Contexts Question- What are your Contexts? Posted in Gear by mistake as well

[jhundley]

Sorry I posted this in Gear and Gadgets as well by mistake
I have been thinking about changing my contexts to better fit me, but have come up at a loss for some items. I would like to ask the group what Contexts do you use?

My hope is that by seeing how others use contexts it will spark my thoughts on how better to set my own contexts up. I use a Palm t3 synching with Outlook so I am limited in the number of contexts. I had thought about either all or some of my contexts matching between Appoinments and Tasks but am not sure on this at this time. Thanks for any help on this issue.

 

[kewms]

My contexts are:

@Anywhere
@Client -- comparable to @Agenda
@Computer -- assumes internet access, but not my physical office.
@Email
@Errand -- I also have a few location specific contexts, like @Library, for errands that require a special trip to that location.
@Home
@Office -- I actually work out of a home office. @Office is work-related stuff, while @Home is household maintenance.
@Phone
@Read/Review -- similar to @Anywhere, but requires that I take the item with me.
@Waiting For -- Items in this list also appear in @Phone or @Email to remind me of the next followup.
@Write/Edit -- similar to @Anywhere, but requires large chunks of uninterrupted time.

Hope this helps,

Katherine

 

[CrustyGeek]

My contexts

@Anywhere (very underused - I always seem to miss this one out when scanning for NAs)
@Agendas
@Calls
@Comp Home (things I can only do on my home PC)
@Computer
@Errands
@Home
@Waiting For
@Work

I've tried different contexts, but these seem to work best for me.

 

[Brent]

@Home (inside, outside, etc.)
@Home Desk (at computer or files)
@Laptop
@Online
@Phone - Daytime
@Phone - Evenings/Weekends
@Work

 

[tfadams]

I use Outlook and a Pocket PC and I'm near a computer (or my PPC) whether I'm at work or at home so I don't need specific contexts like @Calls or @Computer.

I used to have more contexts, but it became unnecessary for me to break them down further.

@Office (calls during business hours go here, even if they're not business related)
@Home (calls to make on weekends or after business hours go here)
@Outside (used more during the Spring and Summer, to separate outside work from "home" work)
@Agendas (for the various meetings, and info for people I don't see alot of)
@ (when I see a person I interract with repeatedly)
@Waiting For
@Errands

Also, I try to be diligent about putting date specific stuff on the calendar. So a call to make on a certain day would go in Outlook as an All Day event, rather than in the @Office or @Home context list. If I'm waiting for something and it has to be back to me by a certain day, I'll put it on the calendar and on the @Waiting For list. If there is no specific agreed upon date, then it just goes on the @Waiting For list.

- Todd

 

[mruseless]

My contexts:

.Calls/Emails waiting
.Calls/Emails
Car
Cortex
Home
Office
Shop
[my boss' name here]
[my company name here]
Waiting For

You'll notice I don't use the "@" symbol, and that I use a period to put my calls at the top of the list. That's because I check those a lot and its nice to have them at the top. I use the [My company name here] category for things that I need to do when I am actually on site. The "Car" context includes everything from visiting clients to picking up groceries. Sometimes I use a letter code in front of the item on this list to sort by geography.

Also, I put a date at the front of each Waiting For item, so I can sort them based on how long they have been waiting.

E

 

[pageta]

I work from home but have separated out categories depending on the type of things I want to do.

Calls
Office (Business)
Office (Personal)
General personal stuff
Outside/Garden
Errands (things I need to buy)
Shopping (things I want to look for but not necessarily buy or make a trip to town for)

I have projects and agendas in the same place. People are simply a type of project for me (in my business) so I make sure the next action is always determined and then put it on one of my context lists. When it comes to holding the actual meeting with my client, after all the prep work has been done, it is fairly straightforward what I need to do based on my notes to that point.

 

[Desultory]

These are really sub-contexts for Desk/Computer/Phone:
High Energy
Medium Energy
Low Energy

Physical Activity (this one I use to take breaks away from my desk)

Waiting For
Agendas
Errands
Read

 

[eowyn]

On the Home list:
@Desk
@Desk - Study
@Errand
@Home
@Phone / PDA
@Shed and Outside
@Waiting

On the Work list: (I know - sacrilege - having two lists, but it works for me)
@Agenda
@Desk
@DNN (any computer in the company with intranet access )
@Office (main office)
@Phone
@Waiting
@Walking around (walking around our main site - getting out of the office)
@G @M and @C (these are three other sites I am visiting regularly)

 

[jhundley]

RE Context Questions

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for their input

 

[Skiptomylue11]

@Read and @anywhere

Does anyone have @read/review and @anywhere, because I had both contexts for a while, but I eventually thought, I have little that is under @anywhere, and pretty much the only things I can do anywhere is read or think about things.

 

[kewms]

Does anyone have @read/review and @anywhere, because I had both contexts for a while, but I eventually thought, I have little that is under @anywhere, and pretty much the only things I can do anywhere is read or think about things.

I have both. @read/review isn't a "pure" @anywhere context, because I have to remember to take the item to read with me. So about the only @anywhere contexts are planning, brainstorming, etc.

Katherine

 

[Queen Sarah]

I have a problem with my contexts

Here they are, and I must say they are working "okay," but I do have a vexing problem.

@Contact (I usually can choose between phone, email, in-person, letter, etc.)
@Errands (Within this list, I begin each item with @[location] so I can bunch them.
@House
@Job #1
@Buy? (If I know I'm going to buy it, it goes on @Errands. This is for items I'm seriously thinking about, and I want them on their own list, but I'm not necessarily committed to.)
@Read/Listen/View (In addition to reading, I frequently have to listen to or view recorded material.)
@Online
@Computer
@Not This Week (This means Someday/Maybe, but I kind of like the wording better.
@Pending (This means Waiting For.)

I recently added these contexts:
@GTA work (Because I need to keep track of hours, but the work must be done in certain of the above-listed contexts, I've found this works better on its own list.)
@Learn/Research (This is for most of my graduate work -- it requires intense focus and chunks of an hour or more.)

OK, my problem is that it is very difficult to draw clear boundaries around different parts of my life. I have 3 part-time jobs and am working on 2 graduate degrees. My contexts overlap, and they don't happen automatically; I have to consciously put myself into them. When "talk to Nicole about X" is on my list, I can call her, wait til I see her at either of two jobs, leave a note in her mailbox, or email her (my preferred way.) But even email is a fuzzy context. I can email her from home, from my laptop if I happen to be in a wireless hotspot, from the library if I happen to be at the computer, or with my ubiquitous little email-gadget (which is more convenient because I always have it, but less convenient if it's a long email, because I have to thumb-type.) So even a simple task like that becomes tricky when I'm deciding what context list to put it on!

The other part of the problem is deciding what context to put myself in. Most of the time it's not a matter of saying "I'm at the office, so let's look at the @office list." It's more like "I have the next four hours; I could do NAs from any of 6 or 7 context lists."

I would appreciate any ideas you all might have!

 

[Brent]

If these contexts aren't working, then maybe you don't need these contexts.

Have you tried just putting everything on one big list? Or eliminating all but a few of your contexts?

 

[Skiptomylue11]

Why would someone want 1 big list, it would be more overwhelming and less organized.

 

[kewms]

The other part of the problem is deciding what context to put myself in. Most of the time it's not a matter of saying "I'm at the office, so let's look at the @office list." It's more like "I have the next four hours; I could do NAs from any of 6 or 7 context lists."

You might take a look at Julia Morgenstern's book, "Time Management from the Inside Out." Her basic idea is that you need to be aware of the time, energy level, and concentration needed for a task in order to decide when to do it. So it might make sense for you to send all emails and make all phone calls at once, leaving the rest of the day free for work needing more concentration. Or, you might find that you can only focus for an hour or two at a time, so it works better to make phone calls during 15 minute breaks between more focused work. The important part of her approach is a tool called a time map, which plans appropriate work periods (contexts in GTD terms) for a whole week at once.

Using a time map in your example, you might say, "I can count on four uninterrupted hours on Wednesday afternoons. That's a good time to get some focused reading done." Then, when Wednesday comes, you go straight to your @Read/Listen/View list.

Hope this helps,

Katherine

 

[Brent]

Why would someone want 1 big list, it would be more overwhelming and less organized.

Depends on the number of projects and items in the list, doesn't it?

 

[Queen Sarah]

these are good ideas

I do have the Morgenstern books ~ I will take a look at them ~ thanks! ~Sometimes I don't know what is in all the books I have on the shelves...

One big list would be overwhelming, it's true, but there is one way this idea might work for me. I need to keep my contexts as listed (they are working for me; I just have trouble because they overlap so much and don't happen automatically with clear boundaries.) -- I have thought about this, and it might be just the thing. I could have all the lists on one big (11x17?) sheet of paper, which I could create at the weekly review. Then the NAs would be organized, but I would be able to see the contexts all at once, for those times when they overlap so much. I am a paper person anyway. This would have to be a folded-up thing tucked into my planner so I could get to it easily.

I might try this... thanks!

 

[Skiptomylue11]

Depends on the number of projects and items in the list, doesn't it?

Yes you are right. If someone has a relatively low number of projects and NAs, I suppose it might be simpler to use one list, which could save time if the list is short.

However I feel that lists sorted by contexts is more organized and easier to navigate with larger amounts of NAs. It will be more adaptable to larger work loads, which I want to take on in the future. I am relieved that I won't have to worry whether the system is adequate for larger loads and put NAs into Someday/Maybe, because I fear that too many items on the "one list" would strain the system.

 

[Brent]

I agree with you, Skiptomylue11. However, lists with contexts are not working for Queen Sarah, which is why I suggested that perhaps the solution is to eliminate the contexts.

It's far less important why it works than whether it works.