Ten Years with GTD: How a Pragmatic System Still Keeps Me Productive
“If it works, it works.”
That’s the golden rule you’ll often find in productivity forums. And after more than ten years of practicing GTD, I can confirm it’s true. Over the years I’ve tested dozens of filters, contexts, and extra lists. Most of them didn’t survive. What stayed is a workflow that is simple, minimal, and effective.
Next year GTD turns 25. The fact that it’s still so widely practiced says a lot about the strength of the method. At the same time, if you read the original book today, it feels a bit dated. Filing cabinets, paper notes, in-trays, none of that plays a role in my daily work anymore. And yet, the principles of GTD are still powerful. The trick is making them work in a digital, always-connected world.
In this article I’ll share my pragmatic approach to GTD: how I adapted the method over the years, which elements I kept, which I dropped, and how I use modern tools to keep it both simple and sustainable. This is not “the one right way,” it’s simply the way that works for me. If it works for you too, great. If not, take what helps and leave the rest.
Why a Pragmatic GTD System Works Better Than Perfect
For me, “pragmatic” means resisting the temptation to over-engineer the system. Productivity is supposed to help us do things, not drown us in maintenance work.
I’ve seen colleagues, Scrum Masters for example, who spend hours preparing elaborate emails for a simple 30 minute meeting that was only meant to check dependencies. The system starts consuming more time than the work itself.
It’s similar in the PKM world: I’ve come across Reddit posts where people proudly showcase knowledge bases with 20,000+ notes and intricate visualizations. And I can’t help asking: what actually comes out of this? Is it just about maintaining the system, or does it help them create, decide, and move forward?
There’s nothing wrong with doing it that way, if it works for you. But for me, productivity has always been about execution and results, not about losing myself in endless system maintenance. That’s why my GTD setup is intentionally minimal.
Tiago Forte’s CODE framework (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express) influenced me a lot here. The last step, Express, is what matters most: producing output, making progress, creating value. If your system doesn’t help you get there, it’s not doing its job. That’s the lens I applied to GTD: keep what supports output, cut what doesn’t.
Core Lists: Modernizing the Classic GTD Setup
My setup still looks a lot like classic GTD, but with some deliberate changes. Over time I experimented with dozens of extra lists and clever filters. Most of them turned out to be more work than help. What survived are a few lists that I can actually keep up with, day after day.
Core lists for a pragmatic GTD Setup
Inbox
Nothing special here. Everything that crosses my mind goes straight into the Inbox: ideas, tasks, reminders, questions. The rule is simple: if it’s not in the system, it does not exist. I clear it regularly by moving items to the right list.
The Power of the Top 3: Replacing Endless To-Dos
My biggest departure from traditional GTD is the introduction of a “Top 3 Priorities”-list . Inspired by Oliver Burkeman’s 4000 Weeks and Cal Newport’s Deep Work, I created a list that holds only three tasks. These are the three most important actions for the day. Nothing else goes here. When one task is done, another can move in from Next Actions.
This small change has been transformative. It forces me to face reality: there will always be more tasks than time. Burkeman is right, we hope that if we plan enough, one day we will be “finished.” But that day never comes. Limiting myself to three priorities means I start the day with focus instead of anxiety.
Here is what a typical day looks like with this list. In the morning, I review my Top 3 and block time on my calendar for them. Some days I manage to finish all three before lunch. On others, I only get through one because urgent issues came up. Either way, I know that the most important work has my attention first.
Next Actions
This list is pure GTD. Every actionable item that is not in my Top 3 goes here. I add context tags and sometimes due dates. For example, if I need to prepare a presentation for a meeting next week, I will tag it with the effort it requires and set a due date a few days before the meeting. That way it does not clutter my mind now, but I also will not forget it later.
Waiting For
Also pure GTD. Whenever I depend on someone else, I capture it here and add a quick note about when and what we agreed. That way I can follow up without guessing or searching through chat history.
The Tickler File: Bringing GTD Back to Life
This list saved GTD for me. Often I had tasks that were real, but not actionable until a certain date. Think of switching to winter tires in October. In the past I had nowhere to put these, so they ended up clogging my Next Actions or Waiting For list. A Tickler file fixes this. Now these tasks stay hidden until the right time. I even use it for birthdays. It cleared away so much mental noise that I consider it a game changer.
The “Someday/Maybe” List That Actually Works
This is my safety net for ideas and “one day” projects. Anything from “renovate the kitchen” to “try that new restaurant.” There is no pressure here. Once a week I review it and sometimes move items into Next Actions, but often I just let them sit. Knowing they are captured frees me from the fear of forgetting.
Context Tags: Simple But Powerful GTD Tool
Contexts are one of the most powerful ideas in GTD. They make sure you see the right tasks at the right time. Over the years I experimented with dozens of them. At first it felt exciting to have a tag for every possible situation. But very quickly, tagging became more work than doing. That is why I now keep only a few contexts that truly add value. Everything else was pruned away.
Location
I use #home, #office, #onthego, and #laptop. The first three are obvious. The #laptop tag evolved naturally, because some tasks really need a larger screen. I never used #phone. I tried it, but it never gave me value. I never once filtered for tasks I could only do on my phone.
People
Tags like #mywife or #colleagueX are extremely helpful. During the week I collect small things I want to discuss with a person. Instead of interrupting them each time, I batch all the points into one conversation. At home, this saves my wife from constant small questions. At work, it makes one-on-ones much more effective.
Effort
I estimate tasks roughly as #15min, #2h, or #6h. It is not about accuracy, only about seeing if I have a quick win, a medium chunk, or a full-day task ahead of me. I used to have more options like #30min or #4h, but they did not make a difference. Simplicity wins.
Projects
Instead of maintaining a separate project list, I tag project tasks with #P-ProjectX. All tasks still live in my main lists, but I can filter by project when I need an overview. This avoids duplicate lists and the constant moving of tasks between them. The naming convention with “P-” makes it easy to add new tags, since all project tags appear together.
And that is it. All other context experiments, like #lowenergy or #highenergy, looked clever but never added real value. Pruning was essential here. Cutting back to the few contexts that matter keeps the system light and usable.
My Daily and Weekly Workflow
A system is only as good as the rhythm that keeps it alive. For me that rhythm is a mix of small daily habits and a simple weekly review.
My Daily GTD Routine: From Inbox to Review
Every new idea or task goes straight into the Inbox. I try not to hold anything in my head for long. Throughout the day I sort items into the right lists and add tags if needed.
In the morning I check my Top 3 Priorities. These become the anchors of my day. Once I set them, I block time in my calendar for Deep Work on each of them. If more gets done later, that is a bonus, but the Top 3 are non-negotiable.
During the day I work directly from the Top 3. When one is finished, I pull the next most important item from Next Actions. Urgent requests or shifting priorities sometimes change the list, but the point is that focus stays on the few things that matter most.
Weekly Review: The Glue That Holds GTD Together
On Sundays I spend about 30 minutes going through all lists. This is the glue that holds the system together. My steps are always the same:
Empty the Inbox and file everything into the right place.
Review the calendar, looking back at the past week and forward at the next one.
Clean up Next Actions by removing anything outdated and adding missing steps.
Review project tags to see progress and capture new tasks.
Check Waiting For and Someday/Maybe, reactivate what is ready or delete what is no longer relevant.
This is also when the Tickler shows its real value. A task like “switch to winter tires” suddenly reappears in October. It was invisible before, so it never distracted me. Now it pops up at exactly the right time. This single feature eliminated the frustration I used to feel with GTD when future tasks cluttered my present lists.
The daily rhythm keeps me focused, the weekly review keeps me in control. Together they make the system sustainable instead of overwhelming.
What I Changed from Classic GTD (and Why)
My workflow stays close to the spirit of GTD, but there are a few deliberate adjustments. Each of them solves a pain point I felt with the classic method.
Top 3 Priorities
Instead of trying to push through endless Next Actions, I created a daily Top 3 list. This reduces overwhelm and forces me to focus on what truly matters. It also helps me end the day with calm rather than with the nagging feeling that I should have done more.
Tickler File
Classic GTD never gave me a satisfying home for tasks that only become actionable in the future. The Tickler fills that gap. It prevents clutter in my Next Actions list and ensures that future tasks show up exactly when I need them.
No Separate Project List
In the traditional setup, projects and project tasks live in multiple places. For me, that created too many lists and too much duplication. By tagging project tasks with #P-ProjectX, I keep everything in one system but can still filter by project when I want an overview.
Taken together, these adjustments address the three main weaknesses I experienced in GTD: overwhelm, clutter, and too many lists. They preserve the strengths of the method while removing the friction that often makes people give up on it.
Tool Example: TickTick
GTD is tool-agnostic. You can run it on paper, in Todoist, in Things, or in any modern task manager. What matters is the workflow, not the app.
I personally use TickTick and have done so for years. It gives me exactly what I need:
Reliable sync across all devices
Powerful filters to combine lists and tags
Solid formatting options for tasks and notes
I pay for the premium version, but everything I describe here can also be done with the free plan. The paid version mainly adds convenience.
The reason I show my workflow in TickTick is not to say “you should use this app,” but because abstract descriptions can be hard to imagine in practice. Seeing how the system looks in a real tool makes it easier to grasp.
Any modern to-do app will work if you set it up in a way that supports your workflow. The key is to make the system light, clear, and sustainable.
Separating Work and Personal GTD Systems
One choice that made my system much calmer was separating work and personal life into two different accounts. Both accounts use the exact same structure: the same lists, the same tags, the same workflow. The difference is only in the content.
I used to keep everything in one account and tried to filter views so that I only saw work or only saw private tasks. In theory it sounded efficient. In practice it never worked. Sooner or later, a work task would pop up while I was planning my weekend, or a personal reminder would appear during a busy workday. Instead of focus, it created distraction.
With two accounts, the boundary is clear. At work I only see work. At home I only see personal tasks. Nothing overlaps. The mental load is lower and I can give each area my full attention when it is time.
For me, this separation turned out to be one of the most pragmatic decisions of all.
Conclusion
Even after 25 years, GTD is still one of the most powerful ways to organize work and life. Its principles are timeless, but the way we apply them has to evolve. For me, the key was to keep the method pragmatic: simple enough to use every day, flexible enough to fit modern tools, and minimal enough not to drown me in lists.
My workflow is not perfect, and it is not meant to be universal. It is simply the setup that has proven sustainable for me after more than a decade of experimenting, pruning, and adjusting.
For me, this workflow means I end most days calm, not overwhelmed. And that, more than inbox zero or a perfectly tagged system, is the real measure of success.
If it works for you, it works.