The GTD planner is a set of free printable templates built around the Getting Things Done method by David Allen. Print them individually, or download all twelve pages as a single PDF — ready to use today.
If you’re new to the system, see our complete guide to the Getting Things Done method before printing. To process individual tasks through the system, use our interactive GTD flowchart.
What’s Inside the GTD Planner
The full 12-page printable GTD planner includes every list and worksheet the GTD method calls for, in one downloadable bundle:
- Mind Sweep
- Projects List
- Next Actions List
- Calendar
- Waiting For List
- Someday / Maybe List
- Weekly Review Checklist
- Areas of Focus and Accountabilities
- 1–2 Year Goals
- Long-Term Visions (3–5 Years)
- Life Purpose
Each page is a fillable PDF — you can print it and write by hand, or type directly into the PDF on your computer or tablet.
How to Use This Planner
GTD works best when every input goes through a clear workflow before landing on a list. Use our GTD flowchart to decide where each task belongs, then use the templates below to track them.
A typical first setup looks like this:
- Print the Mind Sweep and capture everything currently on your mind.
- For each item, decide: trash, reference, someday/maybe, project, or single next action.
- Move each item onto the matching list — Projects, Next Actions, Calendar, Waiting For, or Someday/Maybe.
- Schedule a 30-minute Weekly Review to keep the system current.
- Set up the long-term planning templates — Areas of Focus, Goals, Visions, Life Purpose — over a quieter weekend.
Then you’re running GTD.
Mind Sweep
The Mind Sweep is where you capture every thought, idea, half-formed project, and unfinished commitment that’s currently in your head. The first one usually surfaces far more than people expect — old promises, books to read, conversations to have, things to fix.
Use it whenever mental clutter starts to build. Most people repeat a shorter mind sweep weekly during their review.
Take the Mind Sweep list and write out each thought, idea, project or thing that has your attention.
Include things like:
- Projects started but not completed
- Projects that need to be started
- Commitments/promises to others
- Phone calls to make
- Things to buy
- Errands to run
- Things to clean or organize
Projects List
In GTD, a project is any outcome that takes more than one action to complete. The Projects List is a single page that captures all of them — together with the next concrete action for each one. Reviewed weekly so nothing stalls silently.
Use this list to record all projects that need to be completed in the near future.
Next Actions List
Every actionable task that takes longer than two minutes and isn’t tied to a specific date or time lives here. If your list grows long, group it by context — calls, errands, computer, home, office, waiting room — so the right task always rises to the top of whatever situation you’re in.
The next action is the immediate physical, visible activity that you need to do in order to move a task or project toward closure. The next action cannot depend on any other action.
This is where you put all tasks that take longer than two minutes to complete.
Store the “next action” in the Next Actions List or in your Calendar.
Whereas the projects list will include various tasks required to complete a project, in the next actions list, include only the next action. When this task is complete, mark it with O and add the next action.
Calendar
The GTD calendar is reserved for items that absolutely must happen on a specific date or time — appointments, deadlines, day-specific reminders. Everything else goes on the Next Actions list. Keeping the calendar this strict is what makes it trustworthy.
Use the calendar to list:
- Time-specific actions, like appointments.
- Day-specific actions, like calling someone on their birthday.
- Day-specific information, like the documents you need to bring to a meeting.
Do not add any other to-dos to your Calendar, as they will move the focus away from the items that are truly time- or day-specific. All other tasks or actions should be added to your Next Action list.
Waiting For List
Anything you’ve delegated, requested, or are otherwise expecting from someone else. The list is organized by person, so when you talk to a colleague or family member you can see at a glance every open item between you.
The waiting list is organized by person. Therefore, when you speak to someone, you can easily see all the things you are waiting for from that person.
The Waiting For list is helpful when you are waiting for items from others. Our list includes a section to write how and when you asked them for this item. This is helpful if you need to send a reminder and don’t remember if you sent them an email or a text or spoke to them. Its easier to record this information when its fresh in your mind. If your memory is anything like mine you might not remember when you requested the item and if you actually made the call or not. Even if you have a good memory, the idea of the GTD method is to get everything on paper and out of your head.
Someday / Maybe List
Ideas and possibilities you don’t want to commit to right now — but don’t want to forget either. Trips, skills, side projects, restaurants to try, books to read. Reviewed weekly or monthly to promote items into active projects or remove ones that no longer matter.
All ideas with potential future relevance should be put onto a Someday/Maybe list.
This includes all items that you haven’t been able to translate into concrete ideas or tasks yet. For example: trips you want to take one day, things you want to learn or do.
Weekly Review Checklist
The Weekly Review is the heartbeat of GTD — the 30-to-60-minute session each week that keeps every list current and every project moving. This checklist walks you through it step by step so nothing gets skipped.
This GTD weekly review checklist includes all the things you should review on a weekly basis so that you don’t leave anything out.
- Review the previous week to tie up any loose ends
- Clear out your collection tools
- Capture any thoughts/ideas that might still be on your mind.
- Go through your Next Action list and mark off completed items
- Review your Calendar. Check if you need to prepare something for upcoming appointments.
- Review the Waiting For list. Do you need to follow-up with anyone?
- Review your Projects list. Check the status of tasks, plans and materials for each project and ensure that they all have at least one next action in your system.
- Look at your Someday/Maybe list. Are there any items there you wish to pursue now? If so, turn them into projects. If there are things that no longer interest you then delete them.
A good weekly review results in 3 outcomes:
- Clear your mind. Know exactly what you need to accomplish next. Be clear on the next actions for each task.
- Bring your system up to date. Ideally, your emails, tasks, and projects that are due should be complete.
- Complete your tasks for that week (assuming you set realistic goals).
Don’t worry if you didn’t get everything done. It may take a few rounds of weekly reviews to fully understand the GTD method and implement is correctly.
Areas of Focus and Accountabilities
A map of the roles and responsibilities your projects support — health, family, career, finances, home, community. If a role has no projects attached, that’s a flag in your weekly review: something important is being neglected.
These areas of focus will determine your priorities. If there are no tasks on your Projects list related to a specific role, you might want to create one.
This chart will help you ensure that the projects and tasks you do are meaningful to you and will help you achieve the things you want in life.
1–2 Year Goals
A page for each area of focus, with a SMART goal describing where you want to be in one to two years. Specific outcomes here are what give your projects list its direction.
Where do you want to be in your life in one to two years from now? Envision the outcome and create a clear image of the final goal. See yourself being already successful. This will increase your chance of reaching your goals.
Long-Term Visions
A three-to-five-year picture of the life, career, or business you’re building toward. Less specific than the 1–2 year goals, more concrete than life purpose. Review and revise annually.
Make sure that all your projects and tasks will eventually help you achieve these goals.
Life Purpose
The deepest layer of GTD’s six horizons. What is your life ultimately for? What core values do you stand on? For an organization, what’s its purpose? Reviewed yearly — most people don’t change their purpose often, but writing it down makes the layers above it sharper.
Tips for Using the GTD Planner
A few small habits make these templates dramatically more useful:
- Keep the planner accessible. A binder on your desk, a folder on your tablet, a clipboard in your bag — wherever it is, it has to be near you.
- Process the in-tray once a day. Most people pick a fixed time — end of work day or first thing the next morning — to clear the in-tray and update the lists.
- Schedule the weekly review like an appointment. Same time, same place, every week. Skipping it is how systems die.
- Don’t aim for perfection on day one. Even a partial GTD setup is better than no system. Add layers as the basics become natural.
- Pair the planner with the GTD flowchart so every input gets routed correctly.
If you’re new to the method, our full guide to Getting Things Done walks through every step in detail before you start filling pages.
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