Attached is a working implementation of the idea. So, in GTD each 'next action' is supposed to be an actual doable thing to further the project it is associated with. When creating next actions or project headlines there is sometimes a tendency to use a heading that is a bit vague/undoable. This is usually a sign that the task the headline represents needs more thinking about and will probably need more than one next action or spawn another project. org-action-verbs was created to use a list of GTD 'action verbs' to diagnose non-functional next action and project headlines. It searches for headlines of a specific TODO type and checks to see if the first word in the headline is specified as an action verb for that TODO type. If not, then it highlights that first non actionable word. Its a bit like flyspell mode but for checking doable org headlines. To use put the following in your .emacs: (require 'org-action-verbs) To change the default TODO Type->Action Verb table you can set 'org-action-todo-verbs'. Below is an example. The first checks for the right spaceship name associated with the 'SPACESHIP' TODO type, and the right colour for the 'COLOR' and 'COLOUR' TODO types. - note the Action verbs are case sensitive. (setq org-action-todo-verbs '( (("SPACESHIP") . ("Challenger" "Voyager" "Enterprise" "Nostromo" "Apollo" )) (("COLOUR" "COLOR") . ("Red" "Yellow" "Green" "Aquamarine" "Blue" "Black")) ) The current default mappings are based on David Allen's GTD verb list: Verbs for the TODO types "TODO" and "NEXT" -> Address Ask Avoid Buy Change Clarify Collect Commend Confront Consider Create Decide Defer Develop Discard Do Again Download Enter File Follow Up Hire Improve Increase Inform Inquire Enquire Maintain Measure Monitor Order Paint Phone Prioritize Prioritise Purchase Question Reduce Remember Repair Reply Report Research Resolve Review Schedule Sell Send Service Specify Start Stop Suggest Tidy Train Update Upgrade Write Verbs for the TODO type "PROJECT" -> Finalize Finalise Resolve Handle Look-Into Submit Maximize Maximise Organize Organise Design Complete Ensure Research Roll-Out Update Install Implement Set-Up Enjoy, Tim.