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A Better Way to Manage “Next Actions” in Your Productivity System
Why I’ve done away with GTD “contexts” for next actions, and adopted a simple scheduling system instead
The genius of a productivity system like David Allen’s GTD (Getting Things Done) consist of two key habits:
- get everything out of your head and onto a list
- think in terms of next actions
Both of these habits are beneficial. But they have their downsides — especially when you adopt them together. A major downside is that you end up with a giant list of next actions — one that overwhelms you as you glance at it. To combat this, GTD practitioners use contexts to break down that giant list of next actions based on when and where they can be done.
Contexts are the restrictions on where, when, and with what you can physically do each next action. For example, GTD enthusiasts suggest keeping a list of next actions under the heading “@errands” — meaning they’re things you can only do while you’re out. There are many other variants, like “@phone” or “@online” — all depending on where you can and can’t do each action.
But in my experience, there are 2 problems with next actions and contexts:
- For the most part, technology…
