GTD Quickstart

If you already understand Getting Things Done, you do not need a new productivity vocabulary. You need to know where the familiar pieces went. Tasks Eye keeps the GTD loop, but organizes attention around Markdown notes instead of maintaining separate project and next-action databases.

flowchart LR
  Capture["Capture<br/>Create a note"]
  Clarify["Clarify<br/>Choose the outcome and next action"]
  Organize["Organize<br/>Route it and set an attention date"]
  Reflect["Reflect<br/>Clear Inbox and review Open"]
  Engage["Engage<br/>Handle Focus to zero"]

  Capture --> Clarify --> Organize --> Reflect --> Engage --> Capture

The familiar GTD loop remains intact. Tasks Eye changes the containers and gives every active note a date on which it should return to your attention.

The translation in one minute

In GTD	In Tasks Eye
Inbox	A capture area plus an Inbox repair queue
Project	One possible use of a note; notes are broader work containers
Next Action	The earliest unchecked task with an attention date
Context	The note’s folder relative to the configured notes folder
Projects list	Open, where every active note previews its next action
Next Actions lists	Focus for work needing attention now; Open for the full horizon
Waiting For	A dated action for when you will follow up
Someday / Maybe	A periodically reviewed note containing ideas or links
Tickler file	Attention dates and recurring Tasks spread across relevant notes
Calendar	Still your calendar; Tasks Eye does not replace the hard landscape
Reference	Outside the managed folder, or a closed note with no unchecked tasks
Trash	Delete it

The key translation is simple:

Set up the smallest useful system

Create a dedicated folder and choose it under Tasks Eye → Notes folder:

Tasks/
├── Work/
└── Private/

Tasks/ is the temporary capture area. Work/ and Private/ are deliberately broad, non-overlapping contexts. Add another context only when it creates a useful boundary while choosing work.

Tasks Eye reads every Markdown note below the configured folder. Keeping ordinary vault notes outside it prevents reference material from accidentally joining the task workflow.

Capture without breaking concentration

Run Tasks Eye: Create note. Its folder popup supports two capture paths:

When the context is obvious, choose Work/ or Private/ immediately.
When routing would interrupt you, accept the Tasks/ root and decide later.

A root note is intentionally reported in Inbox until it is moved into a context folder. A note captured directly in a context can still appear in Inbox when it needs a next action, attention date, or valid state.

Clarify and organize

Process a capture until it is deleted, retained as non-actionable material, or made trustworthy as an open note.

flowchart TD
  Captured["Captured note"] --> Actionable{"Is it actionable?"}

  Actionable -- "No" --> Keep{"Keep it?"}
  Keep -- "No value" --> Trash["Delete it"]
  Keep -- "Reference" --> Reference["Move outside Tasks<br/>or close it"]
  Keep -- "Someday / Maybe" --> Someday["Add it to a periodically<br/>reviewed Someday / Maybe note"]

  Actionable -- "Yes" --> Quick{"Under two minutes?"}
  Quick -- "Yes" --> DoNow["Do it now<br/>Record it only if useful"]
  Quick -- "No" --> Project{"More than one action?"}
  Project -- "Yes" --> Outcome["Name the desired outcome<br/>in a note"]
  Project -- "No" --> Next["Define the next<br/>physical action"]
  Outcome --> Next

  Next --> Owner{"Who acts next?"}
  Owner -- "Someone else" --> Waiting["Create a dated<br/>follow-up action"]
  Owner -- "Me" --> Attention["Give the action its next<br/>attention date"]
  Waiting --> Route["Route the note to<br/>a minimal context"]
  Attention --> Route
  Route --> Open["Keep the note open"]

Processing ends with a deliberate destination. An active note is open, routed to a context, and anchored by a dated unchecked next action.

Make the next action physical

A note is the atomic unit of attention, not automatically a GTD project. It may represent a multi-step outcome, a standalone action, a waiting item, or a recurring responsibility. For a project, name the desired outcome in the note title and date only the current next action by default:

---
status: open
---

# Renew passport

Keep the application guidance and useful links here.

- [ ] Find the required documents 📅 2026-08-03
- [ ] Take a compliant photo
- [ ] Submit the application

Tasks Eye can read tasks anywhere in the note, regardless of headings or prose. It displays the earliest unchecked dated task. When the dated action above is completed, Inbox reports that the remaining open work has no dated action. That is the prompt to choose the actual next step instead of blindly advancing a plan.

Dating several independent actions is valid when useful. The single-dated-action pattern is a recommendation, not a Markdown restriction.

Separate attention from a hard deadline

Keep a real deadline in the task text, note body, or calendar, then date the task for the next moment you want to make a decision:

- [ ] Draft the tax return — filing deadline: 30 April 📅 2026-04-20

Here 20 April is the attention date. The filing deadline remains 30 April. If 20 April arrives and this is not today’s work, moving the attention date is a valid decision—as long as you deliberately choose when it should return.

Engage from Focus

Run Tasks Eye: Show Focus. Focus contains open notes whose earliest unchecked dated action is due today or overdue.

Focus is a trusted shortlist, not an automatic priority engine. Use the context filter when useful, then apply your own judgment about available time, energy, and importance. Handle every row in one of three ways:

Do it: complete the visible next action.
Move it: assign a new attention date.
Change state: close the note when it no longer needs attention.

The goal is Focus Zero: every item asking for attention today has received a decision. It does not mean completing every possible piece of work or following the rows blindly from top to bottom.

Use Open for the wider horizon. It lists all active notes and previews each note’s earliest dated action, grouped by date. In GTD terms, it combines an active-outcome inventory with next-action previews over the same source notes.

Keep the system trusted with Inbox

Tasks Eye’s Inbox is broader than a classic GTD capture inbox. Treat it as a repair queue for every managed note that breaks the workflow contract, regardless of its folder or status.

A capture is fully processed when it becomes one of these:

An open note in a context folder with an unchecked dated next action.
Closed history or reference in a context folder with no unchecked tasks.
Deleted trash.

Clear Inbox daily after handling Focus. Each repair rule has a detailed documentation page:

Reflect daily and weekly

The daily loop is operational:

Handle Focus to zero.
Repair Inbox to zero.
Use Open when planning beyond today.

For GTD’s broader Reflect step, one simple approach is an open Weekly Review note. Date the first step so the review returns to your attention:

# Weekly Review

- [ ] Process loose captures and clear Tasks Eye Inbox 📅 2026-08-07
- [ ] Review the past and upcoming calendar
- [ ] Scan Open in each context
- [ ] Confirm every active outcome has the right next action and attention date
- [ ] Check waiting-for follow-ups
- [ ] Review Someday / Maybe
- [ ] Optionally inspect Done for work that needs recording or follow-up
- [ ] Schedule the next review session

To reuse the note, select its completed checklist and run Tasks Eye: Reopen selected tasks. Tasks Eye removes the completion dates as it reopens the selected tasks. Then move the first item’s attention date to the next session.

This is only one pattern. If the completed checklist is useful history, keep the dated review note and copy its checklist into a new note for the next session instead.

Familiar GTD patterns

Waiting For

There is no special Waiting status or list. Complete the delegation action and create a dated follow-up for the earliest moment you want the item back:

# Confirm launch budget

- [x] Ask Alex to approve the revised budget ✅ 2026-08-03
- [ ] Follow up with Alex if no reply 📅 2026-08-06

The note remains open in Work/. If the reply arrives early, complete or replace the follow-up action.

Someday / Maybe

Keep inactive possibilities as plain bullets or links in one periodically reviewed note:

---
status: open
---

# Someday / Maybe

- Learn bookbinding
- Explore a month in Japan
- [[Possible studio renovation]]

- [ ] Review this list 🔁 every month 📅 2026-09-01

A larger possibility can live in a separate closed note linked from this list. Promoting it means opening that note and giving it a dated next action.

Calendar

Keep appointments, fixed events, and day-specific commitments in the calendar. Use Tasks Eye for preparation and follow-up:

# Quarterly planning meeting

Calendar: 12 August, 10:00

- [ ] Prepare the decision brief 📅 2026-08-10
- [ ] Send decisions and owners 📅 2026-08-13

The meeting is part of the hard landscape. The Tasks Eye dates say when its surrounding work needs attention.

Two-Minute Rule

If an action takes under two minutes and has no future value, do it immediately and record nothing. When its history matters, do it and record a completed task with a Tasks completion date so it appears in Done:

- [x] Confirm the domain renewal ✅ 2026-08-03

When work will continue—or you must switch contexts—capture enough state for your future self, then add the next physical action and attention date. The aim is not to document everything; it is to make resuming important work cheap.

Tickler File

Attention dates replace the retrieval date of a 43-folder tickler system, while the material remains in the note where it belongs:

One-off resurfacing: add a dated action to the relevant note.
Recurring reminder: use an Obsidian Tasks recurring checkbox.
Seasonal plan: keep several dated actions under headings in one maintenance note.

For physical material, record its location:

- [ ] Reconsider the conference proposal — paper form in desk drawer 📅 2026-10-01

No dedicated Tickler folder is required.

Contexts

Tasks Eye derives one context from the note’s folder relative to Tasks/. Prefer the smallest practical set—often only Work and Private—and avoid overlapping meanings.

Because the context belongs to the note rather than each task, actions inside a note share it. When an outcome genuinely crosses contexts and context filtering matters, split it into linked notes. Task-level @tags can still serve other Obsidian workflows, but Tasks Eye does not use them as its context filter.

Reference, project support, and trash

General reference belongs outside Tasks/. Reference deliberately retained inside the managed workflow should remain in a context folder with status: closed and no unchecked tasks.

Keep project support—plans, links, decisions, and attachments—in the body of the active note or in linked reference notes. Tasks Eye surfaces the next action without replacing that supporting context.

Delete material with no future value. closed means intentionally retained history or reference; it is not a synonym for trash.

Higher-Level Horizons of Focus

Keep horizon content as prose or linked notes. Give its review process a recurring attention date without pretending that every horizon is an ordinary project:

# Areas and goals

- [[Work responsibilities]]
- [[Health and relationships]]
- [[Three-year direction]]

- [ ] Review whether current projects support these horizons 🔁 every month 📅 2026-09-01

Tasks Eye imposes no hierarchy here. It simply makes the chosen reflection cadence resurface.

The operating rule

When you do not know what to do next, open Focus. When Focus is handled, repair Inbox. During the weekly review, inspect Open and the commitments surrounding it.

That is the complete translation: capture freely, make every active note actionable, and use attention dates to ensure nothing quietly disappears.