Quote:
Originally Posted by Westwinds
You know I don't think there'd be all this discussion, if OF just offered multiple contexts. Think about iPhoto and the keywords. You have to have it to manage the data. I use OF for sales and many tasks involve more than one contact. Would like to be able to view contexts (as in the person I'm talking with) and have all the tasks associated with them - viewable. OF claims multiple contexts is disloyal to GTD religion - bunk - just change this feature and you've got Things - done. Have Used OF for last 18 months - great product - almost perfect - thanks
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I believe there is an important distinction between 'Context', in the generally accepted GTD vernacular, and 'contextual information. Multiple 'Contexts' are generally inconsistent with GTD, as a 'Context' usually requires a specific physical location and/or specific tools/resources. Yes, there can be some overlap as some tasks can be done anywhere and some tasks, such as a task assigned to the 'Computer' context could also be done with an iPhone, which would more commonly be associated with tasks assigned to a 'Phone' context. However, in GTD most tasks have a primary 'Context' that best fit with working towards the completion of that task. In that regard, 'Contexts' in GTD are more similar to 'Places' in iPhoto than they are to 'Keywords'.
On the other hand, contextual information can crossover from task to task, as in the example you shared from your workflow. This metadata, at least in GTD discussions is more commonly associated with tagging and is consistent with 'Keywords' in iPhoto. Both 'Context' and contextual information are important and I'm in agreement with you on that, but they are not the same thing. Even in Things, many (most) users arrange tags into tag sub-groups for Context, Priorities, Energy, etc., to assign no more than one tag from each tag sub-group to a task. In any event, the Omni folks have stated that tagging through a user-defined metadata field will be coming, probably in OmniFocus 2.0. My understanding that his field will be an addition to complement the Context field, rather than a replacement for Context that does everything as is the case with Things.