Contexts
- Thread starter NewbGTD
- Start date
Stiernholm
Registered
Hi Mephisto,
To me, only "@home" of the two represents a context, that is, a place or situation I need to be in, in order to be able to work on the task in question.
I see @personal more like a categorization, a contrary to "workrelated".
For tasks that I only need myself and my brain to complete, I frequently use @anywhere. Those tasks are defined by verbs like "consider...", "reflect on...", "make a decision regarding..." etc.
David
To me, only "@home" of the two represents a context, that is, a place or situation I need to be in, in order to be able to work on the task in question.
I see @personal more like a categorization, a contrary to "workrelated".
For tasks that I only need myself and my brain to complete, I frequently use @anywhere. Those tasks are defined by verbs like "consider...", "reflect on...", "make a decision regarding..." etc.
David
@home was too broad for me. There were too many different types of things that didn't seem to go together 'frame of mind' or energy-wise. I broke @home into:
@home-administrative (office-y type home things)
@home-around the house (cleaning and organizing type things)
@home-outside (yard work, car stuff, garage stuff, patio stuff)
I took all my @home tasks and sorted them into piles that made sense to me. Then I looked at the big piles and asked what they had in common. Then I looked at the stragglers and looked if I could see them fitting into the bigger piles if I defined them right (ie: I had @home-yard work, but then I didn't know what to do with the other things that ended up in my outside category...and yes, it bugs me that the garage isn't technically outdoors, but it's someplace I wouldn't work at night/in the cold...so I can deal with them being together).
I don't have an @personal context. Most of my personal things are either on my checklists of recurring/maintenace things or fit within the admin category (things like reflect, etc. fit there to me because they're 'mental' work).
@home-administrative (office-y type home things)
@home-around the house (cleaning and organizing type things)
@home-outside (yard work, car stuff, garage stuff, patio stuff)
I took all my @home tasks and sorted them into piles that made sense to me. Then I looked at the big piles and asked what they had in common. Then I looked at the stragglers and looked if I could see them fitting into the bigger piles if I defined them right (ie: I had @home-yard work, but then I didn't know what to do with the other things that ended up in my outside category...and yes, it bugs me that the garage isn't technically outdoors, but it's someplace I wouldn't work at night/in the cold...so I can deal with them being together).
I don't have an @personal context. Most of my personal things are either on my checklists of recurring/maintenace things or fit within the admin category (things like reflect, etc. fit there to me because they're 'mental' work).
dschaffner
Registered
NewbGTD;73664 said:
To paraphrase DA, you need as many as you need, but as few as you can get by with.
The main thing is to create contexts that work for you, so that you can see the actions you need to take when you are in a specific physical or mental place.
Oogiem
Registered
mephisto;73732 said:
That would scare me a lot. Misc for me turns into a dumping ground for when I haven't fully clarified the next actions.
What's the tool you need to do misc?
Can you do it anywhere?
Are there time limits?
Usually if something ends up in misc it stays there, not getting done for a long time. Upon weekly review I realize I put it in misc because I had not fully figured out what the real next action was.
I'm curious how you use misc and not fall into that trap?
Thanks for all the replies people. Been getting my head down trying to simplify it now, and feeling good.
I have added a ‘misc’ list haha done so before I read it here. Though mine is not for general things, I’m just keeping it there for own peace of mind really just incase something comes in that doesn’t have a home. Its still empty now, mainly because my other context cover everything (so far). But I feel good having it there just for safe measure, I may remove it in time.
I have added a ‘misc’ list haha done so before I read it here. Though mine is not for general things, I’m just keeping it there for own peace of mind really just incase something comes in that doesn’t have a home. Its still empty now, mainly because my other context cover everything (so far). But I feel good having it there just for safe measure, I may remove it in time.
Brent;73799 said:
I strongly believe in keeping things as simple as possible. In certain software development paradigms there's a rule that says 'you ain't gonna need it'. What they mean by that is that you should only create those things you need right now to get things working, not any more (because you might use it later or just find it a good idea). I think this applies equally well to contexts. I started with only one and when the list growd bigger I created more contexts, but only those that I needed to do the work more efficiently. Adding extra contexts adds to the clutter (and since I use a card per context and extra card means also more clutter physically).
Some next actions that I put in @misc are:
-mail X to ask for Y
-buy Z on some site
-start healthy food plan
I do have a context where there's sometimes only one or no next action on it. It's my @boss context at work.
Cpu_Modern
Registered
mephisto;73773 said:
The context is always there - for every next action. Question is, does your system highlight that context? Or does it leave that problem over for your brain (while you are scanning the lists)?
I'm concerned that you see contexts as clutter, but maybe that's just me.
More contexts means better-defined work, and work that doesn't fall through the cracks. Not defining the context is like not defining a Next Action for a Project--sure, you can use the Project to force you to think of what to do next, but it's less efficient than defining the Action.
"You Ain't Gonna Need It" is a great concept for software development--I'm well aware of it, and use it myself in software development--but I humbly submit that it's not appropriate for personal work management, at least not in the same way that it's meant in the programming world.
More contexts means better-defined work, and work that doesn't fall through the cracks. Not defining the context is like not defining a Next Action for a Project--sure, you can use the Project to force you to think of what to do next, but it's less efficient than defining the Action.
"You Ain't Gonna Need It" is a great concept for software development--I'm well aware of it, and use it myself in software development--but I humbly submit that it's not appropriate for personal work management, at least not in the same way that it's meant in the programming world.