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GTD - Small Things Done Consistently | GTD®

Thumbnail of the video “GTD - Small Things Done Consistently | GTD®”
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Author: GTD
Categories: Productivity
Tags: productivity
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 08:09 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Make lasting change by doing a few small things consistently in strategic places, rather than relying on major transformational experiences, which don't sustain themselves. The speaker suggests choosing one or two such habits, such as a weekly review, and repeating them often enough that they become an embedded standard. A reader who sends a GTD weekly review email to the speaker reports that consistency, even after several attempts, was key to making the process manageable.

Key Points

  • Major transformational experiences can be valuable and motivating, but they serve mainly as an impetus to start small, consistent practices.
  • Examples of small, consistent things to start include monitoring your temper, checking in with key customers before you have to, spending less than you make, expressing appreciation for family members, and doing a weekly review.
  • A GTD user's email describes struggling with overwhelming inboxes and interruptions as a single working mother, and advises new weekly reviewers to keep trying, since it may take several tries to complete the review and make it manageable.
  • The speaker cites Sydney J. Harris: what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: Ask yourself which small things you could start doing more consistently that would create major impact. Decide on one or two of them, then arrange your routine so you do them often enough that they become a new standard. For GTD's weekly review specifically, expect that it may take several attempts to get all the way through and reach a manageable state.
  • The speaker says major transformational experiences "don't pay the rent," while small consistent actions in strategic places do.
  • The email's author had a backlog of inboxes, notes, and email across home and work, and was still cleaning them out months after a GTD seminar.
  • The emailer jokes that 'David does counsel patients,' referring humorously to David Allen (the speaker himself), and credits persistence with the process for her success.

Bottom Line

Lasting change comes from picking one or two small habits and repeating them consistently, not from one-time breakthroughs.