---
url: /concepts/gtd.md
description: >-
  The five steps of Getting Things Done and the Hule feature that carries each
  one.
---

# GTD in Hule

If you work by [Getting Things Done](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done) (GTD),
this page shows where each of its five steps happens in Hule. GTD keeps your head clear by moving
every commitment into a trusted system. Hule carries each step with an ordinary feature, such as a
[list](/concepts/hierarchy) or a [view](/concepts/views), plus three things made for GTD:

* the [**Inbox list**](/guides/capture-to-inbox) setting;
* the **GTD** [view type](/concepts/views);
* its guided [GTD session](/guides/run-a-gtd-session).

> **GTD in Hule is not a separate part of the app: it is your lists and views, used in a certain order.**

Every task stays an ordinary task in an ordinary list, so the same work shows up in your team's
[Kanban](/concepts/views) view and in your own review.

## Five GTD steps in Hule

```mermaid
---
config:
  layout: elk
---
flowchart LR
  CA["Capture: your Inbox list"]
  CL["Clarify: the GTD session"]
  OR["Organize: lists, dates, subtasks, tags"]
  RE["Reflect: your views and dashboards"]
  EN["Engage: a personal view of next actions"]

  CA -- "feeds tasks to" --> CL
  CL -- "sends each task to" --> OR
  OR -- "is checked in" --> RE
  RE -- "picks the next actions for" --> EN
  EN -- "turns up new items for" --> CA
```

| GTD step | What it means | Where it happens in Hule |
|---|---|---|
| **Capture** | get every item out of your head | an **Inbox list** that the [**New Task**](/guides/create-and-edit-tasks) form offers first, the [Telegram bot](/guides/add-tasks-from-telegram), an [AI agent](/concepts/ai-and-mcp) |
| **Clarify** | decide what each item is and what to do next | a **GTD** view: **Start GTD session** |
| **Organize** | put each item where it belongs | lists, dates, [assignees](/guides/assign-and-watch-tasks), [subtasks](/guides/break-down-with-subtasks), [tags](/guides/tag-tasks) |
| **Reflect** | review the system so you can trust it | your views and [dashboards](/guides/build-a-dashboard), [filtered](/guides/filter-sort-and-group-a-view) by stage and date |
| **Engage** | choose what to do now | a [personal view](/concepts/personal-and-work) you open as your [home page](/guides/build-a-today-view) |

## Capture: an Inbox list

Your **Inbox list** is an ordinary list. You pick it on the **GTD** settings page
([Capture tasks to your Inbox list](/guides/capture-to-inbox)), once for each workspace, so work
and personal captures stay apart. From then on the **New Task** form offers that list first, so a
quick capture needs no decision about where it goes. Under **New task** on the same page you
choose when the form fills in your Inbox list: **When no list is chosen** or **Always**.

Other ways in land wherever you point them:

* the Telegram bot takes the task from one message and then asks you to pick a list — see
  [Add tasks from Telegram](/guides/add-tasks-from-telegram);
* an AI agent puts tasks where you tell it — see [Hule and AI](/concepts/ai-and-mcp).

A message to the bot looks like this; a date in the text becomes the due date:

```text
/new Call the bank tomorrow
```

## Clarify: the GTD session

A **GTD** view turns the open tasks of its sources into a queue: tasks not in the **Done**
[stage](/concepts/statuses) with no start date or one that has come. Tasks you may not change stay in the view,
muted, and the session skips them. Point the view at your Inbox list and start a session; Hule
shows one task at a time and walks the GTD decision tree:

* **Actionable** — you name the desired outcome, which becomes the title; several steps make it
  a project with subtasks. Then you pick one:
  * do it now, if it takes two minutes (a single action only, and the list needs a **Done**
    status to close it);
  * schedule it for yourself;
  * delegate it to a list, optionally to a person, with the due date as the follow-up date.
* **Not actionable** — it is trash (deleted for good, or kept as a record) or someday/maybe
  (put off with a future start date, back in the queue on that day).

::: info Project, in GTD
In GTD, anything that takes more than one action is a **project**. In Hule it is a task with
[subtasks](/guides/break-down-with-subtasks).
:::

::: danger Trash → Delete has no undo
Deleting a task in the session removes it with its history for good. Keep it as a record under a
status if you may need it later.
:::

A **GTD** view is grouped by the **GTD queue** by default:

| Group | Holds |
|---|---|
| **Up next** | open tasks with no start date or one that has come; the session takes them, except the muted ones |
| **Put off** | open tasks whose start date has not come |
| **Closed** | tasks in the **Done** stage |

The session is saved on the server, so a reload brings you back to the same task and step. On a
[shared](/concepts/sharing) view, everyone who can open the view can make decisions in the same
session. The person who starts it is the facilitator and can end it; a workspace admin can also
choose a new facilitator or end it. That is how a manager clears a team's captures with the team — see
[Run an inbox flow as a manager](/recipes/inbox-flow-for-a-manager). The session step by step:
[Run a GTD session](/guides/run-a-gtd-session).

## Organize: lists, dates, subtasks and tags

Each GTD list has an ordinary Hule home:

| GTD term | In Hule |
|---|---|
| Waiting for | a delegated task with a follow-up due date |
| Someday/maybe | a task with a future start date |
| Project | a task with subtasks |
| Repeating chore | a [recurring task](/guides/set-up-recurring-tasks) |
| Context | a tag, see below |

::: info Context, in GTD
In GTD, a context groups next actions by where or how you can do them.
:::

Contexts are tags in Hule. Keep them in a workspace [tag set](/guides/tag-tasks) named
**Contexts**, for example:

* **@home**
* **@calls**
* **@computer**

Then [filter a view](/guides/filter-sort-and-group-a-view) by **Tags**. Hule has no separate
contexts field; tags do the job, and they work in every view, not only in GTD.

## Reflect and engage: your own views

Hule has no weekly review screen; your views are the review
([Run a weekly review](/recipes/weekly-review)). A dashboard shows what is overdue and what is
coming, and a personal view of your next actions tells you what to do now. It can gather tasks from all your workspaces — see
[Personal and work tasks in one place](/concepts/personal-and-work).

## Solo setup example

One workspace for yourself, shaped for GTD:

```text
My workspace
├── In-tray            list, picked as your Inbox list
└── Areas              folder
    ├── Home           list
    ├── Health         list
    └── Side project   list
```

Each project inside an area is a task with subtasks. On top of that tree:

| Piece | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Clarify** | a personal **GTD** view with **In-tray** as its source |
| **Contexts** | a tag set with **@home**, **@calls** and **@computer**, attached to the area lists |
| **Next actions** | a personal view over your workspaces, set as your home page (settings below) |

The **Next actions** view:

* **Filter**: **Assignee** is **Me (current user)** and **Stage** is not **Done**;
* **Grouping**: by **List**;
* **Optional filter**: **Tags** is **@calls**, when you can only do one kind of work.

## GTD within the Hule model

* The Inbox list and every destination are lists in the tree: see [The Hule model](/concepts/hule-model).
* **GTD** is one of the eleven view types: see [Views as lenses on tasks](/concepts/views).

## GTD guides and recipes

* [Run a GTD session](/guides/run-a-gtd-session): clarify your Inbox list step by step.
* [Capture tasks to your Inbox list](/guides/capture-to-inbox): every way in.
* [Run a weekly review](/recipes/weekly-review): keep the system trusted.