The GTD (Getting Things Done) method can provide an ideal way for you to manage your thoughts and tasks. And it can easily be adopted into your monday.com workflow in four steps. 

This guide will give an overview of what GTD is, how you can use it on the platform, and what it means in practice.

What is GTD?

GTD is a time management method created by productivity consultant David Allen. It is the process of moving planned tasks and projects out of the mind by recording them externally and then breaking them into actionable tasks. This allows you to focus attention on taking action rather than just trying to recall tasks. 

Let's say you have an idea or a thought that has an unclear outcome or its next action is not defined. This is where GTD comes into play. It consists of five stages: capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage.

The method can be broken down by this flow chart from the creator's site:

You may be thinking "So first I can't keep everything I need to do straight and now diagrams? Come on!" We had this thought as well! Don't worry! We'll use monday.com to break down this methodology into actionable steps.  

Step 1: Create Your "Bucket List"

The bucket list is where you capture, clarify, and organize your tasks and ideas. 

First, create a "Bucket List" board. Place all of your ideas and thoughts in the bucket list board as items. Create three Status Columns: Clarify, Perspective, and 2 Minute Rule.

Each task or idea can then be clarified and organized by asking these questions: Is it actionable? Does it take more than two minutes? Is this goal attainable? 

• Clarify: For every task, ask yourself if it's actionable or not. As in, is it a task or is it just an event that you need to go to?
• Perspective: Short-term goals refer to thoughts, tasks, and projects that you need to handle today, next week, or even next month. Long-term goals refer to a task or idea that can be completed in the future-- this year, next 2 years, life goal.
• Two-minute rule: Will the task take 2 minutes or less to complete? If the answer is yes, then do it! (Call your mom to say hi. 😇)

After we place the item on the bucket list and update all the necessary information, it's time to find a place to put this item so we will be able to go back to it when needed.  

Items can be moved to one of the three other boards you'll create (Projects, Events, Not Actionable). You can also use the Connect Boards Column to create a shortcut to the specific item on one of the other boards as you can see above in the example board's last column. 

Automations

One great way to stay on top of keeping your tasks organized from your bucket list is to use automations. We've added the following two automations to our Bucket List board:

This recipe, when set up for each of your boards, will create a new item in the appropriate board and automatically link them for you.

• Project current status 
• What is my next step? 
• Wanted final outcome 

Another good way to track your improvement is to use a Checklist in the updates section to list out your next steps and check them off when moving forward.

Step 3: Create & Connect Your Other Boards

Remember when we briefly mentioned creating other boards in Step 1? There are two more important boards for the GTD methodology on monday.com.

Events Boards

Your "Events" board is where all of your Events can go. You can use the Calendar Integration to sync it to your personal calendar.

 

Not Actionable Board

So what happens to your ideas that aren't actionable? Your items that aren't actionable will go to your "Not Actionable" board:

Connecting All Boards

Adding the Tags Column on the boards you created will give you the ability to group items from all GTD boards by searching the tag #GTD across boards with Search Everything. 

 

For example, if you want to see all the tasks and ideas between November 3rd and November 10th from all of the GTD boards, click on the #GTD tag to search and then filter by date to see the range you desire.

 

Step 4: Keep it Relevant 

Stop and review; ask questions and reflect.

 

Weekly Review 

Every week, review your Bucket List to make sure that all of the tasks were categorized and copied to the relevant boards. Are all tasks categorized as they are supposed to be? Setting up the automations discussed in Step 1 will help to ensure that all items are divvied up properly between your boards. 

Once you're sure that your Bucket List is up to date, check your progress by exploring the Projects Board. Use Deadline Mode to see what you need to complete next. 

 

Monthly Review 

Every month do a review of your short-term projects listed on the Projects Board and explore the long-term goals to see if something has become relevant.

  

If you have any questions, please reach out to our team by using our contact form. We're available 24/7 and happy to help!