Flash of the obvious: contexts and the most important project

H

Huda

0
Contexts doesn't work if you didn't figured out the most important project to start with. I mean I should have an important project to start with and use context lists to do something at the same time.

Example. I have four next actions on my @home list. 1. Take stepladder to fix the roof. 2. Read lesson 14 of the spanish textbook. 3. Clean the kitchen. 4. Find a hoisting jack in the garage to change tyres.

I think (gut feeling) that I should start with the roof as it causes the biggest trouble.

When I made this decision I didn't think about contexts. I thought about value and problem. Sure I can check my context list while fixing the roof and do something helpful like find a jack. But I had to have a priority project to start with.

Otherwise I would for example clean the kitchen and left my roof sink.

Do I think in the right direction? If yes, why GTD said nothing about choosing the most important project the first in the morning and only after that use context lists?
 
You are correct. You need to think deeper than context when choosing what to do: You need to know what's most important. You need to prioritize.

(GTD, Chapter 9)
1. Context (ok, I'm home)
2. Time available (I have a free hour)
3. Energy available (Plenty of energy)
4. Priority (What's the most important thing in all of my available tasks).
...
"Given the context you're in and the time and energy you have, the obvious next criterion for action choice is relative priority: 'Out of all my remaining options, what's the most important thing for me to do?'"

Now, depending on your task load, it may not make sense to think about priority AFTER context, time, and energy. Personally, I can't look at priority tasks first because I'd be looking through tasks that are completely irrelevant to my current context. If I find myself in the car (which is rare) with some available time, I check my @errands context, think about how much time I have and take care of the most important thing. I don't want to go through ALL my high priority projects when I'm sitting in my car.
 
you did think about contexts...

Huda;88481 said:
Contexts doesn't work if you didn't figured out the most important project to start with. I mean I should have an important project to start with and use context lists to do something at the same time.

Example. I have four next actions on my @home list. 1. Take stepladder to fix the roof. 2. Read lesson 14 of the spanish textbook. 3. Clean the kitchen. 4. Find a hoisting jack in the garage to change tyres.

I think (gut feeling) that I should start with the roof as it causes the biggest trouble.

When I made this decision I didn't think about contexts. I thought about value and problem. Sure I can check my context list while fixing the roof and do something helpful like find a jack. But I had to have a priority project to start with.

Otherwise I would for example clean the kitchen and left my roof sink.

Do I think in the right direction? If yes, why GTD said nothing about choosing the most important project the first in the morning and only after that use context lists?
Click to expand...

Actually, you DID think context first... you mention "for example, I have four actions on my @home list"... well, that's a context!

If you get to choose the context you're in ("shall I stay home today or go to the office", then you can pick the most important project first and then think contexts, but a lot of times, you don't get to choose the context you're in. And then you end up picking the most important task within that context.

Myriam
 
Myriam;88486 said:
Actually, you DID think context first... you mention "for example, I have four actions on my @home list"... well, that's a context!

If you get to choose the context you're in ("shall I stay home today or go to the office", then you can pick the most important project first and then think contexts, but a lot of times, you don't get to choose the context you're in. And then you end up picking the most important task within that context.

Myriam
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing. We are limited by what we do first and foremost by where we are and what we have available. Once we have that clear then we can decide what to do based on time available, energy, priority etc, etc. David talks about this I think in his book.

What the OP is saying would be more true if they looked at all their next actions across all their context at the start of the day and then said, I need to be at home in order to fix the roof.
 
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