Getting Things Done — The Capture-Clarify-Organize Loop
GTD's core claim is simple: your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. The method is a loop of five behaviors that keeps every commitment out of your head and in a system you trust.
The five steps
Capture — every task, idea and commitment goes into one inbox, written down the moment it occurs. Clarify — process the inbox: is it actionable? If not, trash it, file it, or park it as someday/maybe. If yes, decide the very next physical action. Organize — put that action where it belongs: a project list, a calendar (only for time-specific items), or a next-action list by context.
Reflect — review the whole system weekly: projects current, next actions defined, calendar trusted. Engage — pick work with confidence, knowing nothing is lurking unprocessed. The weekly review is the engine of the method; skip it and the system silently rots within two weeks.
Why it works
The method's power is psychological, not organizational. An unrecorded commitment occupies a background loop in your mind — the Zeigarnik effect — repeating quietly and distracting from whatever you are doing now. Capture converts that loop into a trusted external note, and the mind lets go of it.
"Next physical action" is the second key idea. "Handle insurance" is a project that will be postponed forever; "find the policy number in the email from March" is an action you can do in four minutes. GTD forces that translation once, at the desk, instead of a hundred times in your head.