That said, make sure you adapt the GTD Notion templates to how you work and don’t take the templates just as they are. These templates are meant to give you an idea of what you can implement yourself and determine just how ‘advanced’ you want to get with it. As you go through the templates, it might be worth remembering the process that David Allen was highlighting in Getting Things Done; specifically, the five core elements of the process are:
Capture Clarify Organize Review Engage
So now, let’s head into the different GTD Notion templates and see how those different areas of the process apply.
1. Getting Things Done (Notion Dashboard)
This is a template created by Easlo, and you can find it on Gumroad with the exact same name. As per most of their templates, they keep it super minimalist and straight to the task that you are concerned with. However, it is not just the minimal aesthetics of this template that you should be paying attention to. They have created a list of ‘features’ to make for a smooth Getting Things Done approach. You can see from some of the aspects that have been created that there’s a dedicated ‘inbox page’ so you know of the immediate tasks, and there is a recurring task set up, saving you time on constantly typing up tasks that you do repetitively. Then an area for sorting out the ‘some day’ tasks alongside projects and what needs priority all within a viewable context of doing so. These are the elements that you should take away when developing your own GTD template, or even build off the Easlo version.
2. Ultimate GTD Notion
For those who want to take their GTD Notion template up a notch or two, this is a great template to check out; again, it’s a template that you a find on Notion. What’s unique about this template is the ‘command centre’ element to it, where you have a full view to track and set different tasks within different projects so you can see where you are behind or ahead on a certain task and what needs doing when. This is a great little template that is great for those who really want a main style navigation centre to work from when carrying out the tasks and can carry out the GTD process practically all from one template page.
3. GTD Task Management System
This is a template that comes with an accompanying blog post that is definitely worth checking out on Maray.ai with the corresponding GTD Notion post that shows you the purpose of the template and why it is laid out in that manner. Plus, it shows you exactly how to organise daily tasks and projects, with real-life examples of how it should actually be carried out. There are many advantages this system has over your typical traditional to-do list, and it addresses what you can do to develop your own as well. You can find it on Gumroad with the above title, “GTD Task Management System” for Notion.
4. GTD in Notion
This is a template you can pick up from Radreads that you can find by searching for “How to implement GTD in Notion”. You can see the author has really thought about the essence of Getting Things Done from a process perspective and how each of the elements is then reflected in the Notion process. The post that accompanies the template is worth reading, as you can then check with yourself to see whether you are actually capturing the process with the template you are building.
5. The Focus Hub: Daily Task Management Notion Template
This is a template that I feel really incorporates the aspects that David Allen was getting across in his book, and it is no surprise that this template has also been developed by someone who has used the GTD method for a long time. The template is focused on ensuring that task management is easy to view but more importantly, it prompts the user with the ‘right’ task based on context and timing, rather than spending a certain amount of time actually trying to work out what is going on. Not only is it quite appealing from a visual perspective, but you should also look to the different features that are incorporated to see if it is something you can introduce into your system. Ask yourself, is the highest ROI task being generated by your Notion template on demand? Can you visibly see the progress of your project? Can you see what you have achieved and what you need to achieve going forwards? If not, this is a template that can help with just that, and it is certainly worth checking out the different features such as Hill Charts, goal constraints, and how it has been designed to set you up for success in comparison to other Notion templates that have a feature for the sake of having a feature. Remember that many Notion templates will likely evolve, and so they should as your work process also continues to progress. The above templates for Getting Things Done are only to serve as a foundation to prompt potential ideas that you might want to consider in making sure that your template has a certain aspect that you might have omitted. This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional. © 2022 Hugo Totty
