Utility of contexts - provocative question

[Sebastien.pi]

Hi guys,



yes yes yes, my setup has improved a lot.

Important to know, that I divided my GTD (including all folders: SMB, todo, …) into 2 different parts: private & work

A few months ago, I decided to delete almost all the contexts in the work area due to my professional condition: essentially behind my computer or in a meeting.

So I have only (in fact two) contexts called #work and #name-of-a-software-I-develop (because I need to turn my brain into « software-mode » to work on it).

But I don’t have #calls or #mail or whatever in my contexts.

Is anyone else in the same case?

Is it "bad" ? Is there a subtility I missed ?



Thanks !

 

[TesTeq]

Is it "bad" ? Is there a subtility I missed ?

@Sebastien.pi It's OK if it works for you (if long lists don't repel you). The number of Next Action lists must be greater than ZERO. That's the only requirement.

 

[Tom_Hagen]

Is it "bad" ? Is there a subtility I missed ?



Thanks !

In the past, I also distinguished between personal and professional work. Now, when I work a lot remotely, I have found that this division is not so sharp anymore. I focus more on priorities: if my professional work's tasks are important and I have to spend more time on them, I simply carry them out. I also do not use contexts when it comes to my professional work because 99% of my tasks are performed on the computer. GTD is a flexible system, yes it has some inviolable rules but few of them. The main rule is: if something works, stick to it.

 

[jwsamuel]

I have simplified my contexts and it now seems as if GTD is working for me better than ever before. I have just four contexts now: Work, Home, Personal, Errands. In my case, Home does not relate to the location but to the type of task.

Distinctions such as Call, Computer, Office mean nothing. If I have to call someone, I just use Call as the first word and put it under the context it fits under. "Call dentist for appointment" goes under Personal. That works better for me than a list of calls I have to make for different purposes.

Jim

 

[TesTeq]

I have simplified my contexts and it now seems as if GTD is working for me better than ever before. I have just four contexts now: Work, Home, Personal, Errands. In my case, Home does not relate to the location but to the type of task.

@Sebastien.pi @jwsamuel has a great basic set of contexts. Previously I suggested that the number of contexts must be greater than ZERO. Now I would say that there are at least two contexts we all use: Errands and Everything Else. There's also a very useful concept of Agendas (which can be thought of as "people's errands").

 

[mcogilvie]

I prefer not to to work from long lists, so I currently have @computer, @email, @web and @tablet/phone rather than a single @office list. A typical work strategy for me is to work for some substantial period, 45 minutes to 2 hours, on bigger next actions on the @computer list. I then take a break by working on things on the other three lists. I tend to prioritize @email over the other two, because some emails have a degree of urgency attached. Nobody else has to work this way, but I find it to be very productive. Where people often have problems is trying to force themselves into some work style (“I read it on the web!”) which isn’t right for them at the time.

 

[Tom_Hagen]

@Sebastien.pi @jwsamuel has a great basic set of contexts. Previously I suggested that the number of contexts must be greater than ZERO. Now I would say that there are at least two contexts we all use: Errands and Everything Else. There's also a very useful concept of Agendas (which can be thought of as "people's errands").

Agenda is a great solution indeed. They allow not only to designate the next actions, but also to simply observe important events related to a given person. Something like a simplified CRM.

 

[Tom_Hagen]

A typical work strategy for me is to work for some substantial period, 45 minutes to 2 hours, on bigger next actions on the @computer list.[...]

Your solution is similar to what I read in the book: Gary Keller, Jay Papasan "The one thing". Where - in a nutshell - the authors prove why it is worth tackling the "big topic" first.

 

[dtj]

One thing that helped me was to think about it not as 'context', but as 'contexts'. Each context is essentially an attribute about the task, so I can have something like a context of '@braindead' for tasks that don't require brainpower to do. Thus a task can have contexts '@computer', '@shortlist', and '@braindead', that are on the computer, a little higher priority, and can be done in my sleep essentially. So when I am a burnt out husk of a human, but still have some hours that I want to work, I just goto the @braindead list and start picking things off the list.

 

[mcogilvie]

Your solution is similar to what I read in the book: Gary Keller, Jay Papasan "The one thing". Where - in a nutshell - the authors prove why it is worth tackling the "big topic" first.

I’m actually not too impressed with “eat that frog” and all that, although I am fond of Twain. Sometimes the ”big thing” looms too heavily, and is actually neither urgent nor important (to borrow from another paradigm). Or there are several big thimgs teed up, or none. I completely agree with David Allen’s “Trust your gut” advice, but it’s not always easy to take that advice.

 

[Tom_Hagen]

I’m actually not too impressed with “eat that frog” and all that, although I am fond of Twain. Sometimes the ”big thing” looms too heavily, and is actually neither urgent nor important (to borrow from another paradigm). Or there are several big thimgs teed up, or none. I completely agree with David Allen’s “Trust your gut” advice, but it’s not always easy to take that advice.

The idea expressed in the book has little to do with the idea of "eat the frog first." The latter is about taking care of an unpopular task first. The book, on the other hand, focuses on the implementation of the most "productive" tasks, the most important from the point of view of your role. These are completely different concepts.

 

[gtdstudente]

Hi guys,



yes yes yes, my setup has improved a lot.

Important to know, that I divided my GTD (including all folders: SMB, todo, …) into 2 different parts: private & work

A few months ago, I decided to delete almost all the contexts in the work area due to my professional condition: essentially behind my computer or in a meeting.

So I have only (in fact two) contexts called #work and #name-of-a-software-I-develop (because I need to turn my brain into « software-mode » to work on it).

But I don’t have #calls or #mail or whatever in my contexts.

Is anyone else in the same case?

Is it "bad" ? Is there a subtility I missed ?



Thanks !

You have me thinking . . . anything that is on one's mind or has made it to a list(s) is to be cranked-out as accurately as possible with a quick double-check for smooth future use

 

[Stefan Godo]

adding here the link of a similar post/thread in case you missed it: computer context, if everything is done on the comp
plenty of relevant good stuff there.

context = when/under which conditions do I want to be reminded of this action?

obviously this can be vastly different for each person.

If you have separate "work" "private" MINDSETS, then having these as contexts is perfect. If you do everything on a computer, you can still have a @computer list - you will be eventually reminded of too many things when you will be at your comp. So if you do very different things at your computer, you can subdivide that list (or name them differently). For me doing e-banking, browsing for fun, preparing a post are very different contexts, so I do not have an @computer context.
e.g. online admin, online creative can be those contexts - think about "what will be true when I want to be reminded of THINS thing and NOT THAT one?"

 

[gtdstudente]

Agenda is a great solution indeed. They allow not only to designate the next actions, but also to simply observe important events related to a given person. Something like a simplified CRM.

Sounds like a Multi-Billion $ Project/Problem . . . 0.1% please sir

 

[Sebastien.pi]

Thanks for all your answers.
I added a brain-dead context coz when my energy is not full, I need to have some simple stuff to do.