Action types instead of contexts in GTD [Hack Your Day]
If your GTD contexts are not used to their fullest potential, you might want to think about exchanging them for action types which will add an extra layer of clarity to your system. Since I work 100% of the time at my computer I don’t have tasks which are not done here. I could use labels like @online and @offline, but these would not show any real meaning to me.
My solution for this problem, and I know many others have context problems, is to use action types instead. Instead of trying to put my items in context by where I am doing them, I rather say what I need to do to them. For example, you can use contexts like @post (for posting on blogs), @download, @research, @develop (an idea), and so on.
This also creates some extra space for you, by allowing you to use the space required for the actual task. Until now a typical task for me would either be very vague like “write post”, or much too long like “Write post on action types instead of contexts for Hack Your Day”. However you can replace two items in that long task with contexts and categories. You can put the task in the Hack Your Day category and the fact that this is a post in the @ post context. You can now use the title of the post as the task name, which will give you more meaning, and more context.
You can use this method for any tasks you may have. Instead of having “Buy groceries”, you can simply have the task name be “milk, potatoes and juice” with the context @buy. Instead of “Marketing meeting” you can have “New brands discussion” with the context @meeting. These are all simple examples, but they will let you create lists with more meaning at first glance, and more context under the hood.
Original post here: Daniel
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