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Concept

Clarify Workflow

The clarify workflow is the step in David Allen's Getting Things Done where you take each captured item from the top of your inbox, one at a time, decide what it actually means and whether it requires action, and send it to a definite place instead of back into the inbox.

Capturing empties your head, but it leaves you with a heap, not a system. The clarify workflow turns that heap into decisions. For each item you ask two questions: What is it? Is it actionable? If not, it goes in the trash, on a someday/maybe list, or into reference files. If it is, you name the very next physical action. If that action takes under two minutes, you do it on the spot. Otherwise you delegate it or park it on a list or calendar. If the item needs more than one action, it also becomes a project. The rules matter more than the tools. Start at the top, handle one item at a time, and never slide something back because it feels hard. That hesitation is the thinking the item is waiting for. Skip this step and your lists fill with vague entries like "mum" or "taxes." You have to rethink them every time you look, until you stop looking.

A real-life example

Maya returns from a week of conferences to 43 sticky notes and emails. The top one just says "taxes." Instead of skipping it, she asks what it means: her accountant needs last year's rent receipts. The next action is to email the landlord for copies. That takes longer than two minutes, so it goes on her computer list, and "File 2024 taxes" goes on her projects list. Twenty minutes later the pile is gone, and nothing on her lists needs decoding.

How to use it

  1. 1Pick up only the top item and ask: what is this, and do I need to do anything about it? If not, trash it, file it as reference, or put it on someday/maybe.
  2. 2If it is actionable, write the next visible physical step, starting with a verb ("Call the insurer about the policy number"). Do it now if it takes under two minutes. Otherwise delegate it or put it on a list or calendar.
  3. 3Never return an item to the inbox. If it needs several steps, add it to your projects list as well, then move to the next item until the inbox is empty.