Guides
Learn the GTD method, follow a Mindwtr walkthrough, or compare task managers. Choose a guide below based on what you want to do.
Learn the method
Start here if GTD is new to you, or if it used to work and stopped.
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What is GTD?
An introduction to capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage.
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The Mindwtr Handbook
A working day and a working week, start to finish, in about fifteen minutes.
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When GTD stops working
Practical adjustments for a stale list, a skipped review, or an overflowing Someday list.
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The horizons of focus
Connect everyday tasks with your responsibilities, goals, and longer-term plans.
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Task apps and ADHD
What makes a system survivable when attention and working memory are unreliable.
The psychology
Research on attention, memory, and planning, with sources and limitations.
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The psychology of GTD
Four mechanisms under every rule in the book: open loops, small working memory, external thinking, and trust.
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The Zeigarnik effect
The famous story about unfinished tasks — what replicated, what didn’t, and what to do about 2 a.m.
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Cognitive overload
How competing demands affect attention, and ways to reduce the load.
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Distributed cognition
You already think outside your head — the case for treating your list as part of your mind.
Compare apps
Sourced, dated, and honest — including the rows where the other app wins. The full matrix is on how Mindwtr compares.
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Todoist alternatives
Seven apps people move to, each with its catch. There is also a Mindwtr vs Todoist head-to-head.
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TickTick alternatives
What you give up leaving the bundle, and who fits what. Also: Mindwtr vs TickTick.
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The best free task manager
Free tier, free product, or free software — seven apps and what “free” means in each.
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OmniFocus for Linux
There isn’t one. What to do when your trusted system stayed behind on the Mac.
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A free GTD app for Android
The whole method on your phone — Google Play, F-Droid, offline, no account.