The five steps of GTD, and how Trayzero maps to each
Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, Engage — David Allen's five steps, and the specific feature in Trayzero that carries each one.
Published · 2 min read
Getting Things Done isn't a to-do list — it's a five-step workflow for moving anything on your mind to a trusted place and then doing the right thing next. Plenty of apps borrow the vocabulary; fewer carry the whole loop. Here is each step and the part of Trayzero built for it.
1. Capture
The method only works if getting something out of your head is faster than the urge to keep holding it. Trayzero captures from a floating button, voice-to-text, the system share sheet, and a home-screen widget — so a thought becomes an inbox item in one tap, wherever you are.
2. Clarify
This is the step most apps skip, and it's the one that matters. Trayzero's Process Inbox is a card stack that walks each captured item through the full GTD decision tree: Is it actionable? Is it a two-minute job to do right now? Should it be delegated, deferred, filed as reference, or dropped? You go card by card until the inbox hits zero.
3. Organize
Clarified items land in the canonical GTD lists: Next Actions, Projects,
Waiting For, Someday/Maybe, Calendar, and Reference. Projects are first-class —
each with its own outcome and next actions — and you can tag items with
@contexts and group them under Areas of Responsibility.
4. Reflect
A system you don't review is a system you stop trusting. Trayzero's Weekly Review is a seven-step wizard that walks you through every bucket in order, so nothing quietly rots at the bottom of a list. It turns "I should review my system" into a guided pass with a clear end.
5. Engage
In the moment, you don't want every task — you want the right next one. Trayzero filters your Next Actions by context, energy level, and the time you actually have, so the list in front of you is the list you can act on now.
Learning by doing
You don't need to know GTD to use Trayzero — the Process Inbox and Weekly Review wizard guide the method step by step, which makes them a decent way to learn it. The app is free on Google Play and the App Store.
Trayzero is an independent app inspired by the GTD methodology. "Getting Things Done" and "GTD" are trademarks of the David Allen Company.
Keep reading
What is Getting Things Done (GTD), and how does it help?
GTD is David Allen's method for getting every task out of your head and into a system you trust. Here's the five-stage workflow, the honest trade-offs, and where an app actually helps.
Desktop GTD apps with keyboard-driven navigation for power users
Trayzero is mobile only, so it isn't the answer to this one. If you want to run GTD from a desk keyboard, the real options are Nirvana for single-key navigation, OmniFocus for depth on Apple hardware, Everdo if you also want local-first, Todoist for cross-platform quick add, and Taskwarrior or Org mode if you'd rather live in a terminal. Here's what each one binds to the keyboard, what it costs, and the one narrow case where a phone-only app still fits.
Where to get a GTD app with guided inbox processing
Trayzero is a free GTD app for Android and iOS whose Process Inbox flow asks the clarify questions for you, one card at a time: is this actionable, will it take under two minutes, can someone else do it. Here is where to get it, what the guided flow actually asks, and how OmniFocus, Things 3, Todoist, Nirvana and Everdo compare on the same step.