[chinarut]

I was creating my "on-the-go" context lists and notice that unless you put the "Waiting" context in the "Active" state - it doesn't show up in the context pane for printing.

My best guess this is done for "information hiding" purposes - some people are not looking to get distracted by things that are waiting as any dropped balls will get caught in a weekly review.

is this a correct assumption in regards to its design?

is there a different way I can achieve seeing the items that are Waiting for the purpose of printing this list out without "unholding" the context?

I have a similar issue with my "Calendar" context (next actions that are on my calendar) - I don't really need to see these but it is useful on-the-go and during my weekly review.

[curt.clifton]

Can you get what you want by switching between the Active and Remaining settings in the left-hand lozenge of the view bar? If so, you could save a perspective for printing and a different one for interactive use.

[chinarut]

hmm - i thought that might work but the issue is as soon as you go to "remaining" you get other items that are not next actions.

I am wondering if there is another purpose to holding the next action context other than to get it out of one's view.

it is "technically" an active context with a set of next actions so it's a bit misleading (IMHO)

[Brian]

Correct - items in an on-hold context are by definition not considered to be available; you can't act on them.

The solution, as Curt suggested, would be to show 'remaining' actions instead of available ones.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by Brian

Correct - items in an on-hold context are by definition not considered to be available; you can't act on them.

The solution, as Curt suggested, would be to show 'remaining' actions instead of available ones.

The problem with Curt's suggestion, if I'm reading all the postings correctly, is that chinarut is trying to do this in Context mode, where it won't show up even with Remaining as the context selector unless the Waiting context is taken off Hold.

Maybe you could print both "pieces" to PDF and join them before spraying them all over some innocent tree?

[Brian]

If I'm keeping everything straight, I think it should work - I've got my view bar set up like this:

[Remaining] | [Context] [Project] [Remaining] [Any] [Any]

The on-hold context I use for testing is visible, and my 'testing testing 123' action inside that context is visible.

[chinarut]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

trying to do this in Context mode, where it won't show up even with Remaining as the context selector unless the Waiting context is taken off Hold.

this is correct. my workaround is to "unhold" the Waiting context. when I print out my context lists - I can follow up on items I've delegated while on the run.

that said, I think this is a matter of semantics. It would be good to hear whether David Allen actually calls actions in the context of "waiting" a next action or not.

in other words, if I have a project to get my housing deposit back and I am waiting for my landload to get back to me about it, my next action (or lack of action which I now understand why it is debatable) is to wait for my landlord. it will become a next action for me at the point I feel my landlord has dropped the ball or I feel some more accountability over the issue.

It would be nice to not have to fumble around with the held/not held state of the context and just have a view/perspective where I don't see my waiting list and a view where I see everything (for next actions on the go and weekly reviews)

[brianogilvie]

I keep my waiting context active but I put it at the bottom of my context list. I scan it every day or two to see whether there's anything in there I need to move on. I also use the start date liberally, as a tickler, for things I'm waiting on. To take your example, I might give my landlord a week to get back to me, so I'll enter "1w" in the start date field. When I do that consistently, the waiting context (with my view bar set to show available actions) only shows things that might need attention.

[chinarut]

Originally Posted by brianogilvie

I keep my waiting context active but I put it at the bottom of my context list.

this is definitely consistent with my implementation and has been doing the trick quite well!