GTD contexts in an "always connected" world

[Lisa Stroyan]

I was reading a newsletter from David Allen of GTD about how it doesn't make sense to use ABC priorities, because they are always changing, and he suggested using Context (where you are) and energy levels instead (look through the task list and see what you are up for). It reminded me that my current use of Contexts is "broken" -- not working for me, and I thought I'd see if anyone else has creative ideas of how to revamp either Contexts or something else in my MLO setup to be more effective in a world in which computers are always available.

 

Currently I use Goal to narrow down tasks to how soon I want to make sure I look at them, but as it always happens with my system, Week has been collecting more and more tasks and everything else has been being ignored. (Is there a word for this?  When your tasks slip and get further into the background noise of life?). I use Starred to choose what I should focus on Today (ideally, "Starring" those tasks each morning, in reality I have way more Starred than I ever get done).

Yes, I know better Contexts won't solve all this, but I think it could help a little. The problem is, I'm almost always at my computer, in my house, with a phone right next to me, so @Computer, @Phone, @Home, don't help. Even my "HomeOutside" tasks are never picked because I happen to be outside -- they are chosen because I need to get outside and can do them while I'm there. @Errands and @Agendas are the only context that sort of works, though even with @Errands, since I haven't been disciplined enough to break down my tasks in advance, they often require prep work to do. (I do have an @ErrandPrep context that works well if I use it).

Oh, another context that works for me sometimes is "@Quick" - because sometimes in the morning I can go through them all at once (most are repeating tasks that I do daily).  I do use @Routine to have separate lists to look at non-routine and routine tasks (drink water, make dinner, etc).

I guess what I'm looking for is a way to group tasks for either a better way to choose "what to do next" or some way that helps get efficiency. Maybe I'll try something based on how much energy tasks take so I can get back into the idea of doing "high energy tasks" at "high energy times".  

Thanks for any thoughts you have!

--
Lisa

---

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

[40-02]

Lisa, Thanks for sharing your story. 

Contexts doesn't work for me neither. The only context that i use is @Control - things that should be done without me. 

This context is set to appear not in todo list. 

And I have set auto formatting rules to greylight tasks with @Control context. 

I found that use of importance and urgency is a bit complicated for me. I use this parameters very rare. That's why I use stars for tasks - as the marker for things that must be done at first. 

This is the first rule of sorting todo list - starred. If a task has a star - it automatically appears on top of my todo list. 

[bird...@gmail.com]

Hi Lisa:

You're describing a situation that is somewhat like mine.

Here's what I do to maximize MLO for sorting through tasks that are urgent, while staying focused on big picture projects. This is not perfect, but I am comfortable with it.

1. Sort clients into their own top level category in Outline.
2. Create the following Contexts:
   
   Today
   Focus
   Waiting For 
   AllSet
   
   
3. Each day, I go through my most important projects and toss the most important tasks into the Today Context.
   
   
4. Go go to the To-Do tab where I have a Context View that contains, TODAY, FOCUS, WAITING FOR ALLSET.
   
   
5. I manually sort all my Today tasks and then start working through them, each time double clicking which takes me back to the bigger picture project the task is a member of. 
   
   
6. For tasks that I work through, until they have to be handed off  to someone else (for approval, for their part etc) I change the contact from Today, to Waiting For. I wait until the other person has completed their piece of it and then put it back into Today.
   
   
7. If I complete my entire responsibility for a task, I change the context to AllSet. The reason I do that instead of check it off as complete is the 9 times out of 10, the task is part of  a much large project that is not yet completed. 
   
   
8. You might ask, what is FOCUS for? I use that when there are so many to-do items that I have to drill down and focus only what is most urgent. In those cases, I assign the context Focus and then I go to that context.

I really don't know if I'm missing some functionality of MLO that would make all of this easier. But example, I used to use the project setting, but I sort of drift away from that because it was too restrictive for "spur of the moment" changes of plan.

I hope this helps.

Eddie

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group.
To post to this group, send email to mylifeo...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mylifeorganiz...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized?hl=en.

[Dave Cunningham]

Hi, Lisa.  Yep, I had a similar reaction.  I work at home like you and have the same issues.  I do use contexts, but in a limited way, and I use some outside methods of helping me define priorities.  There are two main pieces to what I do:

 

MLO:  I have contexts for Work, Personal, Personal--Work Hours, Waiting, and Errands.  I think the meanings of these are probably clear for you, and do I force everything into just one context.  I find that more contexts or contexts any narrower than this cause me to get stuck in the MLO process and not the doing.  I do have a couple of Someday contexts, but I find that I don't really use it.

 

Outside MLO:  I create a weekly commitments list every Sunday night that has the 6-10 things I want to get done during the week.  It's a mix of work and personal actions, and the effort required for each will vary.  I select three that are must-dos for the week; the remainder are still commitments for the week, but not the top priority.  Everything on the list gets tagged as "weekly" goals in MLO and receive priority that way.   I have a weekly set of tasks to grade the previous week's commitments (my average is 60% of the tasks are accomplished, and I'm currently at 2.5 of 3 for the must-do list for the year), comment on how the week went, create the coming week's commitments, and update MLO to reflect this.  I have another set of tasks to check the list and adjust tasks each day.

 

For me this combination gives enough structure without letting me fall into too much process.  I track the commitments in an Excel file, and that weekly review helps me see where I can do a better job or where I should congratulate myself.  It also shows where I'm consistently weak...like in doing David Allen's weekly review, which is usually one of my missed commitments.

 

It IS hard to avoid the Weekly tasks getting the attention.  The key to making this process work for me is that I have to hold the weekly list to 6 - 10 things, and even 10 is pushing it.  Doesn't mean I don't get others done, but those 10 will get the attention.  I find that more contexts or special "do when I'm feeling this way" contexts just don't work for me - they require too much monitoring and thinking.

 

Hope that's a bit useful.

 

Dave Cunningham

[João Melo]

Hi there,

I faced that challenge as well. Today i'm using sort of context dimensions to mount my todo. Here are them in english:

portfolio	energy demand	specif hour	local & tolls	escape rule	money
*work	%concentration	!opening the day	#street	&critical	$identified
*personal	%distraction	!need comercy time	#home	&oportunist	$authorized
	%renew	!closing the day	#reading
	%stress

 
a task don't need a value for every dimension. a simple work tasks only have the *work, but if it has to be done with someone else and take a lot of energy, it will be *work, %concentration and !need comercy time (!comercial).

than i did a week budget planning the typical evolution i want for my week. i saved specific todos (about 10) and a sandbox easealy  dynamic combining.

bye,
joão melo

[Luc Poitras]

If I may give my 2 cents here!

I have struggled a long time too with all this priority stuff. 

And for my part, what has helped me a lot is these two things:

First, I integrated the "Pomodoro technique" a while back in my personal management system, and it's been relatively helpful for me. Just Google "pomodoro technique" and you'll understand... 

And secondly, I have tweaked the way I use contexts to use them more wisely.

So here is an example of what I do: (considering you know now what the pomodoro technique is!)

- I am engaged in doing one pomodoro of domestic chores every day, so that's 25 minutes of doing things like:

- Cleaning the cat's litter;

- Fold the towels and store clothes from the dryer;

- putting water on this and that plant;

- etc.

I actually have this pomodoro in my kitchen that I use, and once the 25 minutes is gone, it's finito, finish, the end, I stop doing domestic chores. 

So, after I've taken a break by doing anything I desire, I can just start another pomodoro that I have engaged myself to do every day, like "personal development" studies. For example here, I listen every day to "Steve Job's vision of the world" on You Tube (inspires me a lot; you can google it easely)...and I read inspiring quotes in this daily "personal development" pomodoro. 

Now, what about the contexts in all this? For me, context is not just where I am at the moment (place context), but also the kind of work I want to do in this or that moment (situational context).

I tried to mix both place and situational contexts, and put at the same time in there the pomodoro technique, so it looks something like this:

Home/ My daily (or today's) domestic chores pomodoro;

Home/ Today's landscaping pomodoro (if it rains, I just skip it for that day);

Home office/ bill payments pomodoro (this context is open 24 hours each Thursday);

Anywhere/ personal study pomodoro.

In this context for example, I have "daily recurrence" for my "Steve Jobs vision of the world; but I have quotes that are weekly recurrence (I just find it's enough to read this or that on a weekly basis.

...I hope you get the point; I skipped some details here, not to get too heavy!

And hope it helps anyone!

This is the kind of post I like!

Thanks Lisa for asking this!

Luc

Envoyé de mon iPhone

[Mikeaja]

Good to hear I'm not the only one who is not using the standard contexts.  I should say though, I'm not a huge GTD fan. I mean, the principles are logical, but in my opinion it is just a way of defining doing stuff in a sensible order, and that is different for everyone. I have seen so many people saying 'I do GTD like this......' and what they describe is completely different to what it actually is. Clever David Allen for trademarking 'do stuff'!

Like others here, I'm connected all the time. I personally follow the 'Important' and 'Urgent' principles (the 4-block chart if you haven't seen it). Plus for me knowing the goal is extremely important - why do I need to do this (for example, sometimes I just need to focus everything on money tasks).

The suggestion with GTD that we shouldn't set priorities, yet it prescribes 'Next Actions' is also a bit contradictory for me. It's really just the same thing. The difference, in my opinion, is just how a particular app or software handles it (for example, MLO has the cool calculation to determine what is most important, Viira blackberry app simply lets you move stuff up and down with the volume controls).  This was actually one of the big selling points of MLO - it works out priorities on the fly, based on real factors.

Even in this thread, I don't think there is a single person actually doing GTD............. And yet everyone sounds like they are very on top of there task focus.

[Lisa Stroyan]

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts on Contexts. I'm finally getting around to really sitting down and analyzing all the possibilities, and this all helps.

I really do want to use Contexts in some way that actually helps me work. (And for me my system also has to sync to Android).  I've switched over to a combination of goals and starred for my prioritization (though I'm drawn to the idea of focusing more on the Week than on each day, as Dave C discusses; I'll reply to that email separately though). 

Mikeaja, I think you have a good point; I can draw from GTD what I want, and discard the rest.  What I find is that tweaking my system in itself is one of my productivity techniques -- it keeps it fresh even without necessarily adding functionality.

João -- can you tell me more about your "energy demand" contexts and how they help?  I don't think I can do too many "types" of contexts because the Android app's filtering is a bit basic, but that one calls to me and I might combine it with Luc's Pomodoro suggestion.

Luc, I think the Pomodoro technique could really help me and I really appreciate the suggestion.   I tend to be a "yak shaver" ( http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/Y/yak-shaving.html ) -- yesterday I reconfigured my phone's dialing system when I was really supposed to be making a quick call for a haircut appointment!   I downloaded the free book from http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/book.html  but haven't read it, only the quick reference sheet. I like that it can be compatible with other systems too.

If I understand you correctly, you have contexts that correspond to what Pomodoro you group them into?  So "cleaning cat's litter" and "watering plants" would have the same context?  I also think Pomodoro might be good for grouping tasks into energy demands, that perhaps this could be built into the Pomodoro Contexts too, maybe that is what you are saying?  After all, Home chores often have similar energy expenditures, Landscape has different ones, etc.

Can you tell me what naming system you use for your Pomodoro contexts?  If you have a bunch more than you listed (that are not work specific of course) I would love any ideas.

Also there are about two dozen Android pomodoro apps...I'm hoping I can find one that doesn't try to do what MLO does but just acts as the timer part..

Thanks again, everyone :)

At 12:10 PM 5/11/2012, you wrote:

I actually have this pomodoro in my kitchen that I use, and once the 25 minutes is gone, it's finito, finish, the end, I stop doing domestic chores.

So, after I've taken a break by doing anything I desire, I can just start another pomodoro that I have engaged myself to do every day, like "personal development" studies. For example here, I listen every day to "Steve Job's vision of the world" on You Tube (inspires me a lot; you can google it easely)...and I read inspiring quotes in this daily "personal development" pomodoro.

Now, what about the contexts in all this? For me, context is not just where I am at the moment (place context), but also the kind of work I want to do in this or that moment (situational context).
I tried to mix both place and situational contexts, and put at the same time in there the pomodoro technique, so it looks something like this:

Home/ My daily (or today's) domestic chores pomodoro;

Home/ Today's landscaping pomodoro (if it rains, I just skip it for that day);

Home office/ bill payments pomodoro (this context is open 24 hours each Thursday);

Anywhere/ personal study pomodoro.
In this context for example, I have "daily recurrence" for my "Steve Jobs vision of the world; but I have quotes that are weekly recurrence (I just find it's enough to read this or that on a weekly basis.

...I hope you get the point; I skipped some details here, not to get too heavy!

And hope it helps anyone!

[Lisa Stroyan]

Hi Dave,

I'm putting this in a different mail because it's not really about Contexts...

At 05:10 PM 5/9/2012, you wrote:

Outside MLO:  I create a weekly commitments list every Sunday night that has the 6-10 things I want to get done during the week.  It's a mix of work and personal actions, and the effort required for each will vary.  I select three that are must-dos for the week; the remainder are still commitments for the week, but not the top priority.  Everything on the list gets tagged as "weekly" goals in MLO and receive priority that way.

I'm trying to think if there is a way I could integrate this into what I do now. At first I was using Weekly Goal to be all of my short-term tasks including daily tasks, and then I would Star the ones that I should work on today. But honestly...many of them stay on my "daily" list for a lot of the week.  I've been playing around with taking out all the dailies from the Goals lists.

I really wish MLO had a Daily Goal separate from Starred. But I wonder if this might work and would love any comments you have:
- Weekly Goals: Short term horizon tasks, opportunistic
- Weekly Starred Goals: My "weekly commitments" list
- Starred Tasks that are not goals: My tasks for the day

Of course that means that Weekly Starred Goals will show up on every daily list, but maybe that's a good thing, and it's not so different than I do now.

 It IS hard to avoid the Weekly tasks getting the attention.  The key to making this process work for me is that I have to hold the weekly list to 6 - 10 things, and even 10 is pushing it.  Doesn't mean I don't get others done, but those 10 will get the attention.  I find that more contexts or special "do when I'm feeling this way" contexts just don't work for me - they require too much monitoring and thinking.

What granularity are your weekly tasks?  Can you tell me a bit more about what you mean by, "It IS hard to avoid the Weekly tasks getting the attention."?   What do you want to give your attention to, instead?  My issue seems to be the opposite, it's hard to avoid the routine, catchup-but-not-really-what-I-want-to-work-on, tasks getting all the attention. Or is this the category that your weekly tasks fall into?  We might be talking about the same thing.

 
Hope that's a bit useful.

It is -- thanks!

[Rob]

Lisa, to clarify the Pomodoro technique: you treat the pomodoro as an atomic unit of time (i.e., it cannot be broken down into smaller chunks).  This is usually 25 minutes, but you can choose whatever length works best for you.  If you have several small tasks that don't take much time, you can lump them together into a single pomodoro, so you aren't just sitting there waiting for the timer to go off.  You can also use more than one pomodoro to complete a task if it can't be completed in just one pomodoro, but the idea is to estimate up front how many 25-minute increments will be required to complete the task, so you don't end up setting unrealistic goals (at first, most of your estimates will be wrong, but they'll get better over time).  One purpose of the timer is to keep you on track, and help prevent you from spending hours on one thing and starving the rest of your tasks.

[Lisa Stroyan]

Thanks, Rob. That does help. I'm awful at estimating up front, so I
*should* do that though I think at first I'll try the "do nothing else
but that task and stop at 25 minutes".

Are you supposed to switch tasks each 25 minutes, or just take a break?

Do you integrate it with MLO, and if so can you share how?

By the way, is this what that "alternative complete" function is for,
or was that something else?

I think I'll soon go do a Pomodoro worth of browsing the book and
looking for a good Pomodoro Android app :)

Thanks!

Lisa

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "MyLifeOrganized" group.

> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/mylifeorganized/-/U8BUmj1smbwJ.

>
> To post to this group, send email to mylifeo...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> mylifeorganiz...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized?hl=en.

--

[Lisa Stroyan]

I answered one of my own questions with a quick read of the book --
you keep going on a task until it is finished. I think this will be a
very good technique for me, though I don't follow anything 100%
anyway.

Lisa

[Rob]

Edit: just saw your latest post, but I'll go ahead and post this anyway...

No problem.  If you were able to complete the task after 25 minutes, you take a 5-minute break and move onto the next task.  If the task is longer than 1 pomodoro, you just take a break at 25 minutes and resume the same task after your break.  Of course, during any of your breaks you can also reassess your task sheet and decide that maybe you're not going to get that task done today because it's taking a lot longer than expected.

I'm not sure I remember anything about "alternative complete" but I do know that if your task takes longer than your estimate, you track how many additional pomodori it takes.  The only way you can improve your estimates is by making bad estimates and seeing how far off you were--so even if it's a shot in the dark, go ahead and make the estimate.  It also helps you recognize that you can only fit so many tasks into your schedule, so you don't make any unrealistic commitments.

When you're just starting out, I wouldn't even bother with a Pomodoro app, aside from the timer feature.  Just print off the task sheets and learn how to use those from the book.  Once you've got the hang of it, you can find an app that works better. Also, if you read the pomodoro book, make sure you read the entire thing (it's pretty short, anyway).  The author starts off by making and then reinforcing some really rigid rules which are sometimes really impractical, and it isn't until you start getting closer to the end that you learn how to appropriately bend or modify the rules.  For example, it isn't explained until later in the book that not all pomodori must be the same length.  You might decide that it works better for you if your morning pomodori are each only 14 minutes long, while your afternoon ones are 55 minutes long.

To be honest, I've been bad about keeping up with MLO lately because I swapped phones with my wife and no longer have a smartphone, but it seemed to work pretty well when I would review my task lists in MLO and copy the tasks for that day onto a pomodoro task sheet.

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:57:14 AM UTC-5, Lisa S wrote:

Thanks, Rob. That does help. I'm awful at estimating up front, so I
*should* do that though I think at first I'll try the "do nothing else
but that task and stop at 25 minutes".

Are you supposed to switch tasks each 25 minutes, or just take a break?

Do you integrate it with MLO, and if so can you share how?

By the way, is this what that "alternative complete" function is for,
or was that something else?

I think I'll soon go do a Pomodoro worth of browsing the book and
looking for a good Pomodoro Android app :)

Thanks!

Lisa

[João Melo]

hi lisa,

i use it for:
- pull tasks that have a strong intelectual (or concentration) demand to the beggining of the week. it is when i most productive in this kind of work.
- push stressful tasks (dificult negotiation, meetings with trolls)  to the end of the week, this tasks tend to compromise my motivation in the following days, so i put then close to my weekend recharge.
- sometimes i say f%$k to everything and pick a task only for distraction, like for a hour or so :)

but most of my tasks don't have any of those contexts set. in general they are normal things that have to be done.

abraço,
joão

[Lisa Stroyan]

Thanks, that helps. I had never thought of varying energy levels through the week, only through the day. I'll have to think about this and watch how my week goes next week.

Lisa

--
Sent from my phone.
Reply directly to me at mailto:lstr...@gmail.com

[Luc Poitras]

Sorry for the delay Lisa in answering you're question a couple of weeks ago about me giving you more ideas in which I use the contexts in combination with the pomodoro technique. To be honest, I still struggle with this, and I'm stubborn enough not to let go of the bone until I find the wright approach. As soon as I have enough meat around that bone, I will let you know.

But then again, if I keep on attacking the bone in a stubborn way, there will never be enough meat to share!!! (ha! ha! ha!)

Started jogging again...helps me letting go!

Luc

Envoyé de mon iPhone

--

[Lisa Stroyan]

No worries, thanks!

What I ended up trying is Contexts that have a specific focus to them -- so instead of locations in my world, I use locations in my head :)  For example, "Selfcare" in the morning...does NOT include cleaning the kitchen, checking facebook, even pulling dinner out of the freezer. "Daily planning" may involve a quick email check to see if someone has gotten back to me, but does not include responding to MLO emails or checking on the comments to my facebook post :)

I broke up my @Computer context into similar contexts with the main things I really need to focus on.

We'll see how long I stick with it though.

Lisa

--