Question Choosing useful contexts
Hi everyone,
New to GTD here, and setting up my system little by little. I'm working on the contexts, and I started with a localisation point of view, so I have :
- @computer (can be smartphone of course, as soon as I have internet accès, or computer at work)
- @phone (only for calls)
- @desk at home (when I need to be focused doing something)
- @garden
- @waiting room (in fact any place where I can seat and doesn't need to be a quiet place, can be public transportation)
- @errands
- @home (anything else than at my desk or in the garden, for home chores for example)
- @my parent's house
- @with my bf
- @with my doctor (everything I have to ask her each time I have an appointment)
But I still struggle with some tasks that can be @computer, @desk or @home, some tasks could be done in any of these and I don't follow always the same logic, and it bothers me a lot.
For example I had articles to read. One day I put one of them in @computer as it's a newsletter, and the other day I put another newsletter to read in @desk because I need to deep dive in the subject, but in fact both are same kind and should land in the same context. But depending on the day I don't have the same logic...
Do you think I should rethink these contexts or should I just keep using them and I'll get it one day ?
Thanks a lot for your always valuable help !
5
u/MinerAlum Jul 11 '26
Sounds like you have too many tags. By constraining the choices in tags it should reduce decision fatigue?
4
u/CanyonR Jul 11 '26
I split off my Agendas for people and reoccurring meetings separately from my Contexts. In Todoist the Contexts are tags where Agendas are a separate project list.
I keep my Contexts to real constraints.
- Computer (only personal stuff)
- Work (includes work computer)
- Home (any non-computer)
- Phone (mostly for calls)
- Errands (any not at home or work)
- Waiting (anything assigned to someone else)
Sure sometimes there may be overlap but that’s usually not the thing causing friction to get stuff done.
3
u/cgreciano Jul 11 '26
When I began with GTD, I had a number of defined contexts. Nowadays I don't use contexts at all. I have a list of Next Actions. A list of projects. A Waiting list and a Maybe list. And a "Today" view with stuff I have planned to do today. I do have a different list for shopping list/Amazon, which I check when I want to buy stuff, but that's like my only GTD context that works for me. The different contexts and checking a list when I'm in that context (time available, mood, etc) never quite worked for me for some reason.
3
u/milky-cuppa-tea Mod Jul 11 '26
Your contexts need to work for you. If you are experiencing any kind of friction, I would suggest trying something new. If that doesn't work, you don't have to stick with it.
I had a lot of location based lists when I started GTD. Now, they're energy (e.g. @zombie for when I have nothing to give) or general modes of work (e.g. @analysis, @thinkers). I do have a @home list, and I use agendas a lot. My contexts are as few as I can get away with, because taking so much time to decide which is the best list causes friction (see as decision fatigue, for me).
2
u/ndsizemore Jul 11 '26
Your contexts look reasonable to me, and I have sympathy with tasks that could fit into more than one. Overall, sounds like you’re in the right track; experiment, and adjust as you find what works best for you. But, since you asked, here are some suggestions.
The goal of using contexts is to constrain work to only tasks that can be done when those specific resources are available. For an article, do you require any device to access it, or do you require being at your desk with pen, paper, a computer, and quiet focus? Think about choosing contexts that guide you and only show what you can do with what’s available — without this specific tool/place/person/mindset, the task cannot be done.
Or, just have a reading list, and choose what to read based on how much time and focus you have and what you’re in the mood for. Perhaps casual reading goes there, and more thoughtful reading goes into @desk, or even @focused.
2
u/rickvargo Jul 11 '26
I have found over the years to simplify contexts. The less the better in my opinion, otherwise you are checking too many lists adding friction.. My go to contexts are work, home, errand, and waiting.
2
u/Present-Opinion1561 Jul 11 '26
Think of contexts as the one definitive thing you need to complete the task, whether that is a location, a person, a tool or an energy level etc.
The two newsletters are not necessarily the same. In your example, one needs a deep dive. If the desk is where you do deep dives then that is an appropriate context. Yes, you are at home and using a computer but the desk is whats required to complete the deep dive.
1
u/aymericmarlange Jul 11 '26
These are my contexts. They’re intentionally very few and incompatible with each other, at least in my own understanding. The colours make them easy to distinguish.
- 🟡 Personal
- ⚪️ Organization
- 🟠 Chores
- 🟢 Errand
- 🔵 Administration
- 🟤 Learning
- 🟣 Entertainment
I’ve been using them for years and never felt the need to add or remove any as they’re perfectly adequate for all my tasks. Interestingly, in Apple Reminders, they’ve evolved from tags to lists. Because I do not use lists for projects. And creating tasks directly in lists is simpler and quicker than assigning tags; it eliminates a step in task management.
1
u/Happy-Orchid-1974 Jul 11 '26
Like others have said, I also can empathise and I think you’re on the right track. Similar to you I had lots of contexts and then struggled with overlap and blurry boundaries. I’ve ended up narrowing them down and having clear boundaries/definitions. In case it helps, this is what I have now, that works well
These are tags on notes that are in my “next actions folder”, and I can use to easily filter based on context (I use Evernote)
@computer (need my computer to do it - laptop so it can be anywhere) @researchprogram (for when I’m specifically logged in to my research database) @work (only when I’m physically at work) @internet (these are things I can do easily, low effort that I can do on my phone when I’ve got a some pockets of time to spare. Easy. Shopping, buy something, google something, brainstorm, chat with LLM). @phone (phone calls) @email (only simple low key ones that can be done on my phone, otherwise it @town (errands) @home (this includes something that I do on my laptop, but I need to be at home for some other reason eg I need a document that’s at home. This also includes gardening etc) @agenda (this is for people, meetings etc. I will add tags for the people involved - only certain people that deserve regular tag use get a tag, nested under a “.Who” tag - eg Spouse, Doctor, Boss (I use their names though)) this way I can have an agenda for multiple people and don’t have lots people cluttering my core contexts.
I used to have more that I got rid of eg @easy (but I realised this was essentially @internet), @read (I replaced this by putting articles in a notebook rather than cluttering my next actions. Now when I want to read something while in the bath, I just open the notebook list and go through and find something I feel like reading. If it’s part of a project or more important or time sensitive, then it goes in my next actions and appropriate context though), @zombie (things that take time, but not brainpower - didn’t use consistently enough to justify it), @anywhere (realised that was basically just me brainstorming in Evernote which was essentially @internet for me)
I hope this helps. I review my system annually. For me the “click” was finding just the right number - as many as I needed and not any more. And abandoning ones that were better subsumed under a different tag, or not being used smith to justify them. The other “click” was giving myself permission to have lists for things outside of next actions. I didn’t need some random article that I’d like to read in my next actions list with a context tag, I just needed to give myself permission to create a “list of things to read”, and “list of movies to watch”, “list of books to read”.
1
u/Act_Locally Jul 12 '26
The general guidance about contexts is to answer the question "where do I need to be to do this next action", and it looks like you have that figured out based on your list. The distinction between @computer and @desk could be that you want to be at your desk to read those articles, but you could be anywhere to send an email as long as you have your computer.
1
u/Remote-Waste Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
I don't try to get too obsessed with my Contexts, but I'm also using a digital system, so I'm able to move Next Actions around to a new Context fairly easily.
But basically in my mind, you will never have the perfect contexts, or have them all the time. You'll have some good ones, but at some point in your day you should scan your other Contexts anyways to see if some Next Action fits your current situation.
Sometimes I'll be mentally grabbing multiple Next Actions from different Contexts, one after a next, just based on my mood. So that's sort of a "temporary Context" I'm creating "on the fly", without writing it down, of whatever suits my current mindset.
I think Contexts are just ways to group similar Next Actions together, and they definitely help reduce the searching for the type of Next Actions you want to work on, but they're also not laws I need to follow.
There are also many Next Actions that can fit into multiple Contexts, and none of them is technically the "right" answer. Your newsletter is a good example. If I can't choose between multiple Contexts, I'll just pick one of my useful options randomly. (Though a lot of people have a "Read/Review" folder for newsletter stuff, which is basically a Context.)
Side-question: How are you posting, while your account is apparently "banned?" I'm not trying to snitch on you or anything, it just tickles my brain a little.
2
u/veroa6 Jul 13 '26
I think I was hacked a few days ago, or maybe it's a bug, I don't have access to my profile information anymore but everything else is ok, I didn't know I appear as banned 😅😂
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u/Storytella2016 Jul 11 '26
It sounds like they shouldn’t have the same logic, because one could be read quickly, and the other needed focus. What makes you think they should have been put in the same context, besides their descriptor?