[defilmj]

I am a MD of network engineering. I use GTD to increase my own productivity.
I have been doing it on Outlook and 3x5's for years. Now I am moving to OF
1.5 on my MBP and 1.1 on my IP3G. Moving project tasks over is easy. The problem I have is assigning contexts. When reviewing cards I reviewed the Inbox, adding tasks to projects. When deciding what to do, I look at all my projects and see next task on the list I can do at the moment.

I never thought of that at work: with computer: at work: next meeting I have on this project ??

I suppose what I fear is making my contexts so ridgid, or less (where everything just goes in to a "Projects" context is not useful at all. I fear I may get all the project data in to place, but then 'how to set up the contexts" is going to hit me and I will have a ton of work to do.

I don't believe I am the only one to have hit this stumbling block.
This would be so much work, I am not too proud to ask.... Many people deal
with multiple projects at one time. Would anyone care to share their
context list that has been through the experience of having too liberal
or too many contexts and has found the right level that works for them?

Because I doubt I would be so dissimilar that I would not benefit from
someone who has already gone through this time consuming process that I
believe is a learning experience. While each person I suspect is different,
largely I believe starting with a list of contexts that works for someone
that deals with multiple projects is going to leave me much better off than
the pain of learning from scratch.

Many thanks in advance!

Mark

[justin]

This is exactly what I'm struggling with too.

So far I have found that making a context for each person that I work with regularly is very helpful.

Also helpful is creating a context for each "mode" of work I'm in. Sometimes I'm deep into some MySQL work and am happy to move forward on a bunch of projects I have that need a MySQL step. Other times I'm working on our website in a Coda/BBEdit/Dreamweaver frame of mind. I like to group tasks by context like that too.

Finally, I've found it useful to group a few physical places such as Office, Home, Home Office, Branch A, Branch B, and Errands.

Every time I feel like contexts aren't working for me, I arrive at the same solution: I need to do a better job defining the task.

Unfortunately, this takes time, and that causes me to take shortcuts that only hamper the whole "trusted system" concept. I'm not giving up though.

Anyone else out there, please share your context tips. Thanks in advance.

- Justin

[malisa]

I've defined and redefined my contexts a few times. My problem is that I find that when I work on my computer, I prefer a 'flatter' list of contexts because I can very easily pick and choose the contexts I want to see together (command-click) and working on the iphone I prefer a more nested system. I started out more nested, then got away from the iphone and 'flattened' my contexts. With the 1.1 release, I'm back to using my iphone more and re-nested them. I can still do the command-click thing if my sidebar is expanded.

Another change I have made revolves around my 'desk' actions. Again, I think I had them split when I had a top level of contexts split into 'work' and 'home'. Then when I flattened the contexts, it didn't make much sense to have them split (because most of the desk-type items, even if they are work related, I can do at home. And it seemed artificial to have them separate when, if I was sitting at my desk I could just as easily do work-task-A or home-task-B. But in my re-nesting, I realized I always mentally choose which I'm going to do (a work task vs. a home task) and I'm happier with them split.

Just my two cents.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by malisa

I've defined and redefined my contexts a few times. My problem is that I find that when I work on my computer, I prefer a 'flatter' list of contexts because I can very easily pick and choose the contexts I want to see together (command-click) and working on the iphone I prefer a more nested system. I started out more nested, then got away from the iphone and 'flattened' my contexts. With the 1.1 release, I'm back to using my iphone more and re-nested them. I can still do the command-click thing if my sidebar is expanded.

Don't forget that you can use the perspectives mechanism to do the equivalent of your command-click action, assuming you have combinations that you use frequently. Nest them like you want them for the iPhone, and use a perspective for the desktop, giving you the best of each.

[convergent]

I've only been using OF for a week or two, and this is an area I will evolve over time. I am still using basically what was setup out of the box with a few additions. I first wanted to scale back to one "office" context, but decided I'd still with this for a while and maybe get some of the logic behind it.

What has helped me is setting up Perspectives that group my contexts for a mindset I'm in. I've also used the technique recorded in a couple of YouTube videos to create a "Do Today" Perspective and this is really helping me get better control over my time.

I think the real answer to your question lies in re-reading David Allen's book. I just skimmed back through the parts related to this topic a few days ago.

[curt.clifton]

Another useful criteria is whether you can immediately decide which context an action goes in. As Justin mentions, sometimes that difficulty is due to the task not being clearly defined. But sometimes the task is clear but you just have too many contexts to choose from. I've ultimately gravitated toward a fairly minimal set of contexts and find that works well. For me fewer contexts means quicker collection and processing and less time spent fiddling with the system.

[mr206]

@Justin Oh you've just helped me immensely! I can't believe I didn't think of it before, but the separation between "home" and "home office" makes a lot of sense, even if there isn't a *physical* separation in the locations. That also will help me with syncing OF to Ical via context instead of (as I wish it were) via project. Because "home" can sync to "personal" calendar and "home office" could sync to "work" calendar.

Brilliant! Thanks!