Why GTD Is the Foundation

I derive GTD from the lifecycle of work.

Because I start from the lifecycle of work itself, GTD remains useful even in the age of AI.
That's because GTD begins from the essence of work.

I'm confident you've never heard this argument anywhere else.

Deriving GTD

First, let's start from a lifecycle of work that everyone can agree on.

Suppose I suddenly decide that my hair has grown long and I need to get it cut.
First, a task is created, as shown below.
And that task is complete once I actually cut my hair.

But deciding that I need a haircut doesn't mean I can act on it right away.
I have to decide when to book which salon, and what kind of cut to get.
This process is what GTD calls clarifying.

Once a task is clarified, it's settled whether it moves forward.
For example, if I want a slightly longer hairstyle, I shouldn't cut my hair right now.
I'd have to wait until it grows out a bit.
So I judge whether I can do the task now, or whether I'll do it soon.

If I decide not to do it for now, it gets sorted into one of the following:

1. Trash (no need to do it)
2. Someday (to be done sometime, at an unspecified time)
3. Reference material (something that can't be done)

Reference material may seem out of place here, but that's because GTD doesn't distinguish between tasks and material at the first stage of capture.

If I decide to do it, I ask what the next action is.

After that, the task is sorted as follows:

1. If there are two or more actions to take, it's a project
2. If it takes less than two minutes, do it right now
3. If it has to happen at a set time, put it on the calendar
4. If someone else is to handle it, delegate it
5. Otherwise, it's a next action

For a project, you keep asking what the next action is.

In the earlier haircut example, my hair needs to grow out a bit, so I assume I'll look at the situation again in a few months and put it on the calendar. (Of course, you could also file it under Someday. That depends on personal preference.)

In this workflow, each step is mapped to the following GTD stage:

1. Task creation -> Capture
2. Clarifying -> Clarify
3. Sorting tasks -> Organize
4. Execution -> Engage

GTD in the Age of AI

I suspect the most troublesome part of GTD is clarifying.
Of course, AI can organize things well and can even carry out certain tasks.
But I think the biggest bottleneck is still clarifying.
I expect that going through the clarifying process together with AI will let us handle tasks faster.