---
name: natural-planning
category: workflow
environments: chat
description: Plans one multi-step project with GTD's Natural Planning Model (purpose, outcome, brainstorm, organize, next actions) when it feels stuck, vague, or overwhelming. Not for inbox triage or picking today's task.
metadata:
  version: "1.0"
---

# Natural Planning Model

Projects the brain plans well all go through the same five phases, whether or
not anyone names them. David Allen's *Getting Things Done* (GTD) formalizes the
sequence so it can be applied deliberately to projects that are stuck, vague,
or new — to arrive at clear outcomes and concrete next actions. Apply it as a
general reasoning tool, not as a prescription for how anyone must plan.

## When to use

- A single project feels stuck, vague, or overwhelming and needs deliberate
  planning before action.
- A to-do is not yet a concrete physical next action and belongs to a larger
  project that needs clarifying first.
- A stalled project needs its purpose or outcome restated before organizing
  or picking actions.

Not for:
- Triaging an inbox or processing loose inputs into a task manager.
- Picking what to work on today from existing next actions.

## The five phases

| # | Phase | Key question / output |
|---|-------|------------------------|
| 1 | **Purpose & principles** | "Why are we doing this at all?" — success criteria, decision rules. |
| 2 | **Envision the outcome** | "What does success look and feel like?" — a concrete completion picture. |
| 3 | **Brainstorm** | "What are all the possible moves?" — quantity first, no judging yet. |
| 4 | **Organize** | "What structure does this need?" — sections, sequences, priorities. |
| 5 | **Identify next actions** | "What is the very next physical thing to do?" — one per movable front. |

Each phase depends on the one before it: no purpose, no aim for brainstorming; no envisioned outcome, nothing to organize toward.

## How much planning is actually needed

**Plan only as much as it takes to get the project off your mind.**

| Tier | Share of projects | What's actually needed |
|------|---|---|
| Light | ~80% | Just a clear outcome (phase 2) plus a next action (phase 5). |
| Medium | ~15% | The above, plus some brainstorming — a sketch, informal notes. |
| Full | ~5% | All five phases, deliberately and in writing. |

## Workflow: walking a project through the model

1. **Assign the tier first** — Light, Medium, or Full. Everything below follows from that choice.
2. **Ask for the purpose — don't invent it.** Ask "Why are we doing this at all?", one question at a time, and wait for the answer.
3. **Ask for the outcome picture** — concrete, not aspirational — and wait for the answer.
4. **Brainstorm without editing.** Every possible step or angle; defer judgment and structure. The only step the agent may generate on its own.
5. **Organize the ideas** — group, sequence, prioritize into an outline, flowchart, or list.
6. **Decide the next action(s)** — one concrete physical next action per currently-movable front; fronts owned by someone else become Waiting For (who owes what). Stop when nothing is vague.

For Light-tier projects, steps 4–5 collapse: go straight from outcome (step 3) to next action (step 6).

## The physical-next-action rule

A next action names a physical, visible behavior. "Schedule a meeting" is an outcome, not an action; "Email Jane to propose three possible dates" is something a body can go and do right now.

Checklist for testing a candidate next action:
- [ ] Does it name a physical behavior (email, call, write, buy, walk to, open) rather than a result or an intention?
- [ ] Could someone else do exactly this, right now, without asking a clarifying question first?
- [ ] If not — make gathering the missing information the next action; that is usually what unblocks a stalled decision.

## Diagnosing a stuck planning session

**Move up — the project needs clarity** (arguing details with no agreed outcome; every idea a variation of one thing; each solution creating new problems). Back up to phases 1–2 before organizing or picking actions.

**Move down — the project is clear but motionless** (clear outcome, no physical next action; planning circling purpose instead of producing something doable). Move to phases 3–5 and name the next physical action.

**Reactive planning is the failure pattern:** scheduling and listing actions from the bottom before purpose and outcome exist produces motion without direction; stop and move back up to phase 1.

## Worked example

In: "our onboarding is bad" — vague, no owner, no definition of fixed.

- Tier: Full — no agreed definition of done and several teams involved, so all five phases in writing.
- Purpose: new hires ship a first change in week one without hand-holding.
- Outcome: a checklist a new hire follows alone, verified by one pilot hire.
- Brainstorm: buddy system, docs sprint, sample task repo, video walkthrough, FAQ from recent hires.
- Organize: pilot first (checklist + one volunteer), then harden what worked.
- Next actions: email Priya to volunteer as pilot; ask recent hire Tomas for his top three confusions (Waiting For: Tomas).

## Output

When applying this skill to a project, produce:
1. The purpose (why) and the envisioned outcome, stated concretely.
2. Where the project falls on the 80/15/5 tier, and therefore how much of phases 3–4 are actually warranted.
3. A brainstorm list if the tier calls for one.
4. An organized structure if the tier calls for one.
5. A list of concrete physical next actions — checked against the physical-next-action rule above, one per currently-movable front of the project.
6. A Waiting-For list for fronts whose next move belongs to someone else — who owes what — kept separate from your own next actions.

If the process stalls, run the stuck-session diagnostic above — move up for clarity, move down for motion.