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I recently discovered an old notebook. It was full, littered with dog tags and dividers. From the outside it looked chaotic, but I knew how to navigate the mess. I knew exactly where my loose papers folded into the crease and where my last note on pg.31 continued on pg.45. I still remember years later.
I’ve finally been able to replicate this beautiful mess into the digital space somewhat, and there is no one program that can replicate it better than another. (Roam Research and Obsidian are great options though). For me, it’s about workflow, mindset, and being mindful of the pros and cons of adjusting to the digital space.
Seeing the old notebook made me think of some issues I still face from time to time with digital note-taking.
A good program can file chaos into neat databases, folders, schedulers, and tag clouds, most of which is automated of course. The benefits of a digital workspace can be listed by the dozens, however, I feel there is a sacrifice.
My small beef with digital note-taking is the inability to look at a screen and focus deeply. One aspect of writing by hand that I can’t seem to replicate is completion. Writing a full page, marking it up with highlighters, tagging page corners, and flipping to the next page pushes me to keep working, studying, or writing in a strange way I can’t seem to put into words.
As I explored different productivity, note-taking, and writing programs through the years, one major take away has been … it’s great but I feel tired using it. In some cases this is due to the UI but not always.
I especially noticed this while typing a long article recently. Words, pages, and tags get lost into a void of meaning. The digital void is similar to my messy notebook, sure, but different. I can bring up ideas with a click on the screen, but the ideas have less oomph.
One solution for this is with my web clipping behavior. I recently had to force myself to avoid the “read later” tag as much as possible, and ensure I note exactly what the clipping was for before saving. Simply, it could work for this or that project in the future isn’t sufficient reason to save a reference, article, or tweet. I focus on what I need now and not later.
Writing in a notebook or on note-cards, I’m forced to slow down and think, and thus I can remember what I write; I even remember where I wrote it in the margins on roughly this or that page. No fancy systems needed.
All of this is to say, the tool I use doesn’t matter for personal knowledge management. How I use it matters more. A workflow that allows me to slow down and think about the words I write, the projects I pursue, the questions I ask, and the reason I’m archiving any of it at all is paramount.
ps. new budget template and video coming up. Working hard to make it 💫 nice 💫.