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newbie question about contexts vs. projects
supenguin | Jul 25 2007
I've read "Getting Things Done" twice and not done much with it but I've finally got a hold of a copy of "Getting Things Done - Fast" audio program and am moving more toward a GTD system for tracking my projects. I've got a couple questions... First off, I find that paper is easier for me than electronic. I am a computer programmer, so many of my tasks are in front of the computer, but the computer seems to just get in the way when it comes to managing my todo list. Come to think of it, the computer seems to get in the way of just about everything except checking email, surfing the web, and programming. With that in mind, I've run into some issues and questions with paper. When I write down a project, I try to do one project per page, and then list out the next actions to complete the project. It then seems like I would need to go through all my project lists onto my context lists. Is there a better way to do this than going through all my projects and put all the @phone actions on my @phone list? Also, I know David Allen is opposed to daily todo lists, but I find having a big list of stuff to do overwhelms me... If I put 3 - 5 things todo on a list, do them, and then repeat I seem to get more done. Anyone else find this? Is there a good way of doing this with GTD? I also find that I do like the searchability (if that's a word) of keeping things in electronic format but like I said feel better working with paper. So what's the solution? Two systems? Copy important stuff over from paper into my electronic system? 7 Comments
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 As regards your daily to-do lists...Submitted by unstuffed on July 26, 2007 - 3:46am.
Don't be afraid that what you're doing is heresy: I know that GTD in its pure form says "Sure, just throw the whole bang lot into your context lists and gopher baroque". That scares the stuffing out of me, and it sounds like you have a similar response. So I tend to ration my context lists: I put on enough to keep me busy, and to make sure that I'll have enough to do for the next few days regardless of my context. Then I do what I can, and then after a couple of days, when the lists get tatty, I review and add stuff or rewrite. Whatever works for you is fine. If you try the "go for broke" idea and it just makes you want to hide your head under the duvet, then ration your context lists as you're doing. » POSTED IN:
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