I use GTD and I use Doit. I like Doit and I like GTD.

Many users probably do not know GTD, but still use Doit, and maybe they would like GTD, too, if only they knew what it is. The "problem" is that Doit is so versatile and powerful that a new user might equally well end up using it in a way which is perhaps less efficient for them than GTD.

In particular, I feel there are two areas where Doit perhaps might "mislead" fledgling GTDers in the "wrong" direction:

- Scheduled
- Reviews

SCHEDULED

GTD recognizes two different tools of a "scheduling" or "time-programmed" kind - the Calendar and the Tickler file. These are very different. The Calendar is for reserving a particular time slot (or day) for a particular action, such as an appointment or teamwork session. It is important to see these on the calendar in order to avoid double-booking

The Tickler file is for things that are premature to even think about now. You cannot really decide anything until some "earliest possible date" in the future. On that day you will decide what to do about it. These dates you normally do not need to see on the calendar. The tickler date does not in any way suggest that you have any intention of actually doing them on that day, only that you will begin to think about them from that day onwards.

GTD generally advises against scheduling your personal "solo" tasks, but if you do schedule them anyway, despite David Allen's advise, then of course they are to be treated as Calendar actions, not as Ticklers. Personally, I use Doit's scheduled almost entirely as a GTD Tickler file.

Suggestion: You could, of course, foe clarity, replace Scheduled with two entirely separate "boxes" called Calendar and Tickler, but what I would suggest instead is that in the edit screen, where you enter or edit a new "scheduled" action, you implement a checkbox etc called "Calendar". If this box is checked, then the task will be shown on the calendar, and if the task is not completed it will be marked red (overdue) just like today. If the checkbox is not checked, the default is "Tickler". In this case the action should not be shown on the calendar and should not be marked as overdue.

REVIEW

In normal English the word "review" has a very wide meaning. You can review anything. In GTD, what David Allen is referring to, and what is extremely important, is the reviewing of your plan for the future, in other words review and contemplate your projects, goals etc and make appropriate changes to these plans and organize them even better. Your plan is a living document, constantly evolving.

Doit already has some good features for GTD reviewing. It has projects and goals. It has contexts and priorities etc. And many other things.

But the feature called "Review" in Doit is not really suited for GTD reviewing at all. That review feature is for evaluating your past, not for planning your future. It may be useful for other methodologies, but not for GTD. Personally I have no use for it at all.

Suggestion 1: For even better GTD reviewing it would be good to be able to see even more details about the tasks directly in the lists (tags etc), and it would be useful to see and control which tasks are "active" and which are "inactive".

Suggestion 2: Rename or remove the current "review" feature. It gives new users the wrong impression of the true importance of the GTD review. If you keep the feature, why not call it "punctuality assessment" or something like that. And make it clear to users that this is totally outside of GTD, actually in direct conflict with GTD.