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 Le 2012-05-09 à 08:57, Lisa Stroyan <[email protected]> a écrit : > 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: [email protected] > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MyLifeOrganized" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized?hl=en.
