Create beginner Works with: Any AI

Capture Inbox Workflow Decision Tree

Decision tree Has example

Decide what happens to every new thought.

The Open buttons send the prompt text as currently shown below to that site only when you click. Fill in the placeholders first.

Design a capture workflow for ideas, tasks, and information. Where things arrive (phone, email, messages, paper, voice, web clipping): [CAPTURE_SOURCES]. My tools: [TOOLS]. My typical problems (lost ideas, a messy inbox, never reviewing): [PROBLEMS].

Provide a decision tree for processing each captured item:
1. Is it actionable? IF no THEN: is it reference material (file it where I will look for it), possibly useful later (a "someday" list with a review date), or trash (delete)?
2. IF yes THEN: will it take under 2 minutes? Do it now.
3. Otherwise: is it a single action or a multi-step project? Single action -> task with a due date or context; multi-step -> project with a defined outcome and next action.
4. Is it mine to do? IF not THEN delegate and add to a waiting-for list with a follow-up date.
5. Does it have a date or place? Calendar for time-specific items.

Add: the minimal set of capture places (aim for 3), how to move items from each into one inbox; the rule of processing the inbox daily for 10 minutes and a weekly full review; templates for quick capture (one line with a verb); a plan for voice notes and photos; labels or tags to keep (at most five); an example of processing 10 mixed items (list them and show their destinations); and ways to reduce capture sources over time. Keep the system small and sustainable.

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Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details, then paste into Any AI or another assistant.

Captured: "Call dentist", "idea: newsletter about composting", "receipt for laptop", "read article on pricing".
Processing
- Call dentist: actionable, under 2 minutes -> do now.
- Newsletter idea: not actionable yet -> "someday" list, review monthly.
- Receipt: reference -> file in Finance/2026.
- Article: possibly useful -> reading list with a note why.
Capture places: phone note, email, paper pad -> all moved to one inbox. Daily 10-minute processing; weekly full review. Labels limited to five. Rule: if processing takes more than 10 minutes a day, reduce capture places. Example of a multi-step item: "Plan the trip" becomes a project with next action "check passport expiry".

• capture