GTD - Setting up Workflowy

If you haven’t read the previous article on the principles and process you should probably do that first.

I’ll walk through how I’ve set up the excellent Workflowy web application to implement my system.

1. Set up a Workflowy Account

• Go to Workflowy, pop your email address in and click ‘Get Started’
• Set yourself up with a password and create the account
• You should have a nice blank page with a single bullet point
• You’re done

2. Create your folder structure

Copy and paste the following into the Workflowy app

Personal
    INBOX
    ACTIONS
    WAITING
    PROJECTS
    SCHEDULED
    ASLEEP
Work
    INBOX
    ACTIONS
    WAITING
    PROJECTS
    SCHEDULED
    ASLEEP

At this point I should note that I run two parallel GTD systems; one for my personal projects and one for work. This is in contradiction to the standard GTD method but it works better for me. Of course this is a matter of preference.

3. Sort out the styling (optional)

This stage is entirely optional but I’m rather fond of my creation and would suggest you use it, however, it does require fonts to be downloaed, an extension to be loaded into Chrome, and a bit of work loading up my style overrides.

• Download and install the Inconsolata Font
• Download and install the Crete Round Font
• Install the Stylus extension
• Download and open up the following CSS
• Click the Stylus extension icon in the Chrome toolbar
  • Click Manage
  • Click Write new style
  • Copy and paste the CSS that you just downloaded into the main text area (labelled Code 1)
  • Next to the ‘Applies to (i) Everything’ text there is a + icon, click that
  • Leave the dropdown as URL and paste https://workflowy.com/ into the textbox
  • In the top left of the screen, add a name ‘GTD’
  • Click Save

4. Wrap

That’s it. You should be all set. In the next article I’ll walk through a process to explain how I work on a day-to-day basis.