In Getting Things Done, clarifying means deciding for every entry what concretely happens next. David Allen calls this the next physical, visible action. He means something someone could watch you do: phone, write down, buy, print, send an email.
That sounds pedantic. In everyday life, though, it makes a big difference whether your list says "Car" or "Call Huber's garage to book the service". With the first one you have to start thinking from scratch every time. The second you can do in three minutes at the bus stop.
How to recognise a good next action
A usable next action meets a few simple conditions:
- It starts with a verb that describes a visible action.
- You can do it in one go, without having to do something else first.
- It fits a context, a place or tool where it can be done.
- It contains the detail you would otherwise have to look up: the name, the number, the website.
One way to test it: imagine reading the entry tomorrow morning, tired, on the train. Do you know immediately what to do, without thinking it through again? Then it works.
Verbs that don't say enough
Some verbs sound like a task but don't describe an action. Entries with these verbs tend to sit on the list, because clarifying stopped one thought too early:
| Verb | Why it isn't enough | What to write instead |
|---|---|---|
| plan | planning is made up of many small steps | "Post three dates for the family get-together in the group chat" |
| deal with | doesn't say what exactly | "Call the letting agent about the dripping radiator" |
| organise | is a whole project | "Start a guest list for the birthday" |
| sort out | open as to with whom and how | "Ask Jonas whether the Q1 budget is final" |
| do, finish | only repeats that something is open | "Print the child benefit application form" |
| decide | a decision often needs information first | "Put the two washing machine quotes side by side and compare" |
18 examples: before and after
This is what rewriting looks like in practice. On the left is what comes out of capture, on the right the next action after clarifying:
| Captured | Next action |
|---|---|
| Taxes | Download the annual pay statement from the employee portal |
| Dentist | Call Dr Weber's practice to book a check-up |
| Car | Call Huber's garage to book the service |
| Present for Mum | Ask Lisa whether she wants to chip in for Mum's present |
| Cancel gym | Look up the notice period in the contract |
| Holiday | Bookmark three holiday flats on the coast |
| Presentation | Sketch an outline with five slide titles on paper |
| Basement | Carry two moving boxes down and pack the old clothes |
| Website | Copy the home page text into a document and add notes |
| Insurance | Copy the claim number from the insurer's email into the notes |
| Job application | Open the CV and add the most recent job |
| Bike | Buy a 28-inch inner tube at the bike shop |
| Pension | Look for the pension statement in the "Insurance" folder |
| Learn Italian | Look through the community college course catalogue online |
| Garden | Ask the neighbours whether we can borrow their shredder |
| Parents' evening | Put the date of the parents' evening in the calendar |
| Phone contract | Check current usage in the provider's app |
| Newsletter | Copy the last newsletter's text as a template |
Some of the entries on the left are projects. A job application, a holiday or a website needs more than one step. Each project still needs exactly one step that's due now, and that's the one on the right.
When you don't know the next action
Sometimes you simply don't know how to continue. Then the next action is to find out. "Pension" becomes "Look for the pension statement", "Water damage" becomes "Ask the landlord which insurance covers it".
If the next step lies with someone else, the entry doesn't belong on your list of next actions. It goes to "Waiting", with the person's name and a date on which you'll follow up. If you've already sent the email to the landlord, you're waiting for a reply, and the list should show it that way.
Some things aren't due yet at all. "Learn Italian" can sit under Someday until you really have time for it. There it doesn't get in the way, and you don't skim past it every week in the Next list.
How small a step should be
Too small is possible too. You don't need to write down "Open laptop". A step should be big enough that you can start it without further thought, and small enough to fit into a gap of a few minutes up to an hour. Anything that takes two minutes you do right away while clarifying, instead of writing it down.
A warning sign is an entry you keep skipping. Usually it still hides a decision or a missing earlier step. Ask yourself what stops you from doing it now, and write exactly that down as the new step.
Next actions in TidyPepple
TidyPepple is built around this way of working. Anything you capture without a context or date lands in the inbox. When clarifying, you tap the entry, rewrite the title as an action and set the status to "Next action". The detail view also shows when you created the entry. A "3 weeks ago" next to "Taxes" is a good hint that a more concrete step is missing.
For projects, you add the steps right inside the task. With the mode set to "Sequential", the Next list shows only the first open step. Tick it off and the next one moves up. The Projects overview shows each project's next step. If one is missing, it says "No next step", and during the weekly review you see at once which project has stalled.
You can attach new steps to a project while capturing: "Apply for a parking suspension at the council +Move @computer" goes straight into the Move project. All shortcuts are listed on the features page.
Take the five oldest entries on your list and write the next action for each, concrete enough that you could start it tomorrow morning without thinking. TidyPepple is free, needs no account and runs in the browser or as an Android app.