Tips for GTD’s Ubiquitous Capture

By Leo Babauta

One of the revelations of GTD is the very simple (and in retrospect, very obvious) mandate to write everything down. Capture all your thoughts on paper (or digitally) — don’t let them float around in your head, where they will surface at inappropriate times, stress you out and be forgotten when they are needed. Have an idea? Write it down, right now, before you forget. Thought of an errand you need to do? Capture that as well. Just remembered something for your grocery list? You know what to do.

If you’re not already capturing all your thoughts or tasks immediately on paper, or in a digital system, and carrying that around with you wherever you go, I highly recommend you start today. Even if you don’t implement the entire GTD system, this one step can make a big difference. It eliminates a lot of the stress from this stuff floating around in your head, and keeps you from forgetting a WHOLE lot. Trust me.

Here are a few tips on ubiquitous capture, whether you already have a system or not:

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