Set it up on your iPhone or iPad

Budget about an hour. These steps are written for Reminders on iOS 27 or iPadOS 27. Tags, dates, and the rest of the metadata sit in the box around the reminder you are editing. Apple Intelligence can fill in a date, time, or place from a sentence you type on a supported device (for example iPhone 15 Pro or later, or an iPad with Apple Intelligence). The lists and habits in this guide do not depend on that fill-in.

1. Turn on iCloud Reminders

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap your name, then iCloud.
  3. Turn on Reminders. On newer iOS or iPadOS versions it sits under Apps or Show All inside iCloud.

Tags, smart lists, and subtasks in this guide all depend on iCloud lists.

2. Make the GTD group and the five lists

  1. Open Reminders.
  2. On the lists screen, tap Edit.
  3. Tap Add Group. Name it GTD. Tap Create, then Done.
  4. Tap Add List and create these standard lists (leave List Type as Standard). Put each one in the GTD group if the system asks; otherwise drag them into the group after you tap Edit.
List Suggested colour Suggested symbol
Inbox Red Tray
Projects Indigo Folder
Next Teal Arrow
Someday Brown Moon
Weekly Review Grey Checklist, or the tick mark

Drag them into the GTD group if they landed outside it: tap Edit, hold the list handle, move it under GTD, tap Done.

Order inside the group, top to bottom: Inbox, Projects, Next, Someday, Weekly Review. You will add the smart lists underneath in a minute.

3. Add areas to Projects

  1. Open Projects.
  2. Tap the more button (the circle with three dots), then New Section.
  3. Create: Work, Home, Money, Health, People.
  4. Rename or delete until the names match your life. Four to seven sections is the useful range.

These sections are areas of responsibility. They stay on this list only.

Leave Auto-Categorize off for Projects, Next, Inbox, Someday, and Weekly Review. That control can sort a list into sections for you. On Projects, your sections are areas you chose. Automatic sections would file projects into groups you did not name. Grocery lists are the place to let Apple sort.

4. Create the tags once

Smart list filters offer tags you have already used. Make them exist:

  1. Open Next.
  2. Tap New Reminder and title it Tag setup.
  3. In the box around that reminder, tap Tag. The quick controls (Date, Time, Urgent, Repeat, Location, Tag, Flag, and Camera) sit on the reminder itself. You can also type a space and #. Add: anywhere home out call waiting.
  4. Tap Done.

Leave this reminder in place until the smart lists exist. You will delete it at the end.

5. Create the context smart lists

Tag setup carries all five tags on purpose so the filters can see them. Until you delete it in step 9, that reminder will appear on each of the five smart lists in the table below (including Waiting). That is expected while you are building the lists, not a misconfiguration.

Repeat this for each row in the table.

  1. From the lists screen, tap Add List.
  2. Type the smart list name.
  3. Tap List Type and choose Smart List. On some versions the control says Make into Smart List.
  4. Tap Edit Filters.
  5. Set the match rule to All (every filter must match).
  6. Under Tags, choose only the tag in the table. If iOS or iPadOS offers All Selected or Any Selected, either is fine when a single tag is selected.
  7. Under Lists, tick Projects and Next. Leave Inbox, Someday, and Weekly Review unticked.
  8. Pick the colour and symbol. Tap Done.
Smart list Tag Colour Symbol
Anywhere anywhere Blue Circle, or a person
Home home Green House
Out out Orange Location pin
Calls call Purple Phone
Waiting waiting Grey Clock

Drag these five into the GTD group, under the standard lists.

If a tag does not appear in Edit Filters, go back to the Tag setup reminder and confirm the tag was saved, then try again.

6. Keep three of Apple’s own lists

On the lists screen, tap the more button, then choose which default smart lists are visible. Turn on:

  • Today
  • Scheduled
  • Flagged

All, Completed, and Assigned to Me can stay off until you want them. Leave Groceries on if you already use it for shopping. Siri Suggestions can stay off until you have decided you want Apple proposing extra reminders; if you turn it on, treat its output as Inbox material and clarify it.

Today, Scheduled, and Flagged usually stay above your own groups. That is a good place for them. Your day starts there, then moves to a context list.

7. Save the weekly review as a template

  1. Open Notes and create a note titled Horizons (empty is fine). The weekly review and projects pages explain what belongs there over time.
  2. Open Weekly Review.

  3. Add these reminders, with no dates and no tags:

    • Empty Inbox
    • Check Today and Scheduled
    • Check Waiting
    • Open each active project and confirm it has a next action
    • Scan Next for anything that is really a project
    • Review Someday
    • Look at the horizons note
    • Clear stale flags
  4. Tap the more button, then Save as Template. Name it Weekly Review.

Keep the list as well as the template. Each week you can uncheck the items (show completed, then tap them) or delete the list’s contents and add the template again. The weekly review page explains the rhythm. The template is there so a fresh copy is one tap away if the list gets messy.

8. Make capture easy

Do whichever of these you will actually use:

  • Add the Reminders widget to the Home Screen or Lock Screen (Lock Screen widgets are iPhone-only), pointed at Inbox if the widget lets you choose a list.
  • Tell Siri “Remind me to …” during setup once, and check the reminder landed in a list you can see. If Siri files new reminders into a default list other than Inbox, change the default: open Reminders, tap the more button on the lists screen, look for the default list setting, and choose Inbox. The exact label varies slightly by iOS or iPadOS version; it is the list Siri uses when you do not name one.
  • In an app you read often, such as Mail or Safari, try the share button and then Reminders, and send one item to Inbox.
  • Add Reminders to Control Centre, or assign it to the Action button on iPhone, if you want capture without hunting for the app icon. An extra-large Reminders widget is available if you want Inbox to fill a Home Screen page.

9. Delete the sample and do a first dump

  1. Delete Tag setup from Next.
  2. Stop only after Inbox contains the things already on your mind. Speak them to Siri if that is faster.
  3. Clarify them with capture and clarify.

You are done when

  • The GTD group contains Inbox, Projects, Next, Someday, Weekly Review, and the five smart lists.
  • Projects has your area sections.
  • Anywhere, Home, Out, Calls, and Waiting exist and filter on Projects and Next.
  • Tag setup is gone.
  • New captures have a path into Inbox.