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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedallen View Post
...As an example, ... It would be nice to be able to pull all of those together at the same time and complete them most efficiently.
So why not move those relevant @office contexts to a ☼screening context? It seems you would be more productive working from the latter context than from the former, especially if you know that screening is always an office-done task anyway.

--
JJW
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrJJWMac View Post
Sitting at home wondering what I could be doing with some "extra time" ... open OF on iPod, go to Contexts view, select Home context, filter for either Available or Next Action. Decide that changing the air filter would be a worthwhile venture in the next few minutes.

Done.

--
JJW
I'm afraid I must not have been clear in my post, because this is wrong and misses my point. In my example, "change air filter" is given the "low energy" context -- and since mutliple contexts are not allowed, it is NOT given the "home" context. As a result, the very common sense approach that you suggest DOESN'T WORK: If I select the "home" context and review that list, I will NOT see "change air filter." Contrariwise, if multiple contexts were allowed, then I could tag it with both "home" and "low energy" and your process would work just fine. Indeed, it is precisely for this reason that I do not use a "low energy" context.

I may have mislead some folks by choosing a poor example, but the larger point is this: If you can only assign one context, then *by definition* you cannot efficiently set up contexts that run across two or more dimensions. In other words, you can have either "location-based" contexts, or "people-based" contexts, or "energy-based" contexts, or "time-based" contexts, or "equipment-based" contexts -- but you have to choose one, because you cannot have all of them (or, to be more precise, you *can* have them all, but if you do, then you are forced to scan multiple context lists).
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Stargazer,

An important idea behind GTD and contexts is that it allows you be more productive by spending less time deciding what to do next. You don't want to lose that efficiency by spending all of your time fooling around with complicated searches, applying every conceivable tag, multiple contexts, etc. Use reviews, flags, and impending due dates to keep the important stuff moving along, and fill the remaining time with everything else.
I could not agree more, but this logic points *toward* multiple contexts, not against. I think part of the confusion I caused was in somehow suggesting that I want to be able to search for tasks that match several contexts simultaneously -- ie., a "home" task that is also "low energy," in my little example. I agree that's really overkill.

All I want is to be able to pull up a list of tasks that I can complete at "home" and have that list contain every task that I can complete at home. I don't want to have to check multiple context lists -- I just want to see my list of things I can do at home.

But there are only two ways to accomplish that:

1. One way to accomplish it -- what I do now, in fact -- is to assign every task that I can do at home to "home." Works ok, but the downside is that I can't use contexts like "low energy" or whatever, because some of those tasks could also be completed at home (and some not), and so if I give them one of those alternative contexts, then they no longer show up on my "home" list.

(And creating a perspective that shows the union of "home" and "low energy" does not solve the problem, because some "low energy" tasks are NOT home tasks, so the union list is overinclusive.)

2. The other way to accomplish it -- which OF does not currently support -- is to simply allow multiple tags. That way, I can tag all of those items with the "home" tag AND also give them whatever other tags I think might be useful for me. The point is not that I would search for items containing both tags at once (overkill), but rather that searching for either tag by itself would give me a complete list.

Last edited by Stargazer; 2011-10-05 at 08:08 AM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedallen View Post
I've seen comments which seem to indicate that if one were to refine the use of contexts one wouldn't need tags to create a second context. For some, perhaps tags might be used as a context but it can also be used to collect similar actions where there is a context that is generally more useful
Absolutely. This thread started with contexts, which is where my comments were focussed, but multiple tags are useful for lots of other things as well. One example that comes up a lot for me is that I frequently get interrupted in the middle of completing a task and cannot immediately come back to it. I would love to have a "half-finished" tag I could slap on the task WITHOUT having to change anything else about where I've slotted the task into my system. That way, I could quickly find tasks that are already started so that I could wrap them up. I could use "flag" for this, but I already use "flag" for something else.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stargazer View Post
... In my example, "change air filter" is given the "low energy" context -- and since mutliple contexts are not allowed, it is NOT given the "home" context. ...
For me, this failure would be due to misplacing the context for the action. The specific activity you present is in my mind constrained externally far more by its location than by its outcome/energy.

Put another way ... in my specific set of contexts, location trumps all others when location is an absolute specifier for the action. In your example, I cannot change the air filter anywhere but @home, regardless of how much energy and time I might have. Of course, no one chains me to my desk at work, and I _could_ in principle get up now, drive home, change the air filter, and drive back to work. That is however rather silly. So, for me, this task is by no means Low Energy compared to @Home.

After that, my "Waiting For" context follows. Any task that is someone elses to do is a "Waiting For". Again, try as hard as I might, I cannot collect the budget numbers from last years program review when those numbers are only accessible by the accounting department.

Anything not fitting the above is at my discretion to set in context. That is where I use the outcome/energy contexts. I can call the contractor at my father's house anywhere and anytime I choose. So, the context for that action is based on where that action fits as an outcome/energy decision in my project "Renovate Father's House".

In an inverse consideration, I wonder if, while sitting at your office without the boss around, you pull up your Low Energy context and are fully pleased to see the "Change Air Filter" task appear on your list of possible actions.

--
JJW
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stargazer View Post
I could not agree more, but this logic points *toward* multiple contexts, not against.
I think it depends on the approach here. Approach A: Set every conceivable context/tag on a task at its inception, and then, at event time, select through filters and have a computer program spit out the "best task to do now". Approach B: Set one primary context on a task at its inception, and then decide for yourself at event time what fits best to do in light of the various other considerations.

I find that Approach B works far better for me. You seem to have a stronger preference toward Approach A. Nothing wrong with that (though Approach A does seem to me to involve a bit more energy in thinking at both ends -- inception and event). What you are finding now is, OF is limited in allowing you to do type A approaches.

At this point then, perhaps a feature request to OG would be in order. I have put in one for tags -- not because I want to do Approach A, rather because when I file away my completed actions for my activities reports or project wrap-ups, I would have a significant benefit in being able to filter projects, groups, and actions by tags.

--
JJW
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stargazer View Post

2. The other way to accomplish it -- which OF does not currently support -- is to simply allow multiple tags. That way, I can tag all of those items with the "home" tag AND also give them whatever other tags I think might be useful for me. The point is not that I would search for items containing both tags at once (overkill), but rather that searching for either tag by itself would give me a complete list.
Did you consider context trees? I have @home with sub contexts "MBP" for example. Not a lot of those, but that gives me exactly what I need in terms of a more granular control of my @home-stuff. And as mentioned by others, you can cmd+click on multiple contexts (I combine "Assigned To : (Names)" and "Contacts : (Names)" for example) and save them as perspectives.

Tagging was my main reason for giving up on Things, it makes me overanalysing. Through tips around this forum and some excellent scripts I have managed to work around the very few drawbacks I can think of lacking multiple contexts/tags.

Having worked a bit with databases myself I can share one thing I learnt: Tags belong in free form databases, they will never work well in a structured matrix like that of OF. Although you indicate your needs for tags are linked to your personal preferences rather than professional needs, I think you should really consider one of the three following, either as a replacement or in addition to OF: a) a proper project management tool b) a relational database tool with advanced filtering possibilities or c) A free form database tool. Trying to force OF or any other GTD-software into the world of advanced project management or analytical task approach will corrupt the underlying concept, in my view. What you ask for above is a huge task for any developer and requires answers to a lot of questions like the obvious first three:

- How would you suggest it should look when you see your "low energy"-list in terms of columns?

- How would you sort tasks to identify only those that meet the combination of @home AND "low energy" in this view you envisage; would there not be (possibly) hundreds of task NOT meeting exactly the two criteria you give?

- What is your answer to the technological-philosophical issue: Is a context and a tag really the same thing? (They are often distinguished as a context being pragmatic/fixed and a tag being analytical/relative. Cf. the distinction of structured data and free form databases)

To me, it sounds difficult to achieve multiple contexts without the introduction of advanced filtering and analytical procedure - again, back to complex ad hoc queries à la Things OR towards a relational database setup that allows for preset advanced filters. Personally, I wish for neither.

In my view, your only chance would be to provide Omni's developers with sketches and elaborated illustrations of your ideas and needs - and I am certain they would read through it.

Good luck whatever you choose!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrJJWMac View Post
So why not move those relevant @office contexts to a ☼screening context? It seems you would be more productive working from the latter context than from the former, especially if you know that screening is always an office-done task anyway.

--
JJW
I have 4 or 5 of these fairly short but mandatory tasks for each project. So I would really have to create multiple of these limited contexts and would then have to be checking several separate contexts to find next actions.

My feeling is that it would tend to cause me to fail to do the task rather than do it more efficiently. This would be a task that takes about 5 minutes out of a project that will last between 2 weeks and 3 months. I think what would end up happening is that I would be checking a context with no next actions frequently just to be sure that I didn't miss any screenings.

I would suspect that the most time I end up spending on this particular task for all projects is about 20 minutes a month. There is a lot of wasted time consisting of opening my favorites menu, selecting the correct link, typing a password and user name then doing the search. So being able to call a tag to see if I can run any more searches now that I have the tool loaded would significantly makenlife easier
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arild View Post
Did you consider context trees? I have @home with sub contexts "MBP" for example. Not a lot of those, but that gives me exactly what I need in terms of a more granular control of my @home-stuff. And as mentioned by others, you can cmd+click on multiple contexts (I combine "Assigned To : (Names)" and "Contacts : (Names)" for example) and save them as perspectives. !
Yes, and these are helpful in some cases. I have an "errands" context, for example, and then a couple of sub-contexts underneath for particular stores. This is helpful since it allows me to see all errands or just errands particular to a store.

But it doesn't actually resolve the issue that you can really on set contexts efficiently along a single dimension, because the subcategories by definition cannot apply across different contexts. They let you slice the loaf into thinner slices, but you can't cut in a different direction, if you see what I mean.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arild View Post

To me, it sounds difficult to achieve multiple contexts without the introduction of advanced filtering and analytical procedure - again, back to complex ad hoc queries à la Things OR towards a relational database setup that allows for preset advanced filters. Personally, I wish for neither.
You may be right -- I'm certainly not a programmer and don't really know what's involved on the technical side. In terms of user experience, though, I'm not looking for anything all that ambitious. For that matter, I could wring a lot of value out of something as simple as having a set of 10 colored flags to assign instead of just one. OTOH, I realize that OF already has a bit of a reputation as being complicated for new users to use, so I recognize that trade-offs between usability and power have to be made.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedallen View Post
... I would really have to create multiple of these limited contexts and would then have to be checking several separate contexts to find next actions.

My feeling is that it would tend to cause me to fail to do the task rather than do it more efficiently....

... So being able to call a tag to see if I can run any more searches now that I have the tool loaded would significantly make life easier
This appears to be a matter of personal approach and is respected as such. That said, with the understanding I have, my approach would be different. FWIW, here is what I would consider ...

Such tasks would be marked in context ☼Screening. During a review of a Project, I would see a Next Action -- ☼Screening (is DUE). I would start that, and correspondingly call up the ☼Screening context list to see if any other such tasks are pending (/ DUE). I would handle them appropriately. I would subsequently ONLY go back to ☼Screening context when a review at a project level showed, my next action is a task that is again in that context. Otherwise, I would leave well enough alone and get about doing the other tasks on the project(s).

In other words, ☼Screening would not be a temptation call for frequent visits to see if "I need to go there now". Rather, it would be the notice that, when I am otherwise and/or required to be specifically active in that context (doing my screening), there is a list of other such tasks that might be done at the same time. I think of the context as a frame of mind or state of current action rather than a call to required actions.

Hope this gives room for thought if nothing else.

Thanks.

--
JJW
 
 


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