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Getting started with GTDInbox

Download & Install

If you haven't already, you can install it by clicking install, or if that fails, download it from Mozilla Addons. After you have restarted Firefox, load Gmail as normal and you will see the GTDInbox welcome screen.

Setting Up GTDInbox and Gmail

When you load Gmail for the first time with GTDInbox, you'll see a welcome screen. While this is showing, GTDInbox will install the common Status labels (don't worry, there are only a few) behind the scenes.

Upgrading from GTDInbox 1.x?

In the new version of GTDInbox, the standard prefixes for labels are S/, P/, etc. (rather than S:, P:) for better compatibility with Gmail's new IMAP feature.

For this reason, you should migrate labels to the new format. There are 3 ways you can do this.

  1. During the welcome screen, you can click to 'Migrate Labels', this will take you to the Options screen. When you click 'Save & Close', it will automatically convert your old GTD labels to new ones. (If this fails for any reason, just reload Gmail and do it manually).
  2. At any time, you can load 'Options' (on the left-hand sidebar in Gmail), and update the prefixes. If the prefixes have changed, it will automatically migrate the affected labels when you click Save & Close.
  3. You can always do it manually (label by label), using Gmail's inbuilt Labels screen.

For GTDInbox 1.x users, there is also a mindset switch needed to use GTDInbox 2. The original was very focused on todo-list style task management, and while this is still possible, it is no longer the main purpose of GTDInbox. Beginning with version 2, GTDInbox is about managing your inbox (including the tasks that come in as email).

You can now create new labels for Projects, Contexts & References using Gmail's inbuilt Labels screen (click 'Edit Labels' or load the Settings). The Labels screen has been endowed with a helpful box on why and when to use each type of label.

You can also create labels when you need them, using GTDInbox's "New Label" button, which can be found while composing a message, reading a message, or using the Inbox Popup.

You have now set up GTDInbox! It is simple enough to begin using right away. Everything below gives more detail on squeezing the absolute most from GTDInbox.

Basic GTDInbox and 'Personal Database' Concepts

Significant parts of GTDInbox are permanently present within Gmail, and everything else can normally be popped-up with a right click to a contact, label or thread.

In the world of GTDInbox, you should view threads (messages) more like items - actions, resources and historic communication - that belong to projects, places and people.

The GTD labels for Projects and Contexts help give you multiple views - dimensions, if you will - of the information in your inbox, and meaningfully group clusters of related items. Of particular note are Status labels, which define items as actions, and give them priority.

For example, you can find all actions you're waiting for another person to do, or all communication associated with a project, or all files related to a given place (e.g. the office).

GTD & Zero-Inbox Concepts

GTD stands for Getting Things Done, and is the brain child of David Allen. It is a productivity methodology with mass-appeal, because it manages to be intuitive, light-weight and effective.

The central concept is that tasks must be moved out of the mind and recorded somewhere else, freeing the mind from the stress and work of remembering everything that must be done. These tasks are then grouped by Context - where they should be accomplished - and Project (conceptually, a way to combine related tasks). More information can be found on the Wikipedia GTD article, and the book can be bought from Amazon (US, UK).

Inbox Zero was coined by Merlin Mann, and is the art of keeping your inbox empty in order to manage the clutter and overload that email brings us. It turns out Inbox-Zero is very harmonious with the principles of GTD, and also with Gmail, which has always encouraged you to Archive items away from your inbox.

GTDInbox uses the smallest subset of GTD that is relevant to your email inbox, thus ensuring it's useful to everyone from hardcore productivity enthusiasts to regular email workers. While GTD itself focuses on tasks, GTDInbox uses it in a relaxed, ambient manner to provide not only tasks, but to increase Gmail's usability, and to treat your inbox like a personal information store.

The Basic GTD Process in Gmail

The key idea is that the inbox stays empty. Everything is classified or deleted, and then archived.

Process
  • Email arrives in your inbox
  • If it's an action...
    If the action it represents (e.g. reply, send a file) can be done in two minutes, do it right now and then discard it. Otherwise, apply a status (next action if it's to be done today, action if it has to be done, someday/maybe if you might do it); and optionally give it an associated Project or Context (place where it must be done, e.g. office, home).
  • If it's some kind of resource...
    For emails with files, or emails that contain important information, that can be considered resources. They can be associated with a Project, and given a Reference (e.g. 'meeting plan', 'balance sheet'), which enables you to later ask 'find upcoming meeting plans for project X', or 'find balance sheet from contact y'.
  • Once classified, click Archive to remove it from your inbox.
  • When the action is complete, or the resource is no longer relevant, you can either remove all Status labels - which implies it's no longer actionable - or label it Finished (to be explicit), or even just delete it. Unless you delete it, it will still be associated with the Project/Context for later historic reviews.
Review

Review is a core part of the process, mainly used to find your upcoming actions, or to discover more information - or resources - for whatever you are working on. Occassionally it's also used to clean up clutter.

Typically, you will assess actions by clicking Status labels, either in general - using the Dashboard - or for a specific project, context or contact. Finding related information normally starts with right clicking the item you wish to find more information for - the thread, project label, contact - and then drilling down into the menu that pops up.

There are a few additional review tips,

  • Define your Day

    Either at the start of a new day, or at the end of one, review actions to create a list of Next Actions to be done. The benefits of using next actions are two-fold. First, you reduce thinking time - and thus procrastination - by always knowing what is to be done next. And more importantly, you get a sense of progress, and ultimately, completion. I.e. rather than just keeping hammering away until some arbitary 'end of day', you stop when the work you wanted to do is done.

  • Declare Projects 'Old'

    We typically have many projects, and over time these can clog up our list of labels. So in GTDInbox, you can easily rename a Project as 'Old' (a different prefix), and thus remove it from view. You should do this either for projects that are finished, or just temporarily on hold.

  • Get a Bird's Eye View of Accomplishment

    GTDInbox encourages you to review Finished items, either recent or in the last quarter - and in general or for a project - to get a sense of the scale of how you've progressed.

Read more in Common Uses

Team Work

GTDInbox is people-orientated. Using Gmail's Contact Manager - or right clicking a contact - you can dig deeper into a particular contact.

How is a contact connected to other things in your inbox?

Using a little fancy analysis, GTDInbox can tell you who else a contact is associated with, what Projects they participate in, and what files you've exchanged.

Delegating Tasks and Waiting for Someone Else to Complete Something

The 'Waiting On' status allows you to say "I've delegated this task to someone, or I'm waiting for them to do something before I proceed". More importantly, it allows you to review all outstanding items you're waiting on from others.

Synchronising Labels on Items across Two Accounts

When you compose them a message or a task, you can assign it to a project, context or any other label. So long as the recipient also has that label and uses GTDInbox, it will be automatically assigned when it arrives in their inbox; saving them time and making sure you're coordinating information effectively.

Using the Main Features

The Dashboard

The GTDInbox dashboard view

This is the central start point for reviews of things you must do, have done, or for looking up resources.

Inbox GTD Popup

One click view to add/remove labels, preview the message or delete the item

On any thread list (inbox, archive, sent items, etc.) you can right click the item that lets you preview the text of the item, add/remove labels, and archive or delete the item.

Compose Personal

Endow GMail with new features such as easy composition of messages to yourself

Click 'Compose Personal' to tune the compose screen to just send a message to yourself. This is particularly useful for creating personal tasks, especially if you also pre-label them.

On-Off Labels

Turn labels on or off with a single, simple click

In Compose, while viewing an item or on the Inbox Popup you have a list of labels - grouped into Statuses, Projects, etc. - that you can toggle on/off simply by clicking them.

Label Popup

Right clicking on a label shows a popup with associated actions and contacts

Right click any label and you get a popup specialised for the type of label (e.g. Project, Context, Reference), that lets you see associated contacts, related files, upcoming actions or to search within that label.

Contact Popup

Right clicking on a contact shows related projects, contexts, files and other associated contacts.

Similar to the Label Popup, you can right click any contact to see related projects and contexts, files you've exchanged, other contacts they're associated with, actions (including those you've delegated), and to search historic communication.

Contacts Manager

Delve deeper into GTDInbox with the Contacts Manager

The regular Gmail Contacts Manager has been improved to allow you to see related contacts, actions, projects and files associated with one or more people.

Refined Labels Box

The GTDInbox labels box is organised into Statuses, projects, contexts, references and more

The regular Gmail labels box is refined to group labels by their type, such as Statuses, Projects, Contexts, References, Old items, and more.

Pre-Labelling Messages

Prelabel messages before you send them

When you compose a message, you can click various labels you want to pre-apply. These are added to the body of your message. When the email arrives in a Gmail inbox that has GTDInbox installed (including your own), the labels are automatically added.