A number of years ago, David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) took the world by storm. I found it immensely helpful, myself, especially Allen’s concepts of “next actions” and “contexts.” Unfortunately, as my health declined, my contexts were becoming less and less helpful, because although they made sense…well, contextually…I was constantly having to skip over things I couldn’t do — which is really frustrating.

Last year I decided to try something a bit different, and it’s been working pretty well, so I’m hopeful this might also be useful for others who are trying to make use of GTD but are dealing with debilitating health issues.

What Are GTD Contexts?

In case you’re new to the concept, in a nutshell, David Allen recommends that you break down your ongoing to-do list — or list of “next actions” that need to be taken — by the contexts required to do them. Like, “office,” “phone,” “at home,” etc. The idea is that you don’t have to waste time looking over all the things you need to do that you can’t do in your current situation. If you’re waiting at the auto repair shop, you can’t do things you need to be at home or at the office for. If you’re not near a phone or computer, you can’t do tasks that require a phone or computer. You get the idea.

Early on, I adapted this for homemaking by adding contexts for my weekly routine.

But neither of these were cutting it once I had more bad days than good days.

GTD Contexts for the Chronically Ill

These may seem excessively simple for those who are accustomed to having a good handful of contexts, but these are what’s been working for me:

That’s it. Just three contexts: low-energy, high-energy, and “need help.”  “Need help” means I need someone else to do it with or for me.

(For the record, it’s not that I have nothing I need help with. This was just after newly transferring lists to a fresh planner, so all the lists are shorter than usual and possibly not yet complete.)

If I were adding something my husband and I needed to do together, I would write it down and put “(MICHAEL)” after it. If you have a lot of different tasks you’re likely to get help from different people for, you might want to make separate lists for each person.

Pseudo-Context Lists

There are a few other lists I keep with my context lists even though, strictly speaking, they aren’t context lists.

$$$ — This is my money list. Things to buy, subscribe to, etc. Anything that costs money but isn’t a routine expense. This is kind of like the “someday/maybe” list for purchases.

Projects – This is a running list of projects that are currently in process. It’s not the plans or notes or steps or next actions for the projects, just an overall list so I have a big-picture view of what I’m working on. (Actual project notes/plans are after all of these lists in my planner.)

Back Burner — This is my version of a “someday/maybe” list. “Someday/Maybe” sounded a little too vague for the way my mind works; “back burner” just resonates better. It’s not a right or a wrong; it’s just whatever works for you.

Eagle-eyed readers familiar with GTD may notice I’ve also integrated a “waiting” list into this list. If you have a lot that tends to go on either or both of these lists (someday/maybe and waiting), you might be better off keeping this separate, but my list is short enough that this works for me.

How This Has Helped

Although I, myself, am pretty much always in the same place (at home), with access to the same resources, realistically, what determines which tasks I can do is my energy levels and degree of “ickiness.” So this way if I’m feeling like I can’t move around much, I’m not looking over all the high-energy tasks that still need to be done and feeling frustrated and/or guilty.

On the flip side, when I’m having a good day, health-wise, I can make the most of it by not getting bogged down in things I can do ‘most any day, but jump straight to the tasks that need my current burst of energy.

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