How do you manage contexts when everything is to be done on a computer?

christophe.portier

christophe.portier

Registered
Hi there,
I'm using GTD for 2 years in my personal life now, and it works just GREAT. I love it. :)
In my professional life however, I'm facing some issues. Some parts of it work fine (inbox capturing, clarification, next action definition). The issue comes when the structuration asks me to put a context after I agreed "I need to do this, it will take me more than 2 minutes and I need to do.... when I'm on my computer - where I spend 90% of my time - now 100% as homeoffice is back again in my company). I tried to create subcontexts "On computer - requires less than 5 minutes" / "On computer - requires between 5 and 30 minutes", etc., to let me pick in the right category depending the time I have to pick the next one. But this does not work very very well. I could try based on energy required, but I feel it wouldn't work a lot too.
Have you maybe faced a similar issue and would have advices?
Thanks a lot!
Cheers,
Christophe
 
One thing to do is when you are looking at your computer list, look at the level of energy you need to do certain actions and the time necessary. Also, one thing I learned from Kelly Forrister is that when you are having trouble deciding, go up some levels of horizon. Stop and listen to what your inner voice is telling you. There is a great 2-minute tip from David Allen on this. Your intuition really is important. That "gut-feeling" you get about something - listen to that.
 
christophe.portier said:
I tried to create subcontexts "On computer - requires less than 5 minutes" / "On computer - requires between 5 and 30 minutes", etc., to let me pick in the right category depending the time I have to pick the next one. But this does not work very very well. I could try based on energy required, but I feel it wouldn't work a lot too.
Have you maybe faced a similar issue and would have advices?
Click to expand...
@christophe.portier Some people divide their @computer list according to the software tool needed: @word, @excel, @powerpoint, @sw-dev-toolkit, @chrome, @mail etc.
 
Thanks for your feedbacks.

@Longstreet I feel you are right. And getting this ability not to start the last readen item is maybe my next ability to develop. Without any overview, even with GTD, I'm working on the "last and/or loudest topic", as David Allen says we should try to avoid!

@TesTeq & @Oogiem: I don't really see the point, as, on my computer, I can open and use any application at any time. So the tool to use doesn't look a relevant "subcontext" from my perspective. But I may be missing something in your advice. Or my work/use of computer is personal and your advice just doesn't fit my requirements! ;)
Anyway, thanks again for trying to help!
 
I tried many ways. By software, by subtitle of computer such as @Web...
From my experience of working at my office in front of my computer 95% of my time the tag @Computer is suffisant. The more I detailled the more I get trouble... For now I have a very short list of context and I love it.
 
I love this topic so much and I feel your pain @christophe.portier. As a fully remote employee, nearly everything I do at work -- and at home for that matter -- requires a computer to get it done. Email, design work, writing courses, online purchases, reading articles or company communications, paying rent, researching a new idea, planning a trip... most technically happen on a computer. So how do you keep your @Computer list from becoming a wooly mammoth? What's been working well for me is changing the way I think about each context and the types of actions that fall under them, rather than changing the contexts themselves. As someone who likes to my system lean and mean, here's what's been working for me:

@Admin: Little life/work management tasks -- pay a bill, schedule a Zoom meeting, reorganize OneDrive, update Safari bookmarks, sign a PDF form, book a flight... Yes, many of these will happen at a computer (or iPad) but they're typically short and don't require much cognitive heavy-lifting. They're more about keeping life and work "up & running."

@Agendas: ALL my communications with colleagues, friends and family. Whether it'll ultimately be an email, phone call, MS Teams chat, 1:1 meeting topic, SMS, social media DM... if it's something I need to discuss with another human it goes under @Agendas.

@Computer: tasks that require me to be not just physically at my computer but fully present in "doing computer work" mode. Examples include building a PowerPoint deck, writing a course syllabus, designing an infographic, creating a home inventory spreadsheet, creating an itinerary for a trip to Rome... These are the longer, more cognitive-heavy (and processor-heavy) tasks that require a computer to get done (versus the shorter, simpler @Admin examples above that I can often bang out on my iPhone, iPad, whatever...).

@Errands: anything that requires my physically leaving the apartment (pick up dry cleaning, buy a book at Shakespeare & Co...)

@Home: anything that requires my being physically in my apartment (cleaning, organizing, installing, repairing, etc.). The @Home context is different from my Home area which includes any and all NA's relating to my home environment (i.e. an errand to pick up ingredients for dinner; and admin task to research new internet providers...)

@Office: this one gets a little tricky but I try to reserve this context for things I need to do when I'm in my home office environment, such as "rehearse facilitating material for new training course." While my computer is typically involved, it's less about doing "computer work" and more about being in office mode (for example, I wouldn't rehearse a workshop if I happen to be working from Starbucks). I don't use this too often but it helps for those work tasks that don't naturally comply with my definition of @admin or @computer.

@Purchases: anything I need to, intend to, or am considering buying whether online or in-person. Typically reserved for larger or discretionary purchases so I can compare all the things I plan to spend my money on and (hopefully) make an informed decision. It's also a way for me to incubate those nasty impulse purchases for a few days. (Small necessities like regular household items don't go here -- those will either become an errand or an admin item to pick up or order...)

@Read/Review: probably my favorite context. All the company communications, articles, newsletters, blogs, etc that I need or intend to read. Most of these, of course, are digital and I'll read them at my computer but this context helps separate them for when I'm in "reading mode."

And that's a wrap. Hope some of these help you out, too!
 
Thanks a lot @MikeyBus for this detailed overview of your system!
The split @Admin/@Computer/@Office is the one concerned by my initial request, and brings me some reflexion elements! Great.

A remark reading your system: this is amazing how GTD method brings our very personal mind organization being designed and structured! I guess this is why (and how) this works.
 
christophe.portier said:
I don't really see the point, as, on my computer, I can open and use any application at any time. So the tool to use doesn't look a relevant "subcontext" from my perspective. But I may be missing something in your advice.
Click to expand...
There is a HUGE mental cost to switching between software packages, at least for me. So separating by software used keeps you "in the groove" so to speak. Plus even if it's an artificial separation your machine will run more efficiently without all the extraneous apps running in the backgroud.

Yes I know that modern computers are far more efficient than the old mainframes I learned on but they STILL funciton best with fewer things to track. So starting and stopping SW packages will make the entire system faster.
 
I just started to carve our contexts from my @computer list when I noticed that there is an/a energy / mood / mode of working that needed special attention.

So @Review&Approve was the first one that got separated out. This help me review all staff work regularly throughout the day without having to wade through everything on my @Computer list first.

Then @Write can next. This is actually @Google-Docs since that's where I do all my writing. I split this out because I found I needed to be in a specific energy to write ... especially where I have to be creative.

Then @Brain-Dead came next because I realized I never tackled those administrative tasks when they were buried in my @Computer list. I didn't even want to scan my @Computer list when I was in that mode! I separate them so they are easy to find, and easy to get done.

Of course I still have @Calls, @IM, @Home, @Office, @Errands and so forth. There doesn't tend to be much in those so @Computer still feels like the default list. But at least now I am generally in a focused work mode when I am tackling @Computer since I have parsed out all the other modes - whether software or energy related - into their own contexts.
 
christophe.portier said:
Thanks a lot @MikeyBus for this detailed overview of your system!
The split @Admin/@Computer/@Office is the one concerned by my initial request, and brings me some reflexion elements! Great.

A remark reading your system: this is amazing how GTD method brings our very personal mind organization being designed and structured! I guess this is why (and how) this works.
Click to expand...
Agreed, @christophe.portier! I always find inspiration learning about others’ systems and implementations. Thanks for starting the thread.
 
I have dropped the @computer context. I changed @office to @work and added an @personal context. Things I need to do on my computer are listed as either @work or @personal, depending on whether they are job-related or not. I kept the @home context because I use that for next actions around the house, such as "Prune bushes along the driveway."
 
I have stopped using contexts altogether, since I hardly ever found them useful. They are just another thing to worry about when clarifying actions. When I'm ready to get stuff done, I focus on the projects where progress is needed most or where my energy is engaged.
 
KaiserOmeWilhelm said:
I have stopped using contexts altogether, since I hardly ever found them useful. They are just another thing to worry about when clarifying actions. When I'm ready to get stuff done, I focus on the projects where progress is needed most or where my energy is engaged.
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Ave Kaiser,

Where do you keep your lists? And how many next actions?

Thanks!
 
I stopped needing traditional location based contexts when I left my 9-5, but still find it helpful to have dividing points in my system. So here are my current contexts:

@Administrative - mostly related to my business.

@Clients - work I need to do for my clients and my consulting business.

@Computer - activities that require me to either be in front of my Mac, iPhone or iPad. I could also call this @Internet.

@Errands - things to purchase when I am on the go.

@Home - my ‘honey-do” list plus other activities that are non work related.

@Read - this includes articles, book, blogs etc.

@Writing - I’ve got to be in the right mood to write blog posts, articles, YouTube videos or even research/write books.

While these work for me, I suspect you might need different contexts in your system.
 
I’m a freelance photographer and on my list manager (2Doapp.com) I am able to group my project lists by Area Of Responsibility (eg Jobs (£), Marketing, Admin etc). I always allocate the next action to a project (or a single actions list). I can either see ALL my next actions by context or I can the focus on one area of responsibility and filter by context (@computer in the example given) so only see the @computer based items for that AOR.

Because I’m a visual person I also colour all my project lists by AOR (pink for jobs, yellow for marketing etc) so even when I look at the list of all my next actions I will see which colour is the most dense in my list so (all priorities being equal) I can pay attention to that AOR.
DK
 
christophe.portier said:
Hi there,
I'm using GTD for 2 years in my personal life now, and it works just GREAT. I love it. :)
In my professional life however, I'm facing some issues. Some parts of it work fine (inbox capturing, clarification, next action definition). The issue comes when the structuration asks me to put a context after I agreed "I need to do this, it will take me more than 2 minutes and I need to do.... when I'm on my computer - where I spend 90% of my time - now 100% as homeoffice is back again in my company). I tried to create subcontexts "On computer - requires less than 5 minutes" / "On computer - requires between 5 and 30 minutes", etc., to let me pick in the right category depending the time I have to pick the next one. But this does not work very very well. I could try based on energy required, but I feel it wouldn't work a lot too.
Have you maybe faced a similar issue and would have advices?
Thanks a lot!
Cheers,
Christophe
Click to expand...

This is the exact problem I faced implementing GTD in my work life. I have a hybrid working pattern with a few days in the office over a 2-week rota, but even in the office I "hot desk" or am "hoteling" as Allen calls it and dock my laptop at any workstation, so an @office context doesn't work for me either. I don't have an @computer context list either.

I use MS To Do and have a personal and work account which you can quickly switch between in the PC and Android apps (for some reason you need to fully log out and in on Mac and iPhone). So I keep my personal @computer separate from my work stuff.

Technically I can work anywhere I have my laptop (barring those complex tasks I may need 2/3 screens for), so my first attempt was just a next actions list, but this was clunky.

There's one app I do a lot of work in, let's call it app1, but I need to access VDI to access it, and then usually the tasks involved are long and complex and require focus and quiet. I have an @app1 context lists with things I can only do in the app. Context-switching is a massive hurdle for me, so I don't want to know about anything else I may need to do @computer.

Then some of my work involves the usual Office suite of apps. @excel @word @powerpoint etc would be too specific for me, so I just have @documents/writing. Then I have agendas for my immediate team members, and @email for more general communication. Finally, I have an @online list which is for anything I may need to find out, research etc.

If I have a day full of online meetings, I'll check my @emails context list in those 15 or 30 minutes of "weird time" to fire off some emails. If I have an hour or so, I'll check @documents/writing. I don't even have to worry about the clunky @app1 actions because I just intuitively know there's no point even trying to start something so big in such a small time.

I keep @emails separate from agendas as a conversations via calls, teams, IMs etc. may go off-track, spark further discussion, lead to a further task etc. Email is asynchronous, and even if the recipient immediately replies, I don't have to deal with it in the 5 minute window before my meeting, and my Review then picks that reply up to be clarified and organised once more.

Even though the concept of contexts has certainly changed because of technology and the pandemic, I think they still have some merit. I just think to structure them requires a little more nuanced thinking about what our contexts actually are these days.
 
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I work in IT and I did not find traditional contexts helpful. I need to switch context (app or physical office location) based on what needs attention.

What really helped me was using some of Michael Linenberger's Master Your Now system. I basically have Work - Critical, Work - Focus, Work - Opportunity. I move 5-10 items to Focus, finish those then move on to Opportunity. Critical is rarely used on a good day. I've seen people use priorities in their app for this also, but Microsoft ToDo, that I use, only has the single Important star.

I do use @Afterhours for work that has to done when our users aren't working.
 
My take on this is that this is an opportunity not just to manage how contexts constrain you, but as an opportunity to batch-task similar actions together.

Classic example: if you make a sub-context called “emails” then that means you can be at the computer, but specifically switch your brain to “email processing mode”. This means you can smash through a batch of email actions, and then come out of this and do something else. That is far more efficient than switching back and forth between emails and non-email actions.

Other options could be the type of mindset or focus you need. Eg you could have a “deep computing” context, for the computer work that requires the most intensive thinking and concentration. Then by contrast you could have “widget cranking computing” for really simple, brain dead actions that don’t require lots of focus - such that you could even treat yourself to listening to a podcast or audiobook while doing them!

Other options could be contexts where it takes time and effort to log in to a system, such as a VPN or piece of software with lots of login steps. So you could batch actions by those contexts so that you only need to login once.

Do you need to put your brain into a type of mode to take the action? “Creative writing” is a very different type of computer action than “financial processing” or “social media post curating”.

So that’s one way to look at it: make your computer sub-contexts an opportunity to minimise how often you switch between types of brain modes or access hurdles.
 
mcogilvie said:
Ave Kaiser,

Where do you keep your lists? And how many next actions?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I use NirvanaHQ. I fill it with all my projects and actions. Projects that concern one greater goal I add to an area (which in turn represents a superproject). When I want to get stuff done like I described, I star the projects and actions to put them on the focus list. And of course I use start and due dates for everything I need in the focus list at the right time.
 
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