Trays - A faithful GTD implementation
I recorded this demo video about six months ago showing my ideal todo system. Some key features:
- Capture: When you type new things into the system, you don't see anything else. This lets you "brain-dump" without seeing anything in the system: useful!
- Process: You only see one inbox item at a time. This forces you to process every item in your mind so things don't slip between the cracks.
- Project page: A little notes section helps you keep track of the project resources without being a full-fledged notebook. Link to Notion or another note-taking tool here. Or, for smaller projects, don't type anything at all!
- Incubating + Waiting For: Delay tasks until a date, and you don't see the project until that date arrives. Not quite a "start date" because the project might have already started but you just need to think about it for a few days. It's also not a "due" date because nothing needs to happen on that day. Some use cases:
- I need to sleep on this decision
- I've got too much on my plate and don't want to think about this for the next few weeks
- I'm burned out on this project so I'll rest for a few days
- Don't forget a next action: Projects without a defined next step are highlighted as such, nudging you to add a task. And tasks can belong to multiple projects. When projects have clear next actions, it's super easy to push them forward.
- Next actions page: When you sit down to work, you just look at the next actions page. Not a massive project/action/context window, just a list of things to do.
If you'd like to use this sort of tool, let me know and I'll set it up properly!