In my experience, this is one of the biggest "gotchas" with GTD that trips people up. I feel like tools such as OmniFocus have confused what the original intention and spirit of contexts was when they provide a showcase or overview of their product.
A context was never meant to be just tools or locations but rather whatever "context" (i.e. the original word) you need to have (i.e. be in, around, aware of, etc.) for the item to get done. Too many people focus on context as meaning "a tool I need to have", "a location I need to be at", "an energy level I need to have", "a relative duration of time", etc. when really it's the combination of all of those and general frame of mind/reference.
There is little point in doing creative or personal writing when you are in a bad mood, need to leave in 30 mins to take your child to a dentist appointment, are waiting in line at the DMV, or on a conference call with your team for this year's marketing campaign. A "Creative Writing" context, for example, should be a term that would mean to
you that you have the appropriate amount of time (probably several hours), are in a mood conducive to being creative, have your preferred writing tool (computer, book, etc.), are in the correct location for creative writing (maybe that's home, maybe that's in a coffee house, maybe it's in a library, etc.), etc.
Contexts should be very personal terms that you understand the total gestalt of what you are like, where you are, what you feel like doing, and what kind of time you have. I harken to the term being emotionally intelligent about yourself such that you know when you are best able to tackle certain things and when not. I could list numerous examples of some and what they mean to
me but that is precisely just the problem: they are meant for
me and how I operate. You are not me and I am not you therefore what terms work for me (and mean to me) will likely not work for you (or mean the same).
Now this doesn't mean that you cannot have some contexts that are specific to tools, locations, etc. but they don't need to be your
only contexts or the only way to classify contexts. Use what is appropriate for
you based on
your circumstances.
- If you need a lot of relevant project information open and available to work on things then create a context that reflects that such as "When deep diving into a project".
- If you have a lot of items that are not terrible difficult, relatively short, on your computer, etc. then maybe a "Quick computer wins".
- If you find that you need to have your bank accounts opened, financial planning software, and various budget spreadsheets open to balance your checkbook/etc. then perhaps "When financially planning".
- If you are attending meetings where you are not really contributing and don't really need to be there but have to be but could be doing something productive, then perhaps creating a context "In non-essential meeting".
For example, rather than "Home" you may instead benefit from using a context of "Working around the house" to indicate when you're in a "context" where you have a large swath of time where you have energy/desire to do common household tasks that require you to have the time and space to appropriately engage with them (e.g. Clean kitchen cupboards, Dust picture frames, Replace air filter in furnace, etc.).
- If you don't make a lot of phone calls, then you don't need a "Calls" context.
- If you don't have an "Office" in the traditional sense then maybe you don't need an "Office" context.
- So on and so forth.
Of course, this all my opinion and perspective. I found that once I stopped thinking so rigidly about contexts and less dogmatic about what was in the GTD book as "the one
true way" a lot things just clicked. David is a productivity consultant meaning he talks to people more often ("@ Calls"), travels often (or used to) ("@ Travel", "@ Home", "@ Online/Offline"), etc. so his contexts will never match those of mine, a software engineer. I have a coding context, an investigation/debugging context, a design context, a research context, an administrate context, etc. because
those make sense for
me but won't for David or you.
David's GTD book was just some sample suggestions to start from but you should
absolutely customize things to
your specific needs and cases. Same goes for
how you reflect on/engage with your system: if looking at things by projects makes sense for
you then do it., if by certain context(s) then do that, etc. Don't feel constrained by what was written in the GTD book as the
only way to do GTD. GTD is about the phases of getting what has your attention out of your head and into a trusted system to then help you define what your work is and engage with it appropriately. Not to completely sound like David but it is hard not to
I hope any of that helps or makes sense.