Getting Things Done with Brain and your AI agent
Working across agents or AI accounts can leave your commitments scattered between conversations. Use Getting Things Done to build one plan in Brain: your responsibilities, projects, next actions, and the context behind them. Each connected agent can read that plan, help you move the work forward, and save updates for your next session.
Read as Markdown ↗Set up your areas and tasks with your agent
You might capture commitments with one agent and do your weekly review with another. Keep the work in the same Brain account so both can start from your current plan.
Copy this prompt to your connected agent. It will walk you through organizing your own responsibilities and commitments in Brain.
You can start with an empty Brain account. The agent will help you create the structure you need, or reuse relevant areas and items if you have already saved some work.
Help me set up Brain using Getting Things Done so I can use the same plan across my agents and AI accounts. Walk me through it one question at a time. Ask which agents I use and what work I want each to help with. Check what is saved in my account. If I have no work saved yet, start from the responsibilities and commitments I describe. If I already have work saved, read it, reuse suitable items, and ask what I want to improve. If I have no areas beyond the built-in Inbox, help me choose my first areas to create; otherwise, reuse the areas that fit. Ask about my ongoing responsibilities at work and in my personal life, then help me capture the commitments and loose ends on my mind. Suggest a small set of areas based on those responsibilities, creating any that are missing. For each commitment, help me decide the desired outcome and next concrete action. Use a project when the outcome needs several actions, and place it in the relevant area. Put its tasks in that project and standalone tasks directly in their area. Show me the proposed structure and task assignments, then create or update the items once we agree. Keep anything we have not clarified in the built-in Inbox. Ask what I am waiting on, which ideas to save for later, and whether tasks have real deadlines or dates I want to work on them. Finish by showing me where each task lives and walking me through my first weekly review. Save useful decisions and context so my other agents can pick up the same plan. Give me a short instruction to use at the start and end of each agent session: read the current plan, then save decisions and next actions when we finish.
Not connected to an agent yet? Check out our documentation to connect ChatGPT or Claude to Brain.
Start with the five GTD habits
David Allen’s Getting Things Done method follows five habits: capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage. Use them to build a system you can review without reconstructing every project from memory.
Start with Inbox, a few areas of responsibility, and one active project. Connect your agents to the same Brain account so they can work from the plan you save there.
Ready to organize your own work? Copy the setup prompt and let your agent walk you through choosing areas and putting tasks in the right place.
1. Capture what has your attention
Put new commitments and loose ends in Inbox. Capture enough to recognize the issue; decide how to organize it when you review. A new task goes into Inbox unless you choose another area or project.
A rough title is enough to capture a thought. Later, you can define the outcome, identify the next action, and attach the information needed to do it.
Help me capture what has my attention. Ask me about commitments, unfinished work, and things I need to remember, one question at a time. Add the actionable items we identify to my Brain Inbox as separate tasks. Leave dates blank unless I give you one, and show me what you saved.
2. Turn a commitment into a next action
For each Inbox item, decide what completing it would look like and what you can do next. Name a project for the outcome you want. Name a task for a concrete action you can take to move toward it.
Use a checklist for the steps of a single task. Create separate tasks when the work needs separate dates, notes, or dependencies. Save reference material as a note on the relevant project or contact; once it is saved, remove a capture task that no longer needs action.
Review my Inbox. Suggest a concrete next action for each item and identify anything that needs a project. Group related work and ask about anything unclear. Show me the proposed plan before updating Brain.
3. Put the work where you will look for it
Use areas for responsibilities that continue, such as Clients, Operations, or Professional development. Use projects for outcomes you can finish. Put each task in the area or project responsible for it, then connect it to the people and notes involved.
| GTD concept | How to use it in Brain |
|---|---|
| Capture | Inbox, reviewed regularly |
| Area of responsibility | An area such as Clients or Operations |
| Project outcome | A project named for the outcome you want to achieve |
| Next action | A task describing the next concrete action |
| Waiting For | A task recording what you are waiting for, connected to the person involved |
| Someday/Maybe | An area called Someday / Maybe for ideas to revisit |
| Reference | A note attached to the project, task, or contact it informs |
Help me organize my tasks in Brain. Check which areas, projects, and tasks are already saved. If there are no tasks yet, help me capture my commitments first. If I have no areas beyond Inbox, ask about my responsibilities and propose a small set of areas to create. Otherwise, reuse the areas and projects that fit. Suggest a home for each task, grouping actions toward the same outcome into a project within the relevant area and putting standalone tasks directly in their area. Propose any missing projects. Leave unresolved items in Inbox. Show me the assignments, then create the missing areas and projects and save or move the tasks once we agree. Show me where everything now lives.
Give waiting tasks a planned date for checking in. Keep ideas in Someday / Maybe undated until you decide to act on them.
A planned date says when you intend to work on something; a deadline says when it must be done. Use Today for scheduled and due work, including overdue tasks. Review All tasks and your projects when choosing from the rest of your next actions.
4. Review your commitments
Use the GTD Weekly Review checklist (PDF) to guide a regular review. Set aside time each week to clear Inbox, check active projects, follow up on waiting items, and reconsider ideas you have set aside. Give each active project an open next action, and archive projects whose outcomes are complete.
Ask an agent to prepare the review from Brain’s current tasks and notes. After you decide what to change, save those decisions in Brain so another agent can pick up the updated plan.
Help me review my Brain workspace. Read my Inbox, active projects, open tasks, and relevant notes. Identify projects with no next action, waiting items that need a follow-up, and approaching deadlines. Show the items you used and suggest changes for me to review.
5. Choose work that fits the moment
Choose actions that fit your time, energy, and circumstances. Put useful constraints in a task note: who needs to be available, what information you need, or whether you can do it away from your desk.
Ask an agent for a shortlist when you need help deciding. When the work is finished, mark the task complete.
I have 25 minutes before my next meeting. Review my open tasks and their notes. Suggest three useful actions I could finish in that time and explain your choices.
Make the next review easier
Keep the structure simple enough to maintain. Save decisions alongside the work they affect, and make sure every active project has a next action.
Before ending an agent session, ask it to update the project’s notes with decisions, unresolved questions, and next steps. Begin the next session by reading that saved context, even if you are using a different agent or AI account.
Update the notes for the project we worked on with today’s decisions, unresolved questions, and next actions. Update the existing project notes where appropriate, then summarize what you saved.