The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniFocus > Applying OmniFocus
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
Context Lists for IT Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I am having trouble coming up with useful context lists.

I am an IT manager, and do nearly everything with my Mac. It involves both working on IT-tech related things (the IT part), as well as typical office management-type things - people, meetings, memos, etc (the manager part).

Currently I think my context lists may be too long and too specific. I have used application-type contexts (GoLive, PhotoShop, FileMaker, PowerSchool, email), thinking that while I am in PhotoShop, I can PhotoShop things from several different projects.

I am this method not very successful for two reasons:
a) it can be hard (psychologically) to work on two different projects at once in PhotoShop - it seems a but splintered or schizo, and
b) Often times a project will involve three different applications
so I am thinking of reducing to a very basic set (Office, Waiting, Home).

It would be useful to see what others are doing (I imagine many in these forums are struggling with the same issues). I know there has been discussion about this issue on the forums in the past, but try searching for "contexts" and see how useful that search result is!

How about a sticky topic on context list suggestions, even if all it did was link to an external reference...
 
If it were me, I wouldn't have a PhotoShop context if it didn't group items in a way that would be useful for efficient processing. In the case of using Photoshop for different projects, what is the economy of scale there? It doesn't seem like there would be one unless you had to walk to a different location or sign up for a time to use a specific PC for PhotoShop, or call PhotoShop support to get questions answered that pertain to different projects and you wanted to get it all done in one phone call.

For project management, I would spend most of my time in Project mode, but go to Context mode whenever I think things might be grouped in a useful way, and then I'd be looking at specific contexts. Knowing that all activities associated with a context would be there is important, which is why being able to assign an activity to multiple contexts is important -- because when you look at a context you don't have to wonder whether something was categorized somewhere else in a "context hierarchy".

An example that you might find helpful as an IT manager might be to have a context for the different people you may need to talk to in your organization. If you need to consult someone for an activity, you can assign that activity to a context for that person. If Omni Focus allowed multiple contexts, and your question could be answered by Bob or Barb, you could assign the activity to both "Bob" and "Barb" contexts. That way when you are about to meet with or call "Bob" or "Barb", the activity will show up there (and with multiple contexts, the activity could also show up under "Phone").

When I was a project leader at a corporation and / or worked on many different IT projects, at times I interacted with the same person from many different roles or projects. Using contexts in that way would have been helpful but alas such tools weren't available at that time (I haven't worked in IT since 2001).

This is an example in which multiple contexts per action item AND a context hierarchy would be helpful. Usually the number of people I interacted with in my IT position were the people on the project teams, technical staff, and users. I could create a People context and then sub contexts by group. Then when an activity came up in which I needed to phone "Barb" or "Bob" I could add the activity to the Person:Bob, Person:Barb, and Phone contexts.

Feel free to follow up with any other questions you have.

I don't know how anyone could manage something very complex without multiple contexts / action, but I guess if a person spent a lot of time trying to define an exclusive-hierarchy and was very diligent in following it, and didn't have to refine it later, then there is a slight possbility it might work. (and hopefully you'd never have to explain it to someone later on)
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Journey View Post
I don't know how anyone could manage something very complex without multiple contexts / action, but I guess if a person spent a lot of time trying to define an exclusive-hierarchy and was very diligent in following it, and didn't have to refine it later, then there is a slight possbility it might work. (and hopefully you'd never have to explain it to someone later on)
I've been managing dozens of projects, hundreds of actions, and 12 people on my agenda list in OF for nearly 7 months now without multiple contexts per action, so that isn't a show stopper at all. My context list grew organically over the first month or two of use. The key is simply to select multiple contexts in the Context sidebar so that you can see all the actions from the set of Contexts. This is really the idea of "Places" from LifeBalance. Most of my actions fall neatly into a single context. For those that don't, it really doesn't matter. I just pick one.

I understand and respect your desire for multiple context per action, but several thousand of us have been getting along fine without the feature. Based on that, I think you're overstating the importance of the feature to the average user.

joelande, I feel your pain on number of contexts. My contexts are currently:

--Home
----Office–Home
----Chores
----Spouse
--Computer *
----Editing *
----Email *
----Planning *
----Reading *
----Problem Solving *
----Writing *
----On-line *
------Web *
------Angel *
----PB
----MBP *
----G5 *
----Dell *
--Phone *
--Briefcase *
----Planning *
----Reading *
--Campus *
----Office–Camp *
--Agenda *
----(several items under here, some for individuals, some for teams)
--Errands
----WalMart
----Lowes
--Awaiting *

The subcontexts of Computer are mostly for different states of mind. In practice I very often have all the Computer contexts selected.

For example, my standard Work perspective includes all of the contexts with stars above. At work I tend to be very deadline driven, so my Context View is sorted by due date. However, if I start answering emails, I might just select the Email context and bang out a bunch of replies. When I finish those, I'll switch back to my Work perspective and let urgency guide me toward the next context in which to GTD. Hope that helps.
__________________
Cheers,

Curt
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by curt.clifton View Post
I understand and respect your desire for multiple context per action, but several thousand of us have been getting along fine without the feature. Based on that, I think you're overstating the importance of the feature to the average user.
The fact that a lot of users have been getting along fine without the feature is significant, but I don't think number of users is a criteria that would necessarily rule out a new or change in feature. A proposed change should stand on its own merits.

While the Mac had a usability, GUI, and other advantages for almost a decade before Windows came out, all of my DOS-based computer friends emphasized that they were getting along fine without a mouse or cut / copy / paste. "Why would you want to use a mouse?". The fact that they considered themselves getting along fine didn't mean that the operating system they were using was the best fit for their job. They just needed an open mind.

(and some extra $$$ because Apple went for short-term profits, not market share but I digress ...)

Whether to allow multiple contexts could be a preference setting. Or, it could just be by choice -- if someone chooses to use them by selecting more than one context.

My main point is that "number of users getting along fine" doesn't mean that there aren't valid and useful improvements that can be made to a product.
 
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).
 
I've also been in IT and now work in software development and marketing and spend 90% of my time in front of a computer. Like OOO and Curt, I have minimal numbers of contexts and don't have a significant need for multiple contexts.

My contexts, like OOO, have grown over time based on a need to separate an activity out into its own mind-space. When OF introduced "active" contexts (i.e. those which have items show up, the rest remain hidden) I found myself becoming more specific. Here are my current contexts:

home
email
- work
Girlfriend (don't worry, I actually use her name!)
* Girlfriend's place
Calls
Writing
Computer
* laptop
* home office
* office computer
* servers
* online
errands
* costco
blog
research
exercise
work
* bug reporting tool
* techsupport tracking tool
pay bills
discussions
downtime
San Francisco
Waiting On
Leopard (for when I was testing stuff)
Netflix (for movies to add to my download list)
Mom
 
(I wish the "all actions" in contexts was still available so I could see how many actions have been in a context.)
 
Option 1: Have on context, "Computer", and be done with it.

Option 2: Consider when mode switches are significant.

Perhaps have a context for certain servers that require regular maintenance. So when I remote into "application server 1", I have a list of things it needs (e.g. virus update, clean up temp files, add blah blah blah to security list, open new file share, etc.) that I can just run right through. Since a lot of this stuff isn't terribly time-sensitive, it's okay if it stacks up a bit.

What about time-based contexts? You could have an "After hours" context for everything that needs to be done outside of regular working hours (system updates/reboots, backups, etc.) Meantime, your "manager" tasks could be broken up as during the workday (when your directs are available) and after workday (bureaucracy, paper shuffling, etc.)

As you point out, certain applications have some overhead or individually represent a mode switch. Certainly "Design" might represent Photoshop, Indesign, etc., but can be grouped together since those apps (and that mode of thought) all work together. Then a "Development" context contains those items that require detailed attention of a certain type and are best tackled when you can turn off the phone and email and concentrate for a few hours straight.

In the end, contexts are there so that you can focus on what's at hand and "crank widgets" by going from step to step and get things done without dithering over what to do.

With this sort of meta-categorization, you might find perspectives very useful so that you can zero in on a "Next actions at my office with my Mac" perspective, containing many contexts, and then pick one of those contexts to switch into by finding an important task within it.

(I have exactly such a context that I use each time I need to find something else to do -- i.e. when I stop cranking widgets)

Make sense?
 
I've been doing GTD for about two years now, and because i've had no single trusted app for project management, i've been using 3x5 cards ("hipster PDA") to keep track of my actions. When you use that style, you start to think about context a lot more than you think about projects—projects are something you only think about at review time.

Context in GTD is all about what resources are available to you. For example, cleaning up your desk at work is an action that requires you be at your desk at work. Making a phone call just requires you have a phone, wherever you are. Doing research online requires that you be online.

Perspectives, focus, and context can really work together nicely here. My contexts right now are:
  • Errands
    • Grocery store
    • Housewares
    • Drug store
    • Community center
  • Home
  • Office
  • MacBook Pro
  • Mac mini
  • Online
    • Email
  • Windows
    • Work network
  • Phone business day
    • Phone anytime
  • People
    • Boss
    • Coworker 1
    • Employee 1
  • Waiting
  • Thinking

Notice that I have "Online", but then I also have "Work network". Things that just require I be online go into the former context, but things that require I be on my office network (whether because I'm at the office, or at home on VPN) go in the latter context. My company has apps that only work on Windows (gack), so "Work network" is a subcontext of "Windows". (If there were offline tasks I could only do on Windows, it would be a separate context rather than a subcontext, but I don't have any of those.)

This may seem backwards—surely being on the work network (which I can do on my Mac) is not a subcategory of "Windows". But the point is in winnowing down the resources available to me at any time. If I left my Windows laptop at home, but have some time to do some work, I can click "Work network" to see only those items I can do on the VPN without access to the Windows machine. If I do have the work Windows laptop, I click "Windows" and see everything I can do on the VPN too.

Similarly, note that instead of a generic "Phone" context, I have a "Phone business day context", and a "Phone anytime" subcontext. During the business day I click the "Phone business day" context and see all phone calls I could make, but outside the business day I click "Phone anytime" and then don't see the doctor's appointment call, but do see the 24x7 customer service call.

(If the backwards hierarchy bothers you, you can just create a "Phone" context with "Business day" and "Anytime" subcontexts, and not put anything into the "Phone" supercontext. It would work just as well.)

In my Library, I have folders for "Personal", "Non-profit work" (I'm a board member of a nonprofit) and "Work". If I were working as a consultant, I'd have folders for each of my clients.

Now, I can create Perspectives to give me exactly what I need. I have an "At Home" perspective where I've selected my "Home", "MacBook Pro", "Mac mini", "Online", "Phone business day", and "Thinking" contexts, showing available actions.

Then I have a "Working at Home" perspective that is focused on the "Work" folder, and has the same contexts as "At Home" plus the "Windows" context, since when I'm working at home I also have my work laptop and my VPN running.

My "At the office" perspective has nothing focused (sometimes I have personal actions, like printing a boarding pass for my vacation, that I'll actually do at the office), but has the "Office", "Windows", "Phone business day", and "People" contexts.

Then finally, my "Errands" perspective gives me a quick way to print off shopping lists for when I'm without my computer.

Contexts shouldn't be overly specific, but they should represent exactly what resources are available to you at any given time. (So why do I have an "Email" subcontext of "Online"? Just because I find it useful sometimes to just fire off all the emails I need to work on at one time.) If a context offers you an available action you can't do at a time when that context should be active, then you need to subdivide your context (perhaps by making a subcontext as I mentioned above).

Using these methods, I haven't found any need to have things in multiple contexts. The only exception is for People—some actions it would be nice to mark as things I can take care of either when I see my boss in person, or that I can do by phone. I could solve that by creating a separate heirarchy for "In-person people" for things I can only do face-to-face, and then creating a new perspective that would meld "Phone" and "People", but so far I haven't felt the need to do that.
 
Thanks for the help Trey (and others).

This gives me some good ideas, and (perhaps more importantly) shows that what I was already thinking seemed to be on the right track.

Here is my current list <significantly paired down from a much more specific/detailed list:

@Office
-----After Hours (for server maintenance when nobody is logged in)
@Calls
@Emails
@Agenda
-----CoWorker1
-----CoWorker2
@Waiting
-----CoWorker1
-----CoWorker2
Errands
Home
Reading
Training


My concerns so far:
1) Currently 95% of my actions fall into @Office - don't know if that is going to become an issue or not
2) Additionally I can do many (but not) all of my @Office items at home
3) There are some items that I could take care of in @Calls, @Emails, or possibly @Agenda (but I have ben reserving Agenda for face-to-face communication so far.
4) Reading and Training have some cross-over too, but I am trying to categorize Training as items that may ned more than a book - like a computer or video or audio source...
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Script to dump Omnifocus Context lists to Kindle? profdrhabeb OmniFocus Extras 2 2011-05-17 04:10 AM
Please make it optional to show projects in context lists (1.8) fedex OmniFocus 1 for Mac 14 2011-01-17 10:31 AM
Shopping Lists pjb OmniFocus 1 for Mac 9 2008-06-27 08:42 AM
Lists Melan OmniFocus 1 for Mac 9 2007-11-27 03:44 PM
Managing Lists DamonC OmniFocus 1 for Mac 27 2007-09-10 04:16 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:05 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.