Getting Things Done (GTD) is David Allen's productivity framework built on one principle: your brain is for having ideas, not holding them. Every task, project, and commitment gets captured in a trusted external system so you can focus on doing rather than remembering. Apple Reminders, with its tags, Smart Lists, and Siri integration, is a surprisingly capable home for that system — and it's completely free.
This guide walks you through setting up a complete GTD workflow using only Apple Reminders. No third-party apps, no subscriptions, no complicated setup. If you've read Allen's book or simply want a lightweight productivity system on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, this is for you.
What is GTD and why does it work?
GTD is a five-step method for managing tasks: capture everything, clarify what each item means, organize it into the right place, reflect on your lists regularly, and engage by doing the right task at the right time. The system works because it eliminates the mental load of remembering things, freeing your attention for the task in front of you.
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that unfinished tasks create persistent cognitive tension — the Zeigarnik effect. GTD neutralizes this by ensuring every open loop is captured in a system you trust. The moment you write it down, your brain lets go.
How do you set up GTD lists in Apple Reminders?
The foundation of GTD in Apple Reminders is a set of dedicated lists that mirror the GTD buckets. Create these five lists to get started:
| Reminders List | GTD Bucket | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox | Capture | Dump everything here first. Process later. |
| Next Actions | Organize | Concrete tasks you can do right now. |
| Waiting For | Organize | Tasks delegated or blocked on someone else. |
| Projects | Organize | Multi-step outcomes. Each has at least one next action. |
| Someday / Maybe | Organize | Ideas you might act on later but not now. |
To create them, open Reminders on your Mac, click Add List at the bottom of the sidebar, and name each one. You can assign colors and icons to make them visually distinct — blue for Inbox, green for Next Actions, orange for Waiting For.
How do you use tags for GTD contexts?
GTD contexts are labels that tell you where or how you can do a task. Apple Reminders supports tags — type a hashtag when creating or editing a reminder, and it becomes a filterable tag. Create these context tags:
- #mac — tasks that require your computer
- #phone — calls, texts, mobile-only tasks
- #errands — things to do when you're out
- #home — household tasks
- #work — professional tasks
- #deepwork — tasks that need focused, uninterrupted time
- #quickwin — tasks under 5 minutes
When you sit down at your Mac, filter by #mac and you see only the tasks you can do right now in that context. When you're running errands, filter by #errands. This is the power of GTD — the right tasks appear at the right time.
How do you build Smart Lists for GTD views?
Smart Lists are Apple Reminders' killer feature for GTD. They are dynamic, auto-updating lists based on filters you define — like saved searches that stay current. Create these essential Smart Lists:
Today's Focus: Filter by due date "Today" OR tag "#quickwin" with priority set to high. This gives you a single view of everything demanding your attention right now.
Waiting For Review: Filter by list "Waiting For" with any date. This surfaces delegated tasks that might need a follow-up nudge.
Weekly Review: Filter by date "Next 7 days" across all lists. This is your weekly review dashboard — everything coming up in the next week, all in one place.
How do you capture tasks quickly with Siri and shortcuts?
The GTD capture step must be frictionless — if adding a task takes more than a few seconds, you won't do it consistently. Apple Reminders offers three fast capture methods:
Siri: Say "Hey Siri, remind me to review the Q2 report tomorrow at 9am" and it lands directly in Reminders with a due date. You can specify a list: "Add buy milk to my Errands list." Siri works on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and HomePod.
Quick Entry on Mac: Press Cmd+N in the Reminders app, or use the menu bar widget if enabled. For even faster capture, create a Shortcuts automation that opens a text prompt and saves the input to your Inbox list.
Share Sheet: When you're reading an article, email, or document, tap the Share button and select Reminders. The task gets created with a deep link back to the original content — perfect for capturing "read later" or "respond to this" items without leaving your current app.
How do you process the Inbox in Apple Reminders?
Processing the Inbox is the GTD clarify step. For each item in your Inbox, ask these questions in order:
- Is it actionable? If no, delete it or move it to Someday/Maybe.
- Can I do it in under 2 minutes? If yes, do it now and mark complete.
- Is it a multi-step project? If yes, move it to Projects. Create the first next action in Next Actions with a tag linking it to the project.
- Am I the right person? If no, delegate it and move to Waiting For. Add a note with who you delegated to and the date.
- Everything else: Move to Next Actions. Add a context tag (#mac, #phone, etc.), a due date if relevant, and a priority level.
Process your Inbox at least once per day. The goal is Inbox Zero — not zero tasks total, but zero unprocessed items sitting in your capture bucket.
How do you manage projects with subtasks?
In GTD, a project is any outcome that requires more than one action step. Apple Reminders supports subtasks (indented tasks under a parent), which maps perfectly to GTD project management.
For each project in your Projects list, create the project as a parent reminder, then indent the individual action steps beneath it. Tag the next action step that can be done right now and also add it to your Next Actions list — this ensures your Next Actions view always shows concrete, doable tasks rather than vague project titles.
For example, a project called "Launch blog" might have subtasks like "Write first post," "Set up hosting," and "Design logo." Only "Write first post" gets the #mac tag and lives in Next Actions until it's complete, at which point "Set up hosting" becomes the next action.
How do you do a GTD weekly review in Apple Reminders?
The weekly review is GTD's most important habit. It's a 30-minute session where you audit your entire system and prepare for the week ahead. In Apple Reminders, the process looks like this:
- Process Inbox to zero. Clear every item using the clarify questions above.
- Review Next Actions. Mark anything complete. Remove anything no longer relevant.
- Review Waiting For. Follow up on items that have been stuck. Add a note with follow-up dates.
- Review Projects. Does every project have at least one next action? If not, create one.
- Review Someday/Maybe. Anything ready to activate? Move it to Projects or Next Actions.
- Review Calendar. Open Apple Calendar alongside Reminders. Spot conflicts, prepare for upcoming events.
- Review Smart Lists. Check "Weekly Review" Smart List for the next 7 days. Adjust priorities.
How do you use location reminders for errands?
Apple Reminders can trigger notifications based on your physical location — a feature that is free and built-in, unlike Todoist where it requires a paid Business plan. For GTD, location reminders are perfect for the #errands context.
When you create a task tagged #errands, tap the location icon and set it to trigger when you arrive at or leave a specific place. "Buy printer paper" triggers when you arrive at the office supply store. "Take out recycling" triggers when you arrive home. Your system reminds you at exactly the moment you can act on it — the ultimate GTD context filter.
Can Apple Shortcuts automate GTD workflows?
Yes. Apple Shortcuts can automate repetitive GTD patterns and eliminate manual steps. Here are three shortcuts worth building:
Quick Capture: A shortcut that shows a text input dialog, asks for a context tag from a menu, and creates the reminder in your Inbox list. Assign it to the Action Button on iPhone 15 Pro or later for one-tap capture.
Morning Review: A shortcut that shows your Today's Focus Smart List, reads out the count of tasks due today, and opens Apple Calendar side-by-side. Run it automatically at 8am via a time-based automation.
End of Day Sweep: A shortcut that finds all incomplete tasks tagged #quickwin with today's due date and moves them to tomorrow. Prevents guilt and keeps your system realistic.
What are the limitations of Apple Reminders for GTD?
Apple Reminders is not a dedicated GTD app. It works well for individual GTD practitioners, but there are real limitations to know about:
- No project-level views: You can't see all next actions grouped by project in a single view. You need to check each project individually.
- No start dates: Tasks have due dates but not "defer until" dates. You can work around this with tags like #defer-april, but it's manual.
- Limited collaboration: Shared lists work for family tasks, but there's no team GTD workflow.
- No web access: If you work on Windows or Linux during the day, you'll only have the slow iCloud web app.
- No natural language parsing: Unlike Todoist's "every other Thursday" syntax, you must set recurrence manually through the date picker.
For most individuals in the Apple ecosystem, these limitations are minor compared to the benefits: zero cost, instant sync, Siri integration, location triggers, and native performance.
Is Apple Reminders good enough for GTD?
For individual users committed to the Apple ecosystem, Apple Reminders is a genuinely capable GTD system. Tags replace contexts, Smart Lists replace custom perspectives, Siri replaces quick-entry hotkeys, and subtasks replace project planning views. It's not OmniFocus, but it doesn't cost $100 either.
The real advantage is that Apple Reminders is already on every device you own. There's no new app to install, no account to create, no subscription to manage. That lowers the friction of adopting GTD to almost zero — and in productivity, the system you actually use is the one that works.
If you want to take Apple Reminders even further, Side Reminder keeps your tasks visible at the screen edge so you can glance at your Next Actions list without switching apps — the GTD equivalent of having your task list pinned to your desk.