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Originally Posted by curt.clifton
Another useful criteria is whether you can immediately decide which context an action goes in. As Justin mentions, sometimes that difficulty is due to the task not being clearly defined. But sometimes the task is clear but you just have too many contexts to choose from. I've ultimately gravitated toward a fairly minimal set of contexts and find that works well. For me fewer contexts means quicker collection and processing and less time spent fiddling with the system.
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Thanks Curt, this is helpful. As far as "Going back and reading David Allens book again", I own several worn copies and can nearly recite most sections from memory.
I have been reading the responses, and revisiting his book, and analyzing my prior system. From a purest standpoint, Allen said that he has studied dozens of software systems and none met the need. The fact he has recommended software goes against his 20+ years, but I suspect he has to eat.
Critical to the GTD process is the Inbox. The phone application simply does not replace my pen and 3x5 cards. If the application did much of what the desktop application does (allow re-ordering of tasks, had different methods of presenting the data, and a quick short cut all part of the desktop application, it might make it. Until it has those basic features it can not capture inbox as fast as my cards, and it can not present the data as well as perspectives in the desktop application making the current form of the phone application useless to me at this time. I have faith...
As for the context issue, the struggle here is brain verses computer.
Looking through my cards and folders with project cards in them, and back of cards for when I am at home, etc. I note that I look at the various cards that make up tasks for a project, and the context of the tasks are vast as I am processing the input from these project task cards at brain speed where deviations or augmentation from a specific context is not big deal. When using OF, I am forced to fit it in to one context, when formerly it may have fit in 4-5 contexts that my brain can handle easily without much thought.
Struggling to put it in to a single context, wide, narrow, is not the same as multiple contexts.
Hence this process breaks David Allens royal rule, to those that read the book... Every automated/electronic system he reviewed took more effort to maintain than the manual system he devises and describes in the book.
It is true. I find myself spending more time quickly jotting down thoughts on a IPHONE?? With that keyboard???? NOT! Do it from the keyboard, sure.
THen I have to file them by project, and set their contexts.
This verses, drop it on a black input 3x5 card, 6 seconds to take card and pen out of shirt pocket and begin writing. Then to sort them, I walk through each card that contains projects, and I add the new tasks from my inbox card. The contexts are obvious at brain speed while simply reading them.
I purchased this MBP and Iphone3G plus the broadband adapter and $60/mo plan to run OF on MBP and Iphone, and it turns out once again it can't beat my paper system. Reporting? Yes on the MBP with views and perspectives indeed! But not on the Iphone, as they don't exist.
What I thought was a simple problem with contexts turned out to doom OF for me. I am not a apple fan, so that is $4500 down the drain. :(