GTD Contexts: How to Organize Tasks the Right Way

Organize tasks with GTD contexts by tagging each next action with what it requires to get done: a tool, a place, a person, or a level of energy. Then work one context list at a time. You see only the actions you can actually take from where you are, instead of scanning everything you've ever committed to.

By Fabio Bergmann, Founder of Dooit

Key takeaways

• GTD contexts sort next actions by the tool, place, person, or energy needed to do them, so you only see what's doable right now.
• David Allen's starter list includes Calls, Computer, Errands, Home, Office, Anywhere, and Waiting For.
• Most modern apps (Todoist, OmniFocus) implement contexts as tags or labels, not a dedicated "context" field.
• Remote and single-location workers should collapse location contexts and replace them with energy- or tool-based ones like @deep-focus or @quick-win.
• Start with 4–6 contexts and add more only once a list gets too long to scan at a glance.
• A context system survives only if re-filing is cheap. If moving a task between lists takes three clicks and a page load, the system rots.

What Are GTD Contexts and Why Do They Matter?

GTD contexts are groupings of next actions based on what each one requires: @calls, @computer, @errands, @agendas. They matter because context is the first criterion that limits your options, keeping you from being reminded of work you simply can't do from where you're sitting.

The order of filtering is the point. You don't start with priority or energy. You start with what's possible. A 2020 Getting Things Done post puts it plainly: when you're choosing what to do, context is always your first limitation. Everything else refines what's left.

“It’s a lot easier to simply turn to a list that already has things to do sorted by their context, where you can see your eight calls in one click glance.”

That's David Allen on the official GTD site. The GTD team adds that when next actions are already defined and sorted by context, you move more quickly and more in sync with how you naturally pick what to do first. That speed is the whole return on the small cost of tagging things while you clarify them.

What Does GTD Stand For, and What Are Its 5 Stages?

GTD stands for "Getting Things Done," the work-life management system and bestselling book by David Allen. The method runs on five stages: Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, and Engage. Contexts live inside Organize, where clarified next actions get filed into lists you can trust and scan in seconds.

• Capture: get every commitment out of your head and into one inbox. Todoist's help page frames GTD as a five-step method built on exactly that move.
• Clarify and Organize: decide what each item is, what the next physical action is, and which context it belongs to.
• Reflect and Engage: review the lists on a schedule, then pick work using context as the opening filter.

Contexts are useless without the first two stages. A context list only works if the items on it are real, doable next actions rather than vague project names.

Can You List Common GTD Contexts People Actually Use?

Screenshot: Todoist homepage, September 2026.

Eight contexts make up the official starter set on the Getting Things Done site: Agendas, Anywhere, Calls, Computer, Errands, Home, Office, and Waiting For, alongside Projects and Someday/Maybe lists. Zen Habits trims the same idea to four (work, home, errands, calls) and notes the choice is personal and takes experimentation.

Zen Habits also supplies the rule that keeps context lists honest: don't put an item on your Home list if it can only be done from your work computer. If a list holds things you can't do while standing in that context, the filter has already leaked.

Here's how the same concept shows up across the three systems most people encounter.

GTD contexts and how Todoist and OmniFocus implement them, as of September 2026

Aspect	GTD (David Allen)	Todoist	OmniFocus
What it's called	Context	Label	Tag (replaced contexts in OmniFocus 3)
Starter examples	Agendas, Anywhere, Calls, Computer, Errands, Home, Office, Waiting For	computer/internet, home, office, errands, calls, anywhere	A person, place, thing, state of mind, or energy level
More than one per task	Not published	Not published	Yes, as many tags as you find useful
How you view one list	Lists pre-sorted by context	Sort by label, build filters, or search "@next"	Custom perspectives with any/all/none tag logic

Sources: Getting Things Done, Todoist, OmniGroup, OmniFocus manual.

Is GTD Still Relevant for Remote and Hybrid Work?

GTD remains relevant for remote and hybrid work, but the context list needs surgery. The five stages and the insistence on capturing everything don't care where you sit. What breaks is the location assumption: @office and @home were built for people who physically moved between them. If your office is a corner of your home, those two lists filter nothing.

The official guidance anticipates this. A 2017 GTD post advises starting with the really basic context lists, then tweaking and fine-tuning later. For a remote worker, "tweaking" usually means deleting two contexts rather than adding five.

GTD Contexts vs. Tags: What's the Practical Difference?

GTD contexts and app tags do the same job under different names. "Context" is Allen's methodology term; "tag" and "label" are how software stores it. The GTD forum states directly that "context tag" is not a GTD term as such, just how some people describe representing contexts in their apps.

The one real divergence is cardinality. Classic GTD treats context as a single home for an action. OmniFocus 3 changed that: contexts were replaced with tags, and the company's support pages describe tags as everything contexts were and more, with multiple tags per item. Todoist never adopted the word "context" at all. So pick the app's native mechanism, keep your vocabulary consistent, and don't spend an evening building a taxonomy you'll abandon by Thursday.

How Do You Set Up GTD Contexts in Todoist or OmniFocus?

Setting up GTD contexts takes about twenty minutes in either app. In Todoist you create contexts as labels and filter on them. In OmniFocus you create them as tags and view them through custom perspectives. Both land you in the same place: a scannable list of next actions you can do right now.

Todoist labels and filters

Todoist's GTD guide says the easiest way to add contexts is with labels, then to sort tasks by label or build filters to see next actions per context. To surface everything actionable across every project at once, Todoist recommends typing "@next" into the Search bar. If you're weighing the app itself, our Todoist alternative comparison covers the trade-offs.

OmniFocus tags and perspectives

The current OmniFocus manual says a tag can represent a person, place, thing, state of mind, energy level, or anything else you find useful, and that you can assign as many tags to an action, action group, or project as you like. Custom perspectives in OmniFocus 3 and later support multiple tag selection with any/all/none groupings, so "@computer AND @low-energy, excluding @waiting" becomes a saved view instead of a manual scan.

Do GTD Contexts Still Help If You Work From One Location?

Contexts still help single-location workers, provided you change the question. Picture a freelancer whose entire week happens at one desk: @home and @office select the same 60 tasks, so both lists are noise. Swap "where am I" for "what state am I in." @deep-focus, @quick-calls, @admin, @low-energy, and @waiting restore the filtering that location used to provide.

Zen Habits' point that context choice is personal and takes experimentation matters more here than anywhere. Nobody publishes the right energy contexts for your work, because they depend on when your attention actually shows up. Start with two, one for focused work and one for shallow work, and add a third only if you keep reaching for it.

How Do You Simplify GTD Contexts Without Losing the System?

Simplify GTD contexts by holding the total to four or six and merging anything that overlaps. Official GTD guidance is to start basic and fine-tune later, and the failure mode always runs one direction: a sprawling tag taxonomy nobody maintains, which quietly stops being trustworthy and then stops being used at all.

1. Merge contexts that always co-occur. If you only run errands from home, one list does the job of two.
2. Split a context only after it consistently grows too long to scan in one glance. That's the signal, not a hunch about neatness.
3. Prune during your weekly review. GTD already has a Reflect stage. Use it on the structure, not just the contents.

One more test the ranking guides skip: time your re-file. Allen's payoff is the "one click glance," and that only holds if putting a task into the right context is roughly as fast as thinking of it. Slow filing is what turns a context system into abandoned metadata.

Dooit: applying GTD contexts with tags, boards, and lists

Screenshot: Dooit homepage, September 2026.

Disclosure: Dooit is our product.

Dooit is one of several keyboard-first apps you can run a context system in. The approach: make each context a list or board column, then move between views and items fast enough that filing never becomes a chore.

1. Create one list or board column per context (calls, computer, errands, waiting) and switch between Kanban and list views with a single keystroke to scan one context or the whole week.
2. Use natural language scheduling ("tomorrow," "next Friday," "every Monday") for recurring context work, like a Monday morning calls block.
3. Re-file with 20+ keyboard shortcuts and full undo/redo. Every action in Dooit completes in under 50ms, so reorganising contexts costs almost nothing.
4. Keep habits separate from next actions. Daily habit tracking with streaks sits alongside tasks, and goals run by week, month, year, and multi-year horizons.
5. Work across devices with real-time sync, including a dedicated mobile interface for the @errands list you check while out.

Dooit organises contexts through lists and board columns rather than a dedicated GTD context field, so a task lives in one grouping at a time. If your system depends on multi-tag logic like OmniFocus perspectives, that's a real constraint. Dooit is free to start, with a single paid plan at $9/month and a 7-day free trial. More options in our roundup of task management apps.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need special software to use GTD contexts?

No. Contexts work in plain lists, a notebook, a spreadsheet, or any app with labels or tags. Todoist uses labels, OmniFocus uses tags, and both let you filter or search by context to surface only doable next actions. The concept matters far more than the tool.

How many GTD contexts should I start with?

Start with four to eight broad contexts. Calls, computer, errands, and home make a solid base. Then adjust based on what you notice yourself needing while working, rather than designing a large system upfront. Official GTD guidance is to begin basic and refine later.

The decision rule: if you move between distinct places and tools during a week, use location and tool contexts as Allen wrote them. If you work from one desk, drop location entirely and filter by energy and state instead.

Want a fast place to run it? Try Dooit free and build your first four context lists in a couple of minutes.