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What are your contexts?
kenzi | Apr 18 2006
I have been rereading some of Merlin's posts now that I have started GTD implementation and his post about contexts was really helpful because I am unsure about the contexts that I have set up. I found it interesting to read his list of contexts, and thought it would be helpful to hear what others have in their lists of contexts. Please post your contexts, maybe with a little explanation about the logic behind your system. Thanks. Here is my list (feel free to critique it): home: computer My logic: I have a home business that involves selling stuff online, meeting clients outside my home and also having clients to my house, plus I have a night job (for rent money and benefits) where, if I have downtime, I can do whatever I want (within reason) including phone calls, research, errands etc. I split out errands to "out" and "work" because there are some errands I can do near work, but actually those can be done at anytime, like on my way to work, so I will probably eliminate "work: errands". "Home: do" is a catch-all for chores and non-work stuff around the house that doesn't fit the other categories; I am thinking of breaking that out a little more. "Think, create" is another catchall for brainstorming, sketching, mulling in a controlled situation...not just daydreaming, but working out ideas for a specific project. 79 Comments
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 Haven't posted for a while...Submitted by Claire on April 22, 2006 - 2:06pm.
Haven't posted for a while (as the board keeps reminding me), and this seemed like something I could reply to! My contexts are many: This list is the reason GTD suits me so well. I'm a grad student in physical sciences, so I have a variety of jobs to do - reading (normally in my office, but I like to have my computer with me and preferably an internet connection), lab work (in my own lab), work in various locations in the department, work at our out-of-town site, plus home etc. I found the idea of having a list of actions I could do in each location to be such an inspired one for my current work circumstances that it really was the motivation for getting into GTD. I recently introduced two new contexts - @Home Computer and @Specific piece of equipment because I was finding my other lists didn't really cover the situation - e.g. I previously put the @specific piece of equipment NAs on my @Lab list, but they're in completely different buildings so it really wasn't helping! Similarly, I don't always bring my computer home at night, so things I want to do on my computer on my own time require me to be both at home and with my computer, thus @Home Computer. Ideally I would have my laptop with me all the time, but I commute by bike and sometimes it's too much to carry. The one list which really doesn't work for me is @Errands. I'm rarely "out and about" at all the places on my list (some are in the centre of the city, some are near work, some are a car drive/bus ride away etc), so I find I'm still trying to sort that list by context within the list. So now I tend to write errands on my calendar instead - e.g. Go to Supermarket, get petrol, post letter (as a general all-day task normally). It seems to work better but if anyone's got a better solution then let me know! It's never seemed worth me having a whole context for posting letters or going to the supermarket when there'll only ever be one NA on it. Great thread by the way, it's really interesting to see how different people deal with this! I'm amazed at people who only have a handful of contexts, your lives must involve much less walking-between-places than mine! » POSTED IN:
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