Getting Started
A step-by-step walkthrough for setting up OTD from scratch. Estimated time: 1–2 hours for initial setup, then 5–10 minutes each morning.
Before you begin
OTD is a framework, not a specific tool. You'll need:
- Something to use as Inbox (any notes app, text file, or paper)
- Something to hold your Areas, Projects, Flows, and Actions (same app or a different one)
- Your calendar (unchanged — keep whatever you're using)
The tool doesn't matter. The discipline does. If you already have a task management app, you can implement OTD in it. If you're starting fresh, a plain notes app works fine.
Step 1: Set up your Areas (15 minutes)
Write down every major domain of ongoing responsibility in your life.
Don't filter yet. Just list everything you're responsible for:
- Professional domains (your job, projects at work, a side business)
- Personal domains (health, finance, family, relationships)
- Development areas (learning, creative work, hobbies you take seriously)
- Life logistics (home, car, admin)
Look at the list. Consolidate where things overlap. Aim for 5–10 Areas.
Example result:
Areas:
- Work
- Startup / Side Projects
- Health
- Finance
- Learning
- Family
- HomeThese are your top-level containers. Everything you do lives inside one of them.
Step 2: Set up your Inbox (5 minutes)
Pick one place. Just one.
It can be:
- A dedicated app or tool
- A text file called "inbox.txt"
- A notebook you carry
- An email you send to yourself
The only requirement: it's a single place, and you actually use it every time something enters your awareness.
If you already have an Inbox system, keep it. You're adding the OTD processing step, not replacing the capture habit.
Step 3: Brain dump (30–60 minutes)
This is the most important step for first-time setup.
Open your Inbox and spend 30–60 minutes emptying your head:
- Every task you've been meaning to do
- Every commitment you've made to others
- Every worry occupying mental space
- Every idea you've been meaning to capture
- Every project or goal you're thinking about
- Everything at home that needs attention
- Everything at work that's unfinished or pending
Don't filter. Don't organize. Don't decide where anything belongs. Just get it out of your head and into Inbox.
This step feels uncomfortable for some people — it forces you to confront everything you've been mentally juggling. That's the point. Get it out now so you can deal with it systematically.
Step 4: Process your Inbox (30–60 minutes)
Go through each item in Inbox, one at a time, top to bottom.
For each item:
Question 1: Is this actionable?
- No → Trash it, file in Reference, or move to Someday
- Yes → Go to Question 2
Question 2: Who executes this?
- Do / Delegate / Await → Place it in the appropriate Area, Project, and Flow
If an Action is too large: Break it into smaller Actions, each completable in a single day.
If you need a new Project: Create one when you find multiple related Flows sharing a goal.
If you need a new Flow: Create one when you have a sequence of Actions aimed at a specific outcome.
As you process, your structure will build itself. You'll find natural groupings. Projects will emerge when you realize several things are connected. Flows will take shape as you sequence related Actions.
Don't over-plan. Process what you have. Don't try to plan out every future Action in a Flow — let them emerge as you work.
Step 5: Your first Today (10 minutes)
With your Flows set up, each active Flow's first uncompleted Action is ready to surface.
Look at what's there:
- Does it reflect what you should be working on today?
- Is there anything missing that's genuinely urgent?
- Does the Mode-based execution order (Review → Delegate → Do) feel clear?
Add anything missing. Remove anything that shouldn't be today.
This is your first Daily Review. It will get faster — most days, 5 minutes is enough.
Step 6: Execute
Work through Today in Mode order. Review first. Delegate second. Do last.
When Today is empty: you're done. That's the signal.
Step 7: Build the Review habit (ongoing)
The two habits that keep the system alive:
Daily Review — every morning, 5–10 minutes. Check Today, add anything missing, begin.
Weekly Review — once a week, 30–60 minutes. Full system audit: Inbox zero, review all Areas, Projects, Flows, Await items, Someday. (See Review for the full checklist.)
Pick a specific time for Weekly Review and put it in your calendar. Treat it like a meeting with yourself.
First-week expectations
The first week with OTD is rarely smooth. Expect:
Day 1–2: Everything feels new and slightly slow. Processing Actions into the structure takes longer than it will later. This is normal — you're building the structure for the first time.
Day 3–4: The structure starts to feel natural. Today surfaces Actions you recognize and trust. The Mode-based execution order starts to feel obvious.
Day 5–7: You complete a Weekly Review. This is the real initialization. After your first Weekly Review, you've seen the whole system from above, pruned what doesn't belong, and confirmed what does. The system is now yours.
Common first-week mistakes
Over-structuring: Creating Projects for every single Flow, creating Flows for single Actions. Keep it simple. Add structure when you have multiple things that need grouping.
Actions too large: If Today never feels empty, your Actions are probably too large. "Work on proposal" → "Write the introduction section."
Skipping Daily Review: If you skip Daily Review, you're working from an un-curated Today. Do it even when it feels like a formality — it takes 5 minutes and the return is high.
Perfectionism: The brain dump didn't capture everything. The structure isn't perfect. The first Weekly Review will find things you missed. That's fine. The system improves as you use it.