How I Never Forget a Single Task (Todoist + Notion Workflow)
About this video
Jeff Su explains his version of David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’ (GTD) system, simplified from Allen’s five principles (capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage) down to three: capture, process, and review. Capture: because brains are made for having ideas, not storing them, every unclosed loop should be written down instantly in an external tool — for him the free version of Todoist — using its natural-language input (e.g. a daily recurring ’take probiotics’ task). He gives examples like capturing a video thumbnail idea while resting between sets at the gym, and a reminder to buy toilet paper. Process: move each captured item to its proper home — thumbnail ideas into the matching video planning page in Notion, a plan to eat with a visiting friend into Google Calendar, and time-specific but time-of-day-flexible items like a haircut every other Sunday left as recurring Todoist tasks. He applies Allen’s two-minute rule: anything doable in under two minutes gets done immediately; anything longer goes to his action-items list, his Notion Weekly Agenda page. Review: he reviews that weekly agenda three times a day (morning, afternoon, night) and again every Sunday evening, archiving unfinished items like reading Austin Kleon’s ‘Keep Going’ or carrying them into next week. He stresses the specific apps don’t matter — a poll he cites found only about 20% of his audience uses Todoist — as long as the external system is trusted.
Key takeaways
- Capture every thought instantly in an external tool instead of relying on memory; Jeff uses the free version of Todoist with its natural-language recurring-task input.
- Process each captured item into its proper place: ideas into Notion planning pages, time-specific events into Google Calendar, and flexible recurring items left as Todoist tasks.
- Use David Allen’s two-minute rule: do anything that takes under two minutes right away, and file anything longer onto an action-items list.
- Review the weekly agenda three times a day (morning, afternoon, night) and do a fuller review every Sunday evening, archiving or rescheduling unfinished items.
- The specific apps don’t matter — Jeff notes only about 20% of his polled audience uses Todoist — what matters is trusting the external system completely.
Episode details: published May 11, 2021 · 7:19 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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