GTD: Mastering Workflow - Processing (as an algorithm)

Surprisingly, this is even more helpful than the diagram.

August 30, 2014

GTD (Getting Things Done) is a way of approaching stress-free productivity, codified by David Allen. The whole method is explained in Mr. Allen's book by the same title (Getting Things Done).

After reading appendix IV to Making it all work (another book about GTD by David Allen) it occured to me that the Process phase of "Mastering Workflow" would be well-rendered using psuedocode. This is probably due to the fact that there are several decisions to make along the way (logic) and this happens for each item in your inbox (loop). So, without further introduction here's the code:

while length(inbox) > 0:
	inbox_item = inbox.pop()
	thing = analyze(inbox_item)

	if not actionable(thing):
		toss(thing) or tickle(thing) or file(thing)

	else if less_than_two_minutes(thing):
		do(thing)

	else if is_single_task(thing):
		wait_for(delegate(thing)) or assign_context(thing)

	else:
		create_new_project(thing)

I hope this helps you cruise even more confidently and efficiently through your inbox.

-Michael Whatcott