Context is King, or How I Learned to Create a System for Success
It's not just what you do, it's also how and where you do it.
You don’t go golfing in a lightning storm.
You don’t go to the library in a speedo.
If you’re going to teach a class, you dress in a respectable manner, talk in a tone that is helpful and knowledgeable and generally follow a set of your own rules to make sure you’re as effective as possible.
Similarly, when researching you’re surrounding yourself with books, resources or people that can help you learn as much as possible.
There is a time and a place for most things. While there is often a rule or even a law to keep you doing the right thing at the right time, that isn’t always the case.
Most of the time, you have to set your own rules for your own effectiveness.
So, what’s my point? You need to put your head in the right place to “do the thing”, you might also need to put your body in then right place as well.
Your life has many contexts
There are physical contexts. — Where you are, what you have the tools for and your ability to physically do something.
There are emotional contexts. — How you feel, about the thing you’re doing, about yourself or about life, all affect how well you’ll perform.
There are mental contexts. — Much like emotions, there is your ability to do the task. Do you have the necessary skills, knowledge and mental capacity to work on that thing now?
Where are you? How do you feel? What’s in your head?
For example, you might be in your office at home, or on your couch. You might be working from a browser, or at a physical typewriter. You might be fretting over your sick dog, or an emotional interaction with a loved one. Or you might feel overwhelmed or anxious. These different variables will directly affect your ‘output.’
For me, with ADHD, some of these contexts can speak louder than others. When I get overwhelmed, I can get VERY overwhelmed (think ‘brain lock’, can’t complete sentences.) When I’m at a computer, if I don’t “lock in” to my task, it’s very easy to open a new tab and browse new things.
While I don’t suggest people should be 100% dialed in all of the time, seeking to eek out maximum productivity or performance, I do think that it’s important for people to learn how to set themselves up for success.
If you have something to do, be deliberate. Learn to recognize the necessary context. Know your tendency to become distracted or ineffective in certain conditions, and be able to put yourself in the right frame of mind for your task.
Creating a context or productivity “Cheat Sheet”
If you are blessed with the ability to just lock in and put aside every other distraction on command, good for you! This might not be a topic you need to explore. If you’re like me, sometimes you need to have a set of ‘rules’ and cues to ensure your success.
For example; I’m currently in a coffee shop, writing via my iPad with a keyboard. I have noise-canceling headphones on, music without lyrics playing and notifications all turned off.
This isn’t my standard setup, but matches some of my settings at home. I’ve recently noticed that I can easily fall out of my zone and open a tab to do something else. I have SO many distractions available at home.
Today’s setup has several conditions that optimize my productivity…
I’m working in public, people can see me, so shame keeps me from opening a game.
I’m away from my house, so I can’t be distracted by thoughts of chores to do.
I’m working on a small screen that doesn’t really like to multitask, switching to another app takes deliberate action.
I have music playing that has a beat, or a pace, but no words for me to start singing along or to shape my thoughts.
My time is limited, I’m not going to set up camp and be here for 4 hours… it’s just not that cozy.
I’m surrounded by strangers, so I’m not likely to start talking about things that need to get done around the house.
Obviously this is great for setting context for writing. I could (and do) the same basic setup if I’m doing research, though then I usually have a physical notebook nearby as well for capturing notes.
Another factor, I just finished a 45-minute walk outside in nature. I’ve tried to do this before, but then going home to work after the walk. Something about my house sucks me back into distraction mode. If I really want to get something done, I need to isolate myself.
So, a cheat sheet, what does that look like?
Before going any further, I feel like I should mention that the need for a context cheat sheet is mostly applicable to ‘knowledge work’ like writing, designing, coding and learning.
A cheat sheet will look different for everyone, both for what they are trying to do and how they need to do it.
It starts with identifying the thing you’re doing, where you can do it, what you need to be able to do it, and anything that might impede the work being done.
Most likely, the only reason you need this type of help is that you’re prone to getting distracted or maybe overwhelmed. Spend time really noticing what distracts, or what mindset typically leads to distractions.
Earlier, I mentioned that when I get overwhelmed, I really crank it up to 11. Sometimes it’s the “distract yourself” overwhelm, sometimes it’s a “bite your nails and stress out” overwhelm, and sometimes it’s the dreaded “brain lock” overwhelm.
Things that cause overwhelm tend to be clutter related:
Physical Clutter — Is my house/office/desk a mess, are things getting in my way?
Virtual Clutter — Is my browser filled with open tabs, do I have unfinished documents opened or notes in too many places?
Temporal Clutter — Do I have a calendar or to-do list that is overflowing, is there something looming that needs to be completed?
Mental Clutter — Am I stressing over something, do I feel like I don’t know what to do, or is my brain filled with too many thoughts ?
Editor’s Note: Clutter is a catch-all. Overwhelm is also a catch-all. Don’t get hung up on those words. If you use different words, please feel free to share them below.
I would probably journal about these things, looking over my past week at the things that have caused me to lose time and productivity, then dig into the ‘why’ of it.
Revisiting my current working conditions from above:
I’m in a coffee shop after walking because I’ve noticed when I tried to write after going for a walk, I’ll lose all of that intention upon entering my house.
I have headphones on, otherwise I’ll listen to the people around me talking.
I’m using a tablet instead of my laptop because, well because all the clutter on my laptop at home is still clutter on my laptop at a coffee shop.
I only know that I need to ‘beat those distractions’ because I looked at what has (or hasn’t) worked for me in the past.
Context switching, the elephant in the room
This last consideration is what started my entire thought process on contexts. I suck at context switching.
What’s context switching? It’s when you switch from one thing (writing a newsletter) to a different thing (playing a video game.) To make the switch, your brain changes gears to address the new task.
If my wife talks to me while I’m trying to get started writing, boom, progress stops. If my daughter shows up and wants to go for a drive while I’m writing, boom, hard reset. When someone lobs something at me while I’m trying to focus, it’s super easy for me to lose my momentum and focus on the new thing.
Alternately, if I’m playing a game on my iPad, PlayStation or computer… it’s easy to “just 5 more minutes” or “just one more quest” the day away. I have an incredibly difficult time stopping some things, and it can be nearly as hard to re-start something if I get pulled away.
Context switching into work is always harder than switching into ‘fun’ things.
Bonus Topic!
Temporal Context - Time-blindness requires the ability to work in contexts
Being completely honest, I don’t typically edit my posts. In my head, once it’s written, it’s done. This is the case for many or most things for a person with ADHD. We get trapped in the ‘now is the ONLY time that exists’ state.
I have trouble caring about setting long term plans. My context is almost always ‘right now,’ even when I create plans. Unfortunately, I don’t easily return to the things I’ve already done, and I struggle with returning to old ideas.
So, since I can’t context-switch easily, I try to set myself up for ‘absolute success, absolutely’ when doing something.
The goal is to create routines that have you doing something because of the routine, not because you want to accomplish a task or goal.
For me, motivation isn’t based on the end result, it’s based on the current interest.
Basically, if I can’t learn to play “Stairway to Heaven” today, I will probably never learn it… unless it’s a routine that has me just practicing a sequence at a time.
So that’s the final context, Temporal context. Finding a way to use time to your advantage. Learn to spot when you’re most creative (in the morning for me), when you’re low energy (mid-afternoon for me) and plan accordingly.