Glossary

The words this category uses loosely, defined once. Most of them describe a behaviour that apps implement differently without ever naming it, which is why a repeat or a date field so often does something other than what you meant.

• Recurrence anchor — what a repeat counts fromA recurrence anchor is the date a repeating task counts from: either the scheduled date, or the day you actually finished it. The difference matters.
• Start date — what it means in a to-do appThe day you intend to begin something, as opposed to the day it is due. In apps that defer, it also decides when the task becomes visible at all.
• Deadline — what it means in a task managerThe day something must be finished, as distinct from the day you plan to start it. In apps that separate the two, a deadline schedules nothing at all.
• Defer date — the date that hides a task until it arrivesA date that hides a task until it arrives, rather than only scheduling it. Also called a start date. Most task apps do not have one, and several say so plainly.
• Next action — the GTD term for the next physical stepThe physical step you would do next to move something forward — the step, not the outcome, written so you could start it without deciding anything first.
• Task vs project — where the line actually fallsA task is one step. A project is any outcome that takes more than one. The test is whether you can start it without deciding anything first.
• Area of responsibility — a GTD standing commitmentA standing part of your life or work that never finishes — Work, Home, Health. The counterpart to a project, which does finish, and the reason both exist.
• Someday/maybe list — what it holds, and whyA holding place for things you might do but have not committed to. The point is that it leaves your active lists entirely, rather than sitting there tagged.
• Weekly review — what it is, and the eleven GTD stepsBringing a task system back in line with reality — about an hour, roughly weekly. What makes the rest of the method work, and the first thing people drop.
• An empty task inbox — what it does and does not meanProcessing every captured item until nothing is left undecided. Not doing everything — deciding what each thing is, and putting it where it belongs.