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Context lists: I've had an afflatus!
unstuffed | Feb 10 2007
In addition to finally being able to log on for real (I was starting to feel like a real Nobby No-Mates: even the intertubes don't like me, sob choke:( ). Anyway, I've been all a-lurk for a while now, and I've just had an afflatus which drove me here. It's about context lists, and how, as Merlin has pointed out, they're not quite so easy for geeks as for management or sales folks. Stop me if I'm wiffling, but it struck me that the context lists are basically a means of reducing the number of NAs we have to consider when choosing what to do next. We remove from consideration anything that we physically can't do from where we are. Now it's possible to extend that to some degree by reference to what software/projects (in the sense of software dev projects for clients) we've got open. For instance, if my list tells me I could do work on the EvilCorp World Domination 0.98 project, but I don't have it open in Eclipse, then I won't be doing that. I'm too lazy to open it up just for a 10-minute task. Alas, I've usually got everything open all the time. My desktop is like the finale of a musical, with everyone on stage. I'm sure I'm not the only one. So. I was posting a comment about context lists on another forum when it hit me: The David says that our choices of what to do next depend on context, energy level, time available, and so on. So why not shoehorn some of those into the role of contexts? Time is tricky, unless you're proficient at micro-estimates of time. I'm not. But for those that are, you could have context lists for 5, 10, 15 minutes, etc, if those are the chunks of time you have in the interstices of your day. Or you could categorise based on energy level and how you feel. I know that when I feel crap, I really don't fancy talking on the phone, so I won't even look at my phone list. So how about lists like @I've Used Up All My Brain, @Cruising Comfortably, and @Focused Like A Zen Master? Given that phone and computer are all within arm's reach anyway, and given that I choose what to do based on how I feel anyway, why not structure my lists that way? I'd be interested to hear if anyone's tried this, or something similar. 3 Comments
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 I think the real issue...Submitted by miklb on February 11, 2007 - 12:17am.
I think the real issue is how would you realistically cross reference two contexts. You at some point have to simply trust your instincts, and just do. Rather than keep things open all the time, only open them up when you are going to be using them to GTD. I know from where I sit, I've now got @photoshop, @server, and then more generic things for @computer( which I use for things that are more OS based, organize files, etc) not to mention @email. That way, when I come across a NA when looking at a project, or just *know* it's got to be done, I can look at the context @photoshop and possibly just knock out several tasks in a short while. If an @photoshop NA is going to take more time than I can commit at that moment, obviously it gets passed, but to me, it's almost like a mini-review. If you had some sort of DB driven GTD app that could cross-reference multiple contexts, that would be great, like, give me all @zen master @photoshop @30 minutes, then, yeah, that might be handy. I haven't found that yet, and would like to rely on my gut instinct for the time being, especially in the day to day moment. anyway, just my 2? » POSTED IN:
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