2 GTD questions: '@' and '!' contexts, and what looks like lists of contexts under AoFs

[rlw]

Hi Everyone,

I'm returning to MLO after briefly trying it several years ago. I've
read both GTD and Covey's book and thought I had a basic understanding
of both. I have two questions:

What is the thought behind making a couple of contexts/places '!'
versus '@'?

What is the thought process which has some MLO GTD templates have AoFs
with tree structures of subtasks and projects, and other templates
that have top-level AoFs and then have subtasks of @contexts/places,
and one project subtask? And all the AoFs have the same list of
@contexts/places in each one?

I thought I wanted to start with the 'GTD with Covey roles' template,
but I'm stumped on understanding why there are all these @context
subtasks under each Covey role. I tried looking at the
GTDZoom4Focus(?) template for insight, but it doesn't have this
'feature' explained.

TIA,
-Robert

ps. I was really hoping the wiki would explain it all....

[Rob]

The reason for different prefixes is that you can assign multiple contexts to a single item in MLO--so you can think of them more like tags. Once you start using contexts as tags, it doesn't take long before you have a list of 30+. At that point, it's necessary to use different prefixes just to keep your contexts organized.

I use the @ contexts to define locations. So if I'm @Home, I can set my Active Context to @Home, and see only tasks that can be completed when I'm at home.

For me, ! is used simply for lists--!ReadingList, !Reference, !Someday, !WaitingFor/Delegated

I also have added some other specialized prefixes:

:) for people. This works great if you need to keep track of who needs to help you with a task, or if you've delegated a task to a particular person.

$ for finances. $Checkbook if, for example, I need to write a check for something, $CreditCard if I charged a work expense on my personal card and need reimbursement, or if I need to call the credit card company to inquire about a strange charge.

If I have a context that includes other contexts, I double-up the prefix. For example, @@HardwareStore includes both @Lowes and @AceHardware. (Note: I actually couldn't get the "included contexts" feature to work as expected, so I set up my outline to make it work as expected. I'll write more on that in a follow-up post.)

[Rob]

What is the thought process which has some MLO GTD templates have AoFs 
with tree structures of subtasks and projects, and other templates 
that have top-level AoFs and then have subtasks of @contexts/places, 
and one project subtask? And all the AoFs have the same list of 
@contexts/places in each one?

I think this is mostly a demonstration of how you can slice & dice your tasks any way you want. For example, you could zoom in on your "Work" AoF in the outline or you could filter by the "@Work" context. But there could also be some cases in which you zoom in and filter--for example, if you're planning on going to the football game with Tom from work, but you also interact with a lot of people at work. Zooming in on the "Work" AoF will filter out the football game, and filtering by the ":) Tom" context will filter out all the other people you need to talk to, so you now just have a list of work tasks to review with Tom.

Now, getting back to my @@HardwareStore, @Lowes, and @AceHardware contexts from my previous post...

I have a HardwareStore folder that automatically assigns the @@Errands, @@HardwareStore, @Lowes, and @AceHardware contexts. Under that, I have AceHardware and Lowes folders. The AceHardware folder that assigns @@Errands, @@HardwareStore, and @AceHardware. The Lowes folder assigns @@Errands, @@HardwareStore, and @AceHardware.

Now if I'm at AceHardware, I can set @AceHardware as the active context and select the "Active by Context" view on my Android phone, and any task that was added to the HardwareStore or AceHardware folder will show up. Similarly, if I set @@Errands, it will show me all the stuff I need to pick up at various stores, along with whatever other errands I need to run. I also used the desktop version of MLO to set the "open hours" for various stores, so if I'm out running errands and Ace is closed, the things that specifically need to be done at Ace (like using that $5 AceRewards coupon or buying more paint for the living room)  won't show up.

The Android app can show you tasks within a certain GPS radius, which seems like it would really be handy if you're out running errands and want to do things nearby. I haven't used that feature much, but I've played with it.

Hope this helps...

[rlw]

On Jan 26, 10:02 pm, Rob <rcz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > What is the thought process which has some MLO GTD templates have AoFs
> > with tree structures of subtasks and projects, and other templates
> > that have top-level AoFs and then have subtasks of @contexts/places,
> > and one project subtask? And all the AoFs have the same list of
> > @contexts/places in each one?
>
> I think this is mostly a demonstration of how you can slice & dice your
> tasks any way you want. For example, you could zoom in on your "Work" AoF
> in the outline or you could filter by the "@Work" context. But there could
> also be some cases in which you zoom in and filter--for example, if you're
> planning on going to the football game with Tom from work, but you also
> interact with a lot of people at work. Zooming in on the "Work" AoF will
> filter out the football game, and filtering by the ":) Tom" context will
> filter out all the other people you need to talk to, so you now just have a
> list of work tasks to review with Tom.
>

I'm not seeing how having contexts as specializations of an AoF
relates to this scenario. There must be more to it, given that more
than a few GTD templates use it. But thanks!

> The Android app can show you tasks within a certain GPS radius, which seems
> like it would really be handy if you're out running errands and want to do
> things nearby. I haven't used that feature much, but I've played with it.
>

This sounds really cool! I'll have to see how it actually works.

> Hope this helps...

Yes, it does! I'd like to hear from a few more people, and/or get
pointers to other GTD websites/tools that use the same '@' and '!'
convention, and list contexts like these.

[Lisa Stroyan]

I'm not sure what the thinking with the templates is, but I'm guessing
most people use them for ideas and then create or at least fine-tune
their own system. If you are going to use the Android app, I would
suggest you become familiar with it before you make final decisions on
your structure and use-model, since some things are not as flexible on
Android.

I have two kinds of contexts right now but it's really cluttered and I
need to rework them. Generally I have @ contexts for the traditional
meaning of contexts, and leave off the @ otherwise. For example, I
have a context called "Routine" which I use sometimes to filter out or
focus on my routine tasks.

I find it to cumbersome to have my AoFs (Areas of Focus for anyone
trying to follow) as both contexts and tree-structure, and because
sometimes I move tasks around in the tree, I don't want them to start
"collecting" inherited contexts so I only use the tree structure for
AoFs.

However, I did change recently to have each of my AoFs be both a
folder and a Project. I don't use MLO Projects nearly as much as I
"should" for GTD...I just don't think my brain works that way -- to me
a project is something bigger than breaking down an amorphous task
into subtasks. By having them be Projects, I effectively have a view
on Android that is "tasks by AoF and major project".

For a while I had a @Project context, which was my way of indicating
that a task needed to be broken down into actions. Maybe @Process
would be a better name. I may go back to that if I can discipline
myself. One reason this worked well is that if I had broken the task
down into actions, the @Project parent wouldn't show up as active, but
it would if I hadn't acted on it yet.

My advice is, have fun finding exactly what works for you. I find it
works well for me to have my system be dynamic, and changing how I
organize / process / use features every so often. It keeps my system
fresh and new (kind of like buying new organizational supplies :), so
I tweak it/ rearrange it / etc. That I can do that, is one of the
things I love about MLO.

Lisa

On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 9:50 AM, rlw <rlwi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Jan 26, 10:02 pm, Rob <rcz...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > What is the thought process which has some MLO GTD templates have AoFs
>> > with tree structures of subtasks and projects, and other templates
>> > that have top-level AoFs and then have subtasks of @contexts/places,
>> > and one project subtask? And all the AoFs have the same list of
>> > @contexts/places in each one?
>>
>> I think this is mostly a demonstration of how you can slice & dice your
>> tasks any way you want.

--
Lisa

________________________________
Lisa Stroyan, mailto: lstr...@gmail.com