[OOO]

When I first started using GTD a few years ago I started with a long list of contexts. I just sat down and thought of all the different places I'd need to get things done. I thought the concept was pretty cool. I imagined sitting down or heading out the door, correct context in hand, and completely focusing with "mind like water"... it didn't really work out that way though. For one thing, a lot of contexts just blurred together "Computer Online", "Computer Research", "Computer Email", etc. I also realized I was treating my to-do list like my CD collection: making a neat little database rather than focusing on checking things off (that's why I'm very much not into multiple contexts, priorities, etc.).

I work as an IT consultant from home, so that made it even worst. It was basically one big context.

So I just whittled the list down to basically "Computer", "Home", "Not At Home". After a while a small number of subcategories naturally emerged, like "Computer: Aperture" for when I'm fiddling with photos, "Home: Kitchen" for kitchen projects. Added "Calls" and a couple others.

So, yeah, try the ultra-minimal context list and see if clear boundaries or "mental states" emerge after a while. Whichever context you spend the most time in (like office or computer) could be split up by "area of focus" or "role", I bet.

Here are my current contexts:

*Calls
*Home
**Kitchen
**Yard
*Not At Home
*Computer
**Aperture
**Zone
*Waiting
*People
**.....
**.....

Computer:Zone is anything that requires blocks of uninterrupted concentration, like programming or solving a problem.

It looks like I have roughly 60 projects (a lot of my IT projects are documented in my Basecamp site, actually).