You know those days when your brain feels like a group chat with 47 people all talking at once? Same. That’s why I stopped forcing tasks into a single linear list and started planning by context: energy, location, and people. Translation: do the right task in the right moment with the right brain battery. No more trying to write a report on 2% brain juice or scheduling calls when you’ve got the social energy of a potato.

This approach pairs beautifully with your natural rhythms, reduces decision fatigue, and weirdly makes “working on hard stuff” feel… less hard. It’s a little like sorting laundry: throw everything into the right basket first, then press start.

Contextual To-Do Lists: Plan by Energy, Location, and People

Think of contexts as filters you apply to your tasks. Instead of one mega-list, you create mini-lists based on:

• Energy: High-focus, Medium, Low
• Location/Tools: Home, Office, Out-and-about, Laptop-only, Phone-only
• People: With Alex, With Team, With Body Double, Calls

Then, when you hit a moment in your day, you don’t ask “What should I do?” You ask “What can I do with the energy, place, and people I have right now?” It’s the productivity equivalent of cooking with what’s already in your fridge.

If you haven’t tried energy-first planning yet, peek at The Energy Budget: Plan Your Day by Batteries, Not Hours. Context lists are its natural sidekick.

Why This Works (and Why Traditional Lists Explode)

• Decision fatigue dies: You’re not matching tasks to mindset at the last second (a.k.a., the multitasking mosh pit).
• Momentum snowballs: You string together tasks that share the same context—like batching all calls while you’re already in social mode. If you love batching, you’ll vibe with Batching vs. Multitasking: Which Actually Works (And Which Just Feels Like Productivity)?.
• Fewer “ugh” moments: You stop fighting your biology. Trying to multitask is like juggling flaming torches when you’ve only practiced with tennis balls.

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Step 1: Build Your Context Menu

Start with simple buckets. You don’t need a rainbow spreadsheet; sticky notes and a fine-point pen will do. If you want to go analog-minimalist, I won’t stop you from using a legal pad like a productivity cowboy.

• Energy contexts:

  • High-focus (deep work, writing, analysis)
  • Medium (planning, light edits, email replies that require thought)
  • Low (admin, receipts, scheduling, file cleanup)

• Location/Tool contexts:

  • Office
  • Home
  • Out-and-about (errands)
  • Laptop-only
  • Phone-only
  • Headphones-on (for anything requiring noise-canceling)

• People contexts:

  • With Body Doubling
  • With Manager/Partner/Client
  • Calls
  • Meetings prep

If the above looks like a lot, pick 3 to start: High-focus, Low-energy, Phone-only.

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Step 2: Tag Your Existing Tasks

Pull your current list into one place. Then add 2–3 tags to each task max. Don’t overthink; you’re sorting laundry, not filing taxes.

Examples:

• Draft proposal = High-focus, Laptop-only
• Reschedule dentist = Low, Phone-only, Calls
• Plan Q4 roadmap = Medium, Office, With Team
• Proofread newsletter = Medium, Headphones-on
• Buy printer paper = Low, Out-and-about

If you’re doing my The 5-Minute Forecast: A Quick Morning Planning Ritual, use it to pick your Big 3 for the day, then tag 3–5 supporting tasks by context for bonus momentum.

Step 3: Create Context Views You Can See in 2 Seconds

Make your contexts stupidly accessible:

• Analog: one card per context, clipped to your monitor or tucked into your notebook.
• Digital: saved filters like “tag:High-focus” or a Kanban board with columns “High / Medium / Low”.

Bonus: Add a “Now” short list with 3 items max—your live playlist for this block. Keep it aligned with The Rule of 3: Put Your Daily To-Do List on a Diet.

Step 4: Schedule by Context (Soft-Block Your Day)

Don’t hard-block every minute; that’s how calendars explode. Instead, use soft blocks: choose a context for a time window, then pick tasks from its list in real time. If a meeting moves, the block flexes. For more on avoiding calendar chaos, read Calendar Cramming: Why Your Time-Blocking Keeps Exploding (And What to Do About It).

Sample soft-block day:

• 9:30–11:00 High-focus (headphones on)
• 11:00–11:30 Calls (low stakes)
• 1:00–2:00 Medium tasks (admin)
• 3:30–4:00 Out-and-about (errands)
• 4:00–4:30 With People (body double session or quick 1:1)

Wrap it with a quick The Shutdown Routine: How 10 Minutes at 5 PM Saves My 9 AM Tomorrow. During shutdown, move unfinished tasks back to their contexts—no shame, no chaos.

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Step 5: Make It Frictionless

Context lists fail when they’re annoying. Reduce friction:

• Use “Phone-only” for unavoidable line-waits.
• Keep your “Calls” list ready to go—names + numbers linked.
• Pre-load docs for High-focus in one folder to avoid tab safari. If you’ve got a tab zoo, try The One-Tab Challenge: Tame Your Browser Zoo in 7 Days.

Gear that helps:

• Noise-canceling headphones for “Headphones-on” context. I use and love over-ears.
• Paper notebook for quick capture and context cards.
• Sticky notes that actually stick
• A simple timer for soft blocks

Example Day: Context in Action

Morning, 9:30 AM, one strong coffee in: High-focus block.

• Write 800 words of a report (High-focus, Laptop-only)
• Outline next week’s article (High-focus)
• Quick break to stare out the window like a philosophical plant. If breaks are your kryptonite, read The Art of Productive Breaks: Why Staring Out the Window Might Be Your Secret Weapon.

Late morning: Calls.

• Reschedule dentist (Low, Phone-only, Calls)
• 10-min check-in with teammate (With People)
• Confirm delivery window (Phone-only)

Afternoon slump: Low-energy + Admin.

• File receipts (Low)
• Archive calendar invites (Low)
• Tidy desktop and do a Desk Detox sprint

Late afternoon: With People.

• Body doubling session for 25-minute sprint. If you’ve never tried it, here’s the starter kit: Body Doubling 101: What it is and why it works.

End of day: Shutdown.

• Reset contexts, move anything open back to the right bucket, set tomorrow’s Big 3. See: The Shutdown Routine: How 10 Minutes at 5 PM Saves My 9 AM Tomorrow.

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Common Traps (And How to Dodge Them)

• Too many contexts. If you need a legend to decode your tags, you’ve gone too far. Start with 3–5.
• Vague tasks. “Marketing” isn’t a task. “Draft 5 headlines for the landing page” is.
• Context mismatch. If you’re fried, stop forcing High-focus tasks. Switch to Low-energy and bank an easy win. On truly wobbly days, try [No-Zero Days]-style momentum with teeny-tiny steps; or check out Micro-Habits: Tiny Changes, Huge Gains (And Zero Shame).
• Meeting mayhem. Protect High-focus blocks by corralling meetings into predictable windows. Survival kit: Meeting Madness: Surviving (and Silencing) the Calendar Invite Tsunami.

Digital Setup Recipes (Pick One, Not All)

• Todoist: Use labels @High, @Low, @Phone. Saved filter example: “(today | overdue) & @High”.
• Notion: Board view with columns High/Medium/Low, filter by “Tool” and “People” multi-selects. Create a “Now” view that shows 3 starred tasks.
• Apple Reminders/Microsoft To Do: Make lists named “High Focus”, “Low & Phone”, “Calls”. Add tasks directly where they belong. No tags needed.

If your brain prefers stickies and a Sharpie, I salute you. Also, read The Post-It Avalanche: How to Actually Use Sticky Notes for Good (Not Chaos) so your desk doesn’t look like a confetti cannon went off.

A 7-Day Context Challenge

Because experiments beat intentions:

• Day 1: Choose 3 contexts and tag your top 15 tasks.
• Day 2: Soft-block one High-focus session. No meetings. Headphones on. Reward: fancy snack.
• Day 3: Phone-only hour while waiting in line or on the couch. Clear 5 tiny tasks.
• Day 4: With People session. Join a virtual co-work or ask a friend to body double.
• Day 5: Errand loop. Tackle Out-and-about tasks in one go. Queue up a podcast.
• Day 6: Admin blast. Put on a chill playlist and sweep Low-energy tasks for 45 minutes.
• Day 7: Review. What contexts were overstuffed? Which were empty? Tweak your buckets and set up next week’s soft blocks.

Share your best context stack with me on Instagram. I’ll repost fun ones that don’t make me cry-laugh.

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Troubleshooting: When Life Yeets Your Plan

• Children, pets, or rogue meetings invaded your High-focus window? Move it later, switch to Low-energy now, and recover one small win. Then do a quick reset using [The Two-Minute Brain Dump]—wait, wrong post idea! No worries—use The Shutdown Routine to clear mental residue and reboot tomorrow.
• Can’t estimate how long tasks will take? Add a tiny note: “15m/30m/60m guess” next to each task. You’ll get better at this. If your time-blocks keep exploding, revisit Calendar Cramming.
• Tabs spiraling? Close everything not needed for your current context. Seriously, just axe them. Then run The One-Tab Challenge.

TL;DR Setup (But Actually Do It)

• Pick 3–5 contexts that reflect energy, tools, and people.
• Tag your existing tasks with 2–3 contexts max.
• Create fast-access views (cards, tags, or a simple board).
• Soft-block your day by context, not exact tasks.
• Tweak weekly. Keep it light. Celebrate small wins. A tiny progress parade beats a perfect plan.

If you try this for a week, tell me your most surprising combo. Mine is “Phone-only + Low” while standing in the kitchen by the snacks. Somehow I become a scheduling machine when there are crackers nearby. Go figure.

And if you want to stack the deck even more, pair context planning with:

• The 5-Minute Forecast to kickstart your day with clarity.
• The Rule of 3 to keep your daily scope sane.
• Body Doubling 101 when a little accountability would help.
• The Shutdown Routine to tie a bow on your day and spare Tomorrow-You from chaos.

Now go match the task to the moment. Your brain will thank you. Your to-do list will look smaller. And somewhere out there, a lonely sticky note will finally get to live its best, context-aware life.