I started using the Getting Things Done (GTD) method for staying organized almost 10 years ago now. Since then, I’ve learned a lot. This is part of a series describing where I’ve gotten to with my own GTD practice.

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The first step in the GTD workflow is capture. This means writing down anything and everything you run across which may have value at some point in the future. These days, this is almost 100% electronic. In order of frequency, I capture by:

• adding an entry to my Things app (on iOS or MacOS)
• sending an email to myself
• telling Siri on my iPhone: “Hey Siri, remind me to…”
• asking my wife to email me a reminder
• putting a physical object in a conspicuous place (e.g., my inbox)

Given by job, I spend most of my time in front of a computer, and any time I’m not actually in front of a computer, I pretty much always have my phone on me. Since I use Things as my “trusted system”, it’s often most useful to just use the capture tool built in to that app (whether on the computer or on the phone).

If, for some reason, I’m not sitting at a computer with Things on it, I’ll just email myself and process it later.

If I’m driving, or otherwise not able to type, I’ll tell Siri to remind me, and use Things’ integration with the Reminders feature to automatically sync.

My wife also uses GTD, so we very often will discuss things with one another and then send one another an email to capture the request.

And, finally, if the thing to do actually involves a physical object, I’ll use the object itself as the means of capture. For paper mail, I have a wooden box on my desk. This also works for items to repair, and other small items which need my attention. If it’s something I need to take into work, for example, I’ll just make sure to put it next to where I put on my shoes and coat.

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While that pretty well covers what I do for my capture step, it’s worth noting that I find it absolutely essential to separate the capture step from process step. If mix these up, it creates a real impediment to capturing effectively and/or processing effectively.

The processing step is really the most thought-intensive part of GTD, and often requires a decent amount of time which you don’t always have in the moment you need to capture something. For example, if I’m in a meeting and hear something I need to follow up on, I need to make the shortest and quickest note possible so that I can return my attention to the person speaking. I literally don’t have time to think through all the processing steps.

By keeping the two separate, I can record some very tiny number of words in my inbox, and return my attention to what’s going on. I avoid both missing out on capturing altogether as well as entering something half-baked into my trusted system… which would, of course, become less trustworthy as a result!