I never got the GTD focus on context.
While David Allen’s Getting Things Done was a big influence on my approach to simplifying life. I embraced the clean desk, the labeled files and next action approach quickly with great gains in effectiveness. But while I tried to adopt his approach to filing next actions by context, it never stuck. I never saw the value in it other than keeping an “errands” list.
Context should be a powerful organizing principle. After all, the options available to choose from should be strongly dependent on what’s in front of you. Moving from place to place should be equivalent to moving from task to task. Even in the virtual world, moving from Photoshop to Word should be a context shift.
We’ve pretty much erased context with technology. Communications channels are open and available 24/7. There are synchronous channels like phone calls that require the other party to be available and willing to talk. There are asynchronous channels like email and social networks that have variable latency but are always available. Except for physical errand involving material goods- grocery shopping, dry cleaning for example or other people- business meetings, haircuts, I can pretty much do any work I want to anywhere I am.
So there’s no context guiding action. In fact complexity in introduced by the sheer number of different ways I can do anything at any time. Want to jot down a note? There’s my pen and notebook. Or a post-it-note. Or Evernote. Evernote on the iPhone, iPad, Mac Book Pro, work Windows XP laptop. Or email to myself.
Its true that one solution would be to impoverish myself by eliminating choices. Do I need the Evernote on iPad option? Do I really need the iPad at all? Maybe I could just do everything on the iPhone.
I think choice is good. I’d rather have options, but find it helpful to take a moment and create what are basically rituals. Conscious, stereotyped behavior that’s consistent and relatively arbitrary just so that I don’t keep making the same decisions over and over again and then spending more time unravelling what I’ve done after the fact.
Ritual is human way to collapse complexity into simpler behavior paths and gain more control over the cognitive environment.