My Implementation of RTM for GTDEven though (or maybe because) Getting Things Done (GTD) is a “systematic methodology” and not a system, GTD-ers (those who have drunk the GTD kool-aid) seem to love to talk about their implementation. And though I agree that you can work on perfecting your system until it becomes it’s own kind of distraction, and some people continue to look for the next-best tool because they don’t do GTD correctly and think if they have the right tools, they will actually be successful, I also think that one of the reasons people tweak their implementation is to insert some excitement and newness into their system, just like having a great pen means you can actually write that essay. Note: This is an article about a particular implementation of Getting Things Done, not an introduction to Getting Things Done. For a great introduction, I recommend 43 Folders' "Getting started with "Getting Things Done," If you want to read about what parts of GTD made the most difference to me immediately, check out the main productivity hub page. Here’s how I implement, keeping in mind that I’m a writer, a clinician, and a PhD student in psychology, so there are a lot of contexts in which I need to be able to implement and sync. RTM contains my next actions and reminders. I don’t insert arbitrary due dates (GTD 101), but I do use it for reminders of things I need to do frequently. Here’s an example of how an overview sometimes looks: 
It’s a combination of things that repeat, assignments due, and things I know that I will be in the right context for today (pick something up at school). Because I know that most of the time those things are errands, I sometimes shift a due date for a school assignment to the day when I’m going to actually have to do it. So if there’s an essay due on Friday, and I look at my week, and I need to get it done on Tuesday, that’s the day it gets moved to. I guess I prefer the dates to mean “do on this day” rather than “due on this day.”I notice that I so hate having something with a due date attached to it for a particular day, that I frequently do things as soon as they appear in the week view. But because I use the repeat (“after 1 week”) RTM keeps track of how often I do things and then reminds me to do them in a week. Here are my contexts: 
I use a bunch of different contexts, and as David Allen recommends, I don’t separate “personal” from “work.” It’s all stuff. But for major major projects (like 10+ next actions currently in operation), I do allow them to have their own context, so if I’m working on the project, I can look at all the tasks at once. BUT all the next actions must be in a regular context as well, like @computer or @calls. In general though, I keep simply a list of projects in the projects list, and every week during weekly review, I make sure they have a next action in one of the contexts. I keep project planning notes in the “notes” section of that item. So for example, one project I have is to finish all my grad school requirements. So that’s in the projects list and under notes, I have noted where I need to make substitutions to make up a required class I missed or something. Smart lists: I mentioned before that I allow big projects to have their own tag, but every single next action must have a proper context. The way that I do that is that I use a tag on all those next actions, say “diss” for dissertation. Then I use the helpful smart search to find all the next actions labeled diss, and I save that and label it dissertation. I use RTM for the iphone, so I got really used to having a week view of what I need to be doing, so I created that in my computer view as well. And I thought, while I’m at it, why don’t I create a 14-day-ahead view? You can see that I have a “books to read” context though that’s slightly deceptive. I keep my general list of books to read on Goodreads. That books to read context contains a. things I haven’t moved over to goodreads yet, and b. stuff that I can’t find on goodreads. There’s no real system on how often I move things to Goodreads, but I seem to be frequently looking at that list and requesting things on it to the library, and then I shift things from the “books to read” context to Goodreads. It doesn’t seem to stagnate. The rest of my implementation is on paper (Though I adore Moleskine, I’m a grad student. I use the $2.99 recycled material notebooks from Borders). I carry that everywhere. I keep my upper level views on paper. I keep major project planning on paper. Here’s an example of some content planning for A Space Within: 
I was thinking about major categories and articles for them. Those aren’t really next actions to me, (though “write an article for website” is a repeating task every day) they are the process of brainstorming.I keep collection on the left half of whatever else I’m doing in my notebook. So in my notebook, on the right half are notes on a class, and on the left part are items for collection. That way, I don’t have to open another tool to do collection. One of the most important parts of GTD to me personally is the charge to collect everything, and I take that very seriously. If I write it down, I don’t have to think about it right then. When I’m most active and taking lots of notes that must be processed, I do tend to do weekly review about twice a week. I go through processing and highlight everything that I've processed. And that brings us right back up to the top, with RTM next actions in context. How do you implement GTD or other productivity tools to fit your life and your workflow?
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