I have been a paying customer of RTM for 17 years, even when it was still being developed and free to use. In all those years, several other apps have come and gone, but in my opinion, none of them compares to the power of RTM. However, a new app called ChatGPT (AI) has been making waves, and what's great about it is that it can work WITH RTM.

In this post, I will describe an easy way to connect ChatGPT with RTM to maximize your searches. Over the next few weeks, I will share more powerful ways to make these two apps work together.

In my experience, the real magic of RTM lies in its powerful search capabilities. However, one must learn how to create strong search queries to make the most of it. If you find it difficult to master the advanced search operators, boolean logic, and the correct syntax, you only have a few options: look for tips and tricks in this forum for others who needed the same thing you do and shared their result, ask RTM's owners and management for help, or use the search wizard, which is limited when it comes to complex searches. But now, you have another option: ChatGPT.

First, I taught ChatGPT my RTM setup, including how I use David Allen's GTD methodology, my lists, tags, and smart lists. This was a breeze since ChatGPT understands how humans talk.

Second, I had ChatGPT research RTM to become an expert in using it.

I only had to do those two things one time. ChatGPT will remember them as we talk.

Once I did those two things, ChatGPT was all set to help me with advanced query construction. I simply told ChatGPT what I wanted to search for, and it created the search query for me. All I had to do was copy and paste it into RTM's search field and then use the result to create a smart list.

Here's a simple example: I told ChatGPT that I have 12 lists for projects related to school/business partnership signings. I asked it to give me a query that finds all tasks in only those projects that I should have already started, that must be done while I'm at my computer, and that can be completed in 15 minutes or less. I also specified that I didn't want to do any tasks involving making phone calls or any task postponed more than 5 times.

ChatGPT told me exactly what the query needed to do, then gave me the following text, which I am copying and pasting here:

listContains:Signing AND startBefore:today AND tag:@computer AND timeEstimate:"<=15 minutes" NOT (tag:@phonecall OR postponed:<5)

Finally, it told me what each part of the search query did and how each piece contributed to the search. Basically, it was teaching me how to do what it just did for me. It also remembered all my list names and GTD context tags. It already taught itself RTM's search operators, logic structure, and the appropriate syntax.

This isn't the most difficult query to write; it's just an example. Second, I use the GPT app from OpenAI, which allows me to speak to the GPT instead of typing. It only took me less than 8 seconds to tell ChatGPT what I wanted.

One important point: At this stage in its development, AI is like a real human assistant in that it can make mistakes. When that happens, you simply tell it, "Hey, you made a mistake. I didn't get what I asked for. Please fix it." At that point, it goes back and fixes its own mistakes.

I have created a specialized version of ChatGPT that I configured to become an expert in Remember The Milk, the Getting Things Done methodology, and productivity in general.

In the next few weeks, I'll break down how I did that and share it with you, step-by-step, so you can do the same. After all, how great would it be to have a Jedi RTM master at your disposal, ready to assist you in making RTM even more powerful?