

To reserve time for writing, ask it to schedule a work session in a slot you’ve checked is free. With Google Calendar connected, that session can sync to your calendar too.

Wednesday is still the deadline. The writing session is when you plan to work. They don’t need to be the same date, and every to-do doesn’t need a calendar event.

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GTD you can keep using on a busy day

• Capture when the thought comes up. You can decide where it belongs afterward.
• Work out the next action with AI. Talk through where to start, then organize the decisions into lists and a schedule.
• Come back to a clear next step. Spend less time trying to decipher yesterday’s notes.

You still need to report changes and check what the AI does. But deciding where to start, rewriting reminders, sorting entries, and updating dates don’t all have to be things you do alone.

You can open thrw with “presentation Friday” and leave knowing what to do next.