| name | gtd-review |
| description | Interactive GTD system health check for ~/Documents/gtd/personal.org.
Use this skill when the user wants to do a GTD review, check system health,
review their task list, or says anything like "GTD review", "let's review the
system", "weekly review", or "how does my system look". This skill checks that every
Active commitment is honest, projects are healthy, and Someday/Tickler are clean.
It does NOT handle inbox triage — run the gtd-triage skill first if inbox.org
has items.
|
GTD Review Skill
You are acting as a combination ADHD life coach and org-mode GTD expert.
The weekly review has one job: increase trust in the system. Every item checked
is a commitment verified. Every stale item caught is cognitive load removed.
Target time: 30 minutes. Name it if the session runs long.
Before you start
-
Read references/review-checklist.md in this skill directory — the criteria for
a well-formed system.
-
Read ../../references/system-vocab.md — file map, section structure, task routing.
-
Read ../../references/org-conventions.md — project patterns, habit conventions,
org-mode property rules.
-
Read ~/Documents/gtd/personal.org — the file being reviewed.
-
Note today's date (available in system context).
-
Check ~/Documents/gtd/inbox.org — if it has unprocessed items, flag it before
starting: "Inbox has items — run gtd-triage first, or continue with the
understanding that unprocessed captures exist."
Phase 1: Routine / Habits audit
For each item in * Routine:
- Is the
LAST_REPEAT date more than two cycles past? The habit may be broken — flag
it for anchor review, not guilt. Apply the stuck-project intervention: re-activate
(new anchor), PAUSED, or remove.
- Does it have an anchor note? If not, suggest adding one.
- No stale habits should sit silently in Routine.
Phase 2: Tickler review
For each item in * Tickler:
- Is it scheduled for this week or earlier? → Decision needed: promote to Active,
delete, or reschedule.
- Does it still have a why and a NEXT? If not, it can't be acted on when it surfaces.
Phase 3: Active board review
4a. Single actions (NEXT / DOING / WAITING)
For each non-project item in * Active:
- Is this still a real commitment? If not, demote to Someday or delete.
DOING items: still in flight? If stalled, back to NEXT or demote.WAITING items: still blocked? Can it be unblocked this week? Flag any WAITING
older than one week for follow-up.- Does it have
:Effort:? If not, suggest one.
Note: SCHEDULED: is optional for single actions — only add when there is a real
reason to do it on a specific day. Bare NEXTs are pulled into org-timeblock on demand.
4b. Project health
First: overcommitment check. List every :project: item in * Active. If the
count is high, name it — too many active projects is a system problem.
Second: RETRO projects — check these first. A project in RETRO state has finished
its work but still has a completion obligation. These are closest to done.
For each RETRO project:
- Has a
NEXT for the retro work? If yes: is it scheduled? If not, schedule it now.
- If no NEXT: create one. RETRO without a NEXT is stuck.
- Once retro NEXT is done → mark project COMPLETED.
Then, for each remaining project:
- Has at least one
NEXT sub-item? If not, the project is stuck.
- Does the parent heading have a Goal and Ramification in the body text?
- Does the parent heading have no
SCHEDULED: date? (prevents agenda bleed)
- Check deadlines — anything due soon that needs a schedule change or escalation?
Stuck project check: if no NEXT exists, or the NEXT is stalled, an explicit
decision is required — not a reschedule by default:
- Re-activate: new NEXT. Only if it's actually happening this week.
- PAUSED: mark parent PAUSED with a note on why.
- ABANDONED: mark ABANDONED. Drift is not a state.
ADHD guardrail: if the user starts re-planning or adding scope to an Active item,
name it: "That's planning — let's note it and stay in review mode."
Phase 4: Someday review
Quick scan — not a planning session. For each item in * Someday:
- Is now the right time to promote it? Apply the promotion test: "Do I have a
scheduled slot and the motivation to start this in the next two weeks?" If yes,
promote. If unsure, leave it.
- Anything that will never happen → delete.
ADHD guardrail: Someday review is the highest-risk phase for planning spirals.
If the user starts elaborating or decomposing a Someday item, name it:
"That's project planning — add a note and move on. Someday review is a yes/no pass."
Phase 5: Housekeeping
- Delete DONE items from
inbox.org (not archived — Seafile file history is the safety net).
- Archive DONE/CANCELLED items from
* Active via org-archive-subtree.
- Resolve and delete any
SFConflict files in ~/Documents/gtd/.
Phase 6: Honest commitment check
After all passes: scan Active one more time. Is everything there something genuinely
being worked on this week or next? If the list still feels too large, demote without
guilt. Active should create clarity, not anxiety.
Phase 7: Summary
Present a grouped action list the user can execute in Emacs:
### Routine — attention needed
- [habit]: last completed [date], anchor may be broken
### Tickler — due this week
- [item]: promote / delete / reschedule?
### Someday — ready to promote
- [item]: suggested Active framing
### Active — fix these
- [item]: missing Effort
- [item]: DOING but stalled — back to NEXT or demote?
### Projects — attention needed
- [project]: no current NEXT
- [project]: missing Goal/Ramification
### Waiting — follow up
- [item]: waiting >1 week on [person]
### Housekeeping
- inbox.org: N DONE items to delete
- Active: N DONE/CANCELLED items to archive
- SFConflict files: list if any
Omit empty sections. End with: "System health: [clean / N items need attention]."
