One-off tasks

Up: ยง My productivity system

Within the GTD methodology, it is recommended to have a Next Actions list with all possible next actions (organized by contexts).

One-off tasks are those which can be completed in a single step, in a single sitting. They are not projects by definition as, per David Allen's definition, projects require two steps / tasks:

โ I define a project as any desired result that can be accomplished within a year that requires more than one action step

I do find, however, that one-off tasks can feel a little less important generally than accomplishing a next-action for a project. Therefore, I like to see a distinction within my system (within Todoist).

Two-State Lifecycle

One-offs have a simple two-state lifecycle managed by labels:

State Labels Meaning Project Equivalent
Parked one-off Captured, not prioritized yet Like a project at soon/someday
Active one-off + next I intend to do this soon Like a project at focus/active
  • one-off alone is NOT a bug โ€” it's a deliberate "parked/someday" state
  • Adding next is the activation moment โ€” and the natural triage point
  • Status labels (focus, active, soon, someday, maybe) are reserved for projects โ€” never applied to one-offs

Scrutiny Test at Activation

When moving a one-off from parked to active, apply this scrutiny test:

  1. Can I do this in one sitting without preparation? If no โ†’ promote to project
  2. Has it been >30 days as an active one-off? Maybe it's not truly one-step
  3. Would breaking it into 2-3 subtasks help me do it? If yes โ†’ it's a project

If activation reveals multi-step work โ†’ promote to a project with the appropriate status label.

Exempt Contexts

Some projects don't need the one-off label because all tasks within them are inherently quick actions reviewed by scanning the project directly:

Project Why Exempt
๐Ÿ  Housekeeping All tasks are inherently quick household actions
๐Ÿ›๏ธ Shopping Lists Store-specific shopping lists scanned at purchase time

Tasks here are reviewed by scanning the project directly, not via label filters.

Review Cadence

  • Active one-offs (one-off + next): reviewed weekly during Get Current, via Analyze - Action Quality
  • Parked one-offs (one-off only): reviewed monthly or when activating
  • Exempt contexts: scanned as-needed (when going to store, when doing household tasks)

Relationship to Projects

  • Projects = multi-step outcomes with status labels (focus/active/soon/someday/maybe)
  • One-offs = single-action tasks with one-off label (parked or active)
  • A one-off that needs subtasks โ†’ promote to project

See also: My GTD project definitions

tgtd Commands

# See all one-offs (with parked/active visual distinction)
tgtd one-offs [--area X]

# Only active or parked
tgtd one-offs --active [--area X]
tgtd one-offs --parked [--area X]

# Find untriaged tasks (no labels, outside exempt contexts)
tgtd no-label [--area X]

# Activate a parked one-off
tgtd activate TASK_ID

# Park an active one-off
tgtd park TASK_ID

# Add a new one-off
tgtd add-one-off "Task name" --project housekeeping [--active]

# Promote one-off to project
tgtd promote TASK_ID --to active

# System health check (includes one-off and no-label checks)
tgtd lint

Examples

Examples of one-off tasks: Buy new headphones, return debit card, call dentist, order sealant.