Getting Things Done (GTD)

Biological Parallel

Squirrels externalize memory by caching thousands of nuts in distributed locations, freeing cognitive load for vigilance and foraging. They don't hold nut locations in working memory—they offload to spatial cues and retrieval triggers. GTD's capture-clarify-organize system mirrors this: get it out of your head, tag it with context cues, retrieve when environmental triggers align. Externalizing commitments isn't productivity theater—it's how animals handle cognitive overwhelm.