[moniot]

Hey guys

This may totally be an instance of my relative newness to GTD and to OF, but does anyone see a need to be able to assign more than one context to a task? For example, I could buy the concert tix online but I could also just call Ticketmaster from the car...

Or does this functionality already exist and I just missed it?

Cheers

RM

[bongoman]

I think David Allen would say that in this case the next action is to actually decide where to buy the tickets - that is the next step required to move the ticket-buying project forward.

Then when that decision is made, you can add a new task 'buy tickets' to OmniFocus in either the calls or online contexts (or your equivalents thereof).

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by bongoman

I think David Allen would say that in this case the next action is to actually decide where to buy the tickets - that is the next step required to move the ticket-buying project forward.

Then when that decision is made, you can add a new task 'buy tickets' to OmniFocus in either the calls or online contexts (or your equivalents thereof).

I disagree. Entering a "decide where to buy tickets" action seems like "slicing it too thin" to me. Not to be facetious, but before you "decide where to buy tickets", shouldn't you research relative service charges and calculate the relative cost of phone minutes vs. internet connection time, and ...? I've sometimes fallen into the trap of procrastinating by always putting a next action in the way. (It's really Zeno's dichotomy paradox in action. If I'm afraid to reach a goal, I can always keep dividing the steps between me and the goal into more and more next actions.) For an "over-organizer" like me, too many next actions can be as big a roadblock as not identifying the real next action.

As to the original question, currently you cannot assign multiple contexts. There has been extensive discussion on the forums about adding multiple context support, or some notion of tags or labels. There are a few ways to deal with cases like Buy Tickets now.

• Create a new context for "Phone or On-line".
• Enter the action twice with two different contexts.
• Enter the action in just one context. (This is really like bongoman's suggestion, but assumes that picking the context takes less than 2 minutes.)

Personally, I would use the third option. I seldom am in a single context at a time. For example, currently I can choose actions from my home:office context, any of my computer contexts, my phone context, or my briefcase context. I use cmd-clicks in context view to select all of them. So even though Buy Tickets might be in the Phone context, it would show in my list and I could choose to do it using the web instead.

[filmgeek]

I've always taken the opinion, that Multiple contexts are a trap.

First, if something can be done in multiple contexts, it just doesn't matter. Pick one. The tickets? You're going to buy them online, unless the internet is broken. Then you'll use the phone.

Second, Cliff, you're totally right about slicing things too thin (as a method of procrastination.) It's something we all should keep in mind.

Last, while you physically could be at multiple contexts (I'm in front of my laptop as I type this. I'm technically at the following contexts (for me):
Laptop, Internet, email, phone (cause it's right here.)

But I specifically, decide for 10 (or more minutes) I'm going to only work on one context or one project. It's like using the Focus button on the taskbar in OmniFocus.

I can only, truly, do one thing at a time. (And yes, as hard as it is to admit, there is no such think as multitasking.)

[slinberg]

I'm sure there are people on boths sides of this fence, but I would vote in favor of allowing multiple contexts, even if an "allow multiple contexts" option defaulted to "off" in the app.

I frequently run into this situation, where I have a task that could be taken care of in any of several contexts, and I don't know which one of those contexts will come up next for me in my hectic schedule. Being able to say "do this in whichever of these contexts I'm next in" would be a wonderful thing, and having multiple contexts seems the easiest and most obvious way to implement this.

[pjc]

Originally Posted by slinberg

I frequently run into this situation, where I have a task that could be taken care of in any of several contexts, and I don't know which one of those contexts will come up next for me in my hectic schedule.

My solution to this has been an "Anywhere" context, for things that I can really do anywhere (e.g., "Spend 10 minutes thinking about X").

But I find there are very few things I can really do in multiple contexts. If I need to buy tickets, but haven't decided whether to buy them on the phone or online, I really haven't completely decided my next action. The solution to this (as someone mentioned previously) is it really doesn't matter which you choose -- just choose one. Then you've decided on your next action.

I'm not sure I see the situation in which multiple contexts for a task would really be appropriate. Conversely, I certainly see the purpose of being in multiple contexts at once: e.g., "Phone", "Online", "Laptop", and "Office" may all apply to me at work. Fortunately, OF lets me select multiple contexts to see all the tasks in them.

Perhaps the issue, in addition to not fully deciding on a next action, is that one's contexts are defined too vaguely? For example, if I only had "Home" and "Office" contexts, and I had a task that simply needed a telephone, there wouldn't be any particular reason for me to pick Home vs. Office, thus the desire to put it both. The solution to this, again, would be to create a context that describes what you need to have at hand in order to complete this task. (Agenda/Person contexts are effectively another instance of this -- you need to have that person available.)