Why altitude matters
GTD is often reduced to its most visible parts: the inbox, next actions, and the weekly review. These ground-level mechanics keep your day running, but they do not tell you whether your day is pointed in the right direction. David Allen’s Horizons of Focus model addresses this gap by organizing your commitments across six altitudes, from the physical next action on your desk up through your life purpose.
The metaphor is deliberate. A pilot at ground level sees the runway. At 10,000 feet, the city. At 50,000 feet, the continent. Each altitude reveals different information, and all of them matter. If you only operate at ground level, you execute efficiently but risk spending years on work that does not serve your deeper commitments. If you only think at the vision level, you have aspirations but no concrete way to reach them.
Capture GTD implements all six horizons as first-class entities in the system, connected vertically so that every daily action can trace a line of sight up to your life purpose.
Ground: Next Actions
The runway. Next actions are the concrete, physical things you can do right now: “Draft the proposal introduction,” “Call the plumber,” “Buy groceries for dinner.” They are single-step, unambiguous, and immediately actionable. If you read it and do not know exactly what to do, it is not a next action.
In Capture GTD, next actions are modeled as Todo tasks. Each carries an effort estimate, optional deadline, importance level, and a set of contexts describing where or with what tools the action can be performed. The impact scoring algorithm uses these properties to surface the right action at the right time.
Connection upward: Every next action should serve a project, an area of focus, or both. If a next action does not connect to anything above it, that is worth examining during your weekly review — it may be busywork that feels productive but advances nothing.
Horizon 1: Projects
Projects are outcomes that require more than one action step to complete. “Plan the team offsite,” “Launch the redesigned homepage,” “Replace the kitchen faucet” — each demands a sequence of next actions before you can call it done. A project without a defined next action is a project that is stalled.
Capture GTD models projects as Project tasks with a required outcome field — a sentence describing what “done” looks like. Projects also carry effort estimates, optional deadlines (one-time or recurring), and a set of dependencies linking them to their constituent tasks. Projects can be linked to a goal at Horizon 3, making the vertical connection explicit.
Connection upward: Projects exist to maintain areas of focus or to advance goals. During reviews, check whether each project serves at least one higher horizon. Orphan projects are a signal that something needs clarification.
Connection downward: A project without a next action is invisible to the Engage phase. The weekly review is where you ensure every active project has at least one actionable next step.
Horizon 2: Areas of Focus
Areas of focus are the ongoing domains of your life that need sustained attention: Health, Career, Finances, Family, Personal Development, Home Maintenance. Unlike projects, areas of focus never complete. You do not “finish” your health or “complete” your career. They are spheres of responsibility you maintain indefinitely.
In Capture GTD, areas of focus are standalone aggregate entities (AreaOfFocus) with a name. Tasks at any level can be tagged with one or more areas of focus, enabling balance reviews. During a monthly review, you can see whether your active projects and next actions are distributed across your areas or whether one domain is consuming everything while others atrophy.
Connection upward: Areas of focus should reflect your goals and visions. If “Health” is an area of focus but you have no goals related to it, you are maintaining the status quo — which may be intentional, but is worth a conscious decision.
Connection downward: Areas of focus generate projects. If your “Finances” area has no active projects, ask yourself: is everything in this domain truly handled, or am I avoiding something?
Horizon 3: Goals
Goals are specific outcomes you want to achieve within one to two years. Unlike areas of focus, goals have a finish line — you either achieve them or you do not. “Get promoted to senior engineer,” “Run a marathon,” “Pay off student loans,” “Achieve conversational fluency in Spanish.” Each is concrete enough to know when you have arrived.
Capture GTD models goals as Goal aggregates with a name, optional description, and a completion state. Goals can be completed and reopened. Projects can be linked directly to a goal via the goalId field, and the horizons screen displays linked projects beneath each goal, making progress visible at a glance. Goals should be reviewed quarterly to ensure your current projects are actually moving you toward them.
Connection upward: Goals should be derived from your visions. If a goal does not serve any 3-5 year vision, it may still be worth pursuing, but the disconnection deserves reflection.
Connection downward: Goals generate projects, which generate next actions. The chain from “Run a marathon” to “Research half-marathon training plans” to “Download the Hal Higdon app” is how abstract aspirations become Tuesday afternoon tasks.
Horizon 4: Visions
Visions describe what success looks like three to five years from now. They are qualitative pictures of the future rather than specific milestones: “Become a recognized expert in my field,” “Achieve financial independence,” “Live abroad for a year,” “Build a company that solves problems I care about.” Visions are directional — they tell you where you are headed without prescribing the exact route.
In Capture GTD, visions are Vision aggregates with a name, optional description, and a completion state. Like goals, they can be marked complete when realized and reopened if circumstances change. The horizons screen presents visions in a dedicated section, supporting quarterly reflection on whether your goals and projects remain aligned with where you ultimately want to go.
Connection upward: Visions should align with your purpose and principles. A vision that conflicts with your core values is one you will either abandon or regret pursuing.
Connection downward: Visions generate goals. “Become a recognized expert” might produce goals like “Publish three articles this year,” “Give a conference talk,” and “Build a portfolio project.” Without visions, goal-setting becomes reactive — you chase whatever seems urgent rather than building toward a deliberate future.
Horizon 5: Purpose and Principles
The highest altitude. Your purpose statement captures the fundamental contribution you want to make during your lifetime — why you exist, in a sentence. Your principles are the core values and standards that guide your behavior regardless of circumstances: integrity, curiosity, generosity, excellence.
Capture GTD models this as a single PurposeAndPrinciples aggregate containing an optional purpose statement (capped at 500 characters to enforce conciseness) and a list of principle strings. Principles must be unique and non-blank. The purpose and principles section sits at the top of the horizons screen, serving as the anchoring reference for everything below.
Purpose and principles rarely change, but they deserve annual review to ensure they still resonate as you grow and evolve. When lower horizons conflict — when two goals compete for the same time, or a project opportunity clashes with an area of focus — purpose and principles provide the tiebreaker. Does this commitment align with my purpose? Does this action honor my principles? If not, the answer is clear regardless of how attractive the opportunity appears.
The full vertical alignment
The power of the horizons model is not in any single level. It is in the connections between them. Consider a concrete example:
- Purpose: “To help others achieve their full potential through education and mentorship.”
- Principle: “Invest in relationships over transactions.”
- Vision: “Become a recognized expert in my field.”
- Goal: “Speak at three industry conferences this year.”
- Project: “Prepare talk proposal for ReactConf.”
- Next Action: “Draft the abstract and submit by Friday.”
Every level justifies the one below it. The next action is not arbitrary busywork — it is a concrete step toward a conference talk, which advances a goal, which serves a vision, which aligns with a life purpose. When you sit down on a Tuesday afternoon and see “Draft the abstract” at the top of your next actions list, you know exactly why it matters.
This vertical traceability also works in reverse. During reviews, you can start from the top and work down: Does my purpose still feel right? Do my visions align with it? Do my goals serve those visions? Do I have projects advancing each goal? Does every project have a next action? Any break in the chain is a signal — something needs to be created, clarified, or reconsidered.
Review cadence by horizon
Each horizon has a natural review rhythm that matches its rate of change:
| Horizon | Review Cadence | Purpose of Review |
|---|---|---|
| Ground: Actions | Daily | Are my next actions current and complete? |
| H1: Projects | Weekly | Does every project have a next action? Are any stalled? |
| H2: Areas of Focus | Monthly | Is my attention balanced across life domains? |
| H3: Goals | Quarterly | Am I making progress? Do these goals still matter? |
| H4: Visions | Quarterly | Is my direction still right? Has anything shifted? |
| H5: Purpose & Principles | Annually | Do these still resonate with who I am becoming? |
Capture GTD surfaces the right horizon at the right review cadence. The horizons screen consolidates purpose, principles, visions, and goals into a single dashboard designed for quarterly and annual reflection. Project and action reviews happen through the standard inbox, project list, and next actions views used during weekly reviews.
Why most systems fail at this
The reason most task managers stop at actions and projects is that the higher horizons are harder to model in software. A next action is a row in a database with a due date. A life purpose is an evolving statement that shapes everything else. Most tools treat these as fundamentally different things and relegate the higher horizons to a notes app or a journal.
Capture GTD treats all six horizons as domain entities managed through the same event-sourced system. Goals and visions are aggregates with their own command histories. Projects link to goals. Tasks tag themselves with areas of focus. The vertical connections are not left to the user’s imagination — they are explicit relationships in the data model. This means reviews can be structured, progress can be measured, and the gap between “what I did today” and “what I am building toward” can be closed with confidence.