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Originally Posted by brianogilvie
Thanks for posting your contexts!
I'm curious, though, what the "place in car" context adds that your "home" context wouldn't. In your example, if "Clean out Closet" is a sequential project, why not just have both "go through closet..." and "place bag of clothes in car" in the Home context? Maybe you live in a mansion and taking stuff to the car is a long trek, but in my house, it takes all of a minute at most to walk from any point in the house to the garage. Do you ever put things in "place in car" that don't come from home--for instance, things from the office?
I've also developed the habit of putting anything that should go in the car just in front of the garage door, so that when I go to the car in the morning, I have to confront it before I can get to the car. That's especially useful in climates where something might suffer in the car if you put it there too early.
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An excellent point.
I don't live in a mansion... just a humble apartment complex.
I have an adversion to walking out to the car when I know I'll be walking out to the car at some point. And it's possible I could get distracted walking out to the car and not come back to do the next item in my home context.
It's part of the way contexts work... they break all relationship to a project, and put disconnected items into one context. Suddenly... cleaning out my closet does not involve the three steps of
cleaning closet
putting clothes in car
taking clothes to goodwill
It's broken into... what are the things I am doing at home.
Cleaning out the closet.
Then... I'm leaving for my car... what are the things that need to go into my car.
Then... I'm driving around now with some time available... what things can I be doing now... take clothes to goodwill.
When working through actions in a context, a person is completing small separate actions based on where they are and the tools available. Most of those actions do not involve going to a different context.
(Although I know of examples where this could happen... truck drivers for one, but even then, they are in the truck. How about hikers?)
So when I am processing items, I'm not thinking... what's the next step I need to accomplish in this project after this is done. All I'm thinking of is how to complete the task at hand.
I am cleaning out my closet. That's done. What's next in the home context.
not
I am cleaning out my closet. That's done. What's the next step in that project? Oh... I need to take my clothes out to the car. What's the next step after that. Oh... I need to take those clothes to goodwill.
It's almost anti-GTD to think like that. All I'm doing is processing a context.
I also put things in front of my door, that need to be taken out to the car. That's how I've been doing it recently. And I can't think of an example right now for an item that I couldn't just put in front of the door... but there is some subconscious residue in the back of my mind that this has happened before.
I guess one example is my thumb drive with OF on it. I've left the apartment a couple times with the thumb drive at home and had to go back to get it. Yet I can't leave this at the door, because I am using it.
In a far off world... what I envision is to have the iPhone connected to gps & OF. Based on where you are, OF would let you know the things you can do in that location. Based on where you are driving, iPhone could let you know the closest location for completing some errand in OF. I've been dreaming that one for a while... all the tools are here... almost... and it wouldn't take rocket science to have this happen.
It may take some rocket science to make it simple.