Editing Getting Things Done (section)

=== Workflow ===
[[File:GTDcanonical.png|thumb|256px|Logic tree diagram illustrating the second and third steps (process/clarify and organize) of the five-step Getting Things Done workflow.
''Note: In the second edition, names of the five steps were changed to '''Capture''', '''Clarify''', '''Organize''', '''Reflect''', and '''Engage'''''.]]
The GTD workflow consists of five stages. The workflow is driven by five steps (numbered on the top-left in the diagram on the right): capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage.<ref name="Allen2014">{{Cite web |last=David Allen |date=2001 |title=Getting Things Done: Five Simple Steps That Apply Order To Chaos |url=https://gettingthingsdone.com/what-is-gtd/ |access-date=July 27, 2019 |website=gettingthingsdone.com}}</ref> (The first edition used the names collect, process, organize, plan, and do;<ref name="Allen2001" /> the descriptions of the stages are similar in both editions). Once all the material ("stuff") is captured (or collected) in the inbox,<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|106}} each item is clarified<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|122}} and organized<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|141}} by asking and answering questions about each item in turn as shown in the black boxes in the logic tree diagram. As a result, items end up in one of the eight oval end points in the diagram:
*{{anchor|oval1}} in the trash
*{{anchor|oval2}} on the someday/maybe list
*{{anchor|oval3}} in a neat reference filing system
*{{anchor|oval4}} on a list of tasks, with the outcome and next action defined if the "incomplete" is a "project" (i.e., if it will require two or more steps to complete it)
*{{anchor|oval5}} immediately completed and checked off if it can be completed in under two minutes
*{{anchor|oval6}} delegated to someone else and, if one wants a reminder to follow up, added to a "waiting for" list
*{{anchor|oval7}} on a context-based "next action" list if there is only one step to complete it
*{{anchor|oval8}} on one's calendar<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|27}}
Empty one's inbox or inboxes daily or at least weekly ("in" to empty).<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|122}} Do not use one's inbox as a "to do" list. Do not put clarified items back into the inbox.<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|27}} Emptying one's inbox does not mean finishing everything. It just means applying the "capture, clarify, organize" steps to all one's "stuff".<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|27}}

{{anchor|NextStep}}Next, reflection (termed planning in the first edition) occurs. Multi-step projects identified above are assigned a desired outcome and a single "next action".<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|191}} Finally, a task from one's [[Time management#Implementation of goals|task list]] is worked on ("engage" in the 2nd edition, "do" in the 1st edition) unless the calendar dictates otherwise. One selects which task to work on next by considering where one is (i.e., the "context", such as at home, at work, out shopping, by the phone, at one's computer, with a particular person), time available, energy available, and priority.<ref name="Allen2015" />{{rp|204}}