Getting Things Done® (GTD), created by David Allen, is a trusted productivity method for capturing every task, clarifying it, and keeping it organized in a way that lets you focus on what matters most.

We designed Griply to be fully compatible with the entire GTD framework. While most tools cover only tasks and projects at the ground level, Griply supports all Horizons of Focus, from Next Actions and Projects up to Areas of Focus, Goals, Vision, and even Purpose & Principles.

Griply’s structure of Life Areas, Goals, Subgoals, Tasks, Habits, Tags, Filters, and Calendar lets you stay on top of today’s commitments while keeping sight of the bigger picture that gives your work meaning.

This guide walks you through setting up GTD in Griply, including Horizons of Focus mapping, practical workflows, and pro tips to get the most out of the system.

Horizons of Focus in Griply

Horizons of Focus help you align daily work with your broader life goals. Most tools stop at tasks and projects, Griply supports all horizons.

How they map to Griply (with notes on workarounds):

Pro tips:

• Review your Horizons quarterly, not just weekly.

• Keep visions inspiring but tied to actionable steps.

• Use Life Areas to stay balanced across personal and professional life.

1. Capturing: Use the Griply Inbox

GTD principle: Collect every thought, task, and commitment into a trusted inbox before you decide what to do with it.

In Griply:

• Inbox: Use the Inbox for anything you haven’t processed yet.

• Desktop: Press Ctrl + N to quickly capture a task or idea.

• iOS: Use the task, habit or goal widgets

Pro tips:

• Create a habit called “Empty Inbox” to clear it daily.

• Don’t worry about tags or due dates during capture, speed is more important than organization at this stage.

• If you can capture a thought in under 10 seconds, you’ll keep the habit going.

2. Clarifying: Decide the Next Step

GTD principle: For each Inbox item ask: Is it actionable?

If yes: Determine the next physical action
If no: Delete, incubate (Someday/Maybe), or store as reference

In Griply:

• Open the task → Give it a clear, verb-based task names (“Email client about contract”)

• Add #tags for context (#phone, #office) or energy level (#lowenergy)

• Set a due date only if it's a real deadline

Pro tips:

• 2-minute rule: Do immediately if under 2 minutes

• Repeating action? Make it a Habit instead of a Task

Someday/Maybe workaround:

Griply doesn’t yet have a dedicated Someday/Maybe list, you can use one of these workarounds to keep these items out of your Inbox and daily views.

• Goal: Create a Goal called “Someday/Maybe”

• Life Area: Create a “Someday/Maybe” Life Area; hide/archive when focusing on active work

Both options ensure your Someday/Maybe items live in a trusted system without distracting you during daily planning.

3. Organizing: Mapping GTD into Griply

GTD principle: Keep everything in categories you trust.

In Griply:

• Life Areas → GTD “Areas of Focus” (roles and responsibilities).
  Example: “Work & Career,” “Health,” “Family & Friends.”

• Goals → GTD “Projects” (outcomes that require multiple steps).
  Example: “Launch new website.”

• Subgoals → Major phases or milestones of a project.
  Example: “Phase 1: Content ready.”

• Tasks → GTD “Next Actions.”
  Example: “Write About page copy.”

• #Tags → GTD “Contexts.”
  Example: #laptop, #errands, #deepwork.

• Sections → Group tasks inside a Goal by stage or type (Griply can also group by priority automatically, so you may not need custom sections for that).

Pro tips:

• Keep contexts (#tags) minimal — too many and you’ll never use them.

• Don’t mix outcome and action in the same place: Goals/Subgoals are outcomes, Tasks are actions.

4. Reflecting: Weekly Review & Insights

GTD principle: A weekly review keeps your system up-to-date and trustworthy.

In Griply:

• Create a habit or recurring task: “Weekly Review.”

• Each review, do this (add these as subtasks to your habit):

  1. Empty your Inbox.

  2. Check each Life Area & Goal for stalled projects.

  3. Review Subgoals and adjust tasks.

  4. Look at Insights for streaks, progress charts, and trends.

  5. Check your calendar for upcoming commitments.

Pro tips:

• Keep the review short but consistent.

• Use the “Upcoming” view to plan the next 1–2 weeks.

• Link your review to a specific day/time (e.g., Friday afternoon or Sunday evening).

5. Engaging: Choosing What to Do

GTD principle: Choose the right action based on context, time, energy, and priority.

In Griply:

• Use Filters to create saved views (e.g., #phone, #errands).

• Work from Today view for your must-do list.

• Use Upcoming for planning and time blocking.

Pro tips:

• Avoid working from your entire task list, it’s overwhelming.

• Keep Today small: 3–7 key actions.

• Batch similar tasks by #tag for focus.

6. Advanced GTD-with-Griply Tips

• Use Habits for maintenance work and hide them in your task lists. This helps you keep recurring actions out of your task list but still tracked.

• Don’t overload Today, GTD works when you trust you can get to everything in your system, not when you overcommit daily.

• Batch your reviews: daily quick scans, weekly full reviews, quarterly horizon reviews.