Here's a scenario I'm guessing you know.
It's 6:30 PM. You closed the laptop. Dinner is happening. You're physically present. But somewhere in the back of your head a thread is still running. Did I send that? Is that project actually okay, or did I just decide to stop worrying about it?
David Allen — Getting Things Done, the book that defined productivity thinking for two decades — has a term for this. He calls them open loops. The mental residue of unfinished business. The antidote, Allen says, is to capture everything in a trusted system. Then your brain can let go.
He's right. Mostly.
What he underestimates is how long it takes to actually trust the system. And what he doesn't quite address is the other thing: the feeling that even when the loops are closed, you're still not fully there. The work is done. But you're not. Not yet.
That's the thing "Getting Things Chill" is named after.
The name is a deliberate riff.
I've been practicing GTD for over twenty years. I believe in it. But I've also spent twenty years watching capable people — including myself — close all the loops, clear all the tasks, complete every project, and still feel like they're one forgotten item away from losing it.
"Done" is measured. "Chill" is a state of being.
GTC is named after the second thing. Not more productivity, not better output systems, but the thing you're actually after: the ability to put the work down completely when you're not working. To be present without the background hum. To trust the system enough to let your brain follow.
I spent several years running a theater company — the only people who burned out weren't the ones who worked hardest, they were the ones who couldn't leave the show in the theater when it was over. That's the problem this newsletter is trying to solve.
A little context on who's writing this.
I've been a professional communicator for about twenty years: journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, corporate communications. The industries span healthcare, energy, and — for the last few years — industrial manufacturing. My day job is marketing for a group of industrial equipment brands.
I'm not a developer, not a researcher, not an AI scientist. I'm someone who sits in meetings, manages projects, writes content, runs campaigns, and — like most working professionals — has too many tools and not enough time.
I've been using Claude regularly for two years. What I've built around it is the system I described in the welcome email. That system is the product behind this newsletter. And this newsletter is the honest record of what I'm still learning.
Who this is for.
Not beginners. Not skeptics who need convincing. Not people who want to be told AI will change everything.
This is for capable people who are already doing real work and wonder why that's not quite enough. People who are good at their jobs, organized in their lives, thoughtful about their systems — and still feel like they're one thing away from having it figured out.
I'm not a productivity influencer. I don't have a morning routine I'm selling. I have a system that works for me, a newsletter to document what I keep learning, and an operating brief available if you want to start where I started.
That's it. That’s the pitch.
See you soon.
Jarrod
You're reading Getting Things Chill — a free weekly newsletter for knowledge workers who use Claude for real work.
If you want Claude to actually know who you are, how you work, and what you care about before you type a single word — that's what The COB is for. One-time purchase. No subscription. gettingthingschill.com