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Welcome! I’m Ellane, and this is a once-a-week summary of things th at are helping me to simplify and future-proof my digital-analog workflow. It’s a bit longer than usual this week because my enthusiasm just will not be contained!
Thanks to this article from Scott Nesbitt, I’ve started keeping a task list for the week (in addition to my TaskPaper-style overview of everything) in Text Edit (for no other reason than showing my brain a different look, and for ease of keeping the file open even when Obsidian is closed). I’m skipping his suggested DONE style annotations for now.
If you’re new to Scott’s website, you’re in for a plain text treat! Be warned: it’s no longer maintained, so there’s no guarantee it’ll still be there when you get around to taking a look. If the thought of it disappearing bothers you, I have a one-word piece of advice: Omnivore.
It’s only been a few days, but there’s no going back: the epiphany I had last week has changed the very core of how I think about and work with my notes.
Expressing the change in as few words as possible is hard! But here goes:
I’m structuring my files to be independent of apps, as well as easy to search (across multiple axes) and view in the Finder. They no longer rely on Mac-magic to show me creation and modification dates. Chronology rules, and Saved Searches are my new best friend!
Now for some background, and a few carefully curated details. (I’m determined to keep this newsletter to a 5 minute or less read)
I’d thought the crux of my approach was plain text. While that is mostly true, I’d been missing the concept that for ultimate interoperable flexibility, the foundation it must rest upon is the file system. In other words, what you see when you look at your files in the Finder.
It’s a subtle shift in thinking, rather than a massive change in structure. My language learning flashcards were the catalyst for what I’m calling file-based knowledge management (FKM).
This article clarified and solidified the approach, and helped me to see it could work as a global perspective:
Most people want to use multiple axis of data identification to work with their notes. (meaning they want to get at their information from different directions at different times). — Dougist
Doug’s system was a great guide—not a blueprint. I’m using D for daily, W for writing, N for notes on other people’s work, T for my own thoughts, and P for projects. I love that should future-me prefer a different naming protocol, it will take mere seconds to swap things over. All while keeping my modification dates intact!
Now I’m using a system that is stable, and sustainable, and scalable; one that seems to fall into the background while I work; one that is as future proof as can be. It allows me to refer to my notes, do my writing, create new ideas, synthesize old ones and not wrestle with an application while I’m doing it. I think it’s a long term solution that is platform neutral and vastly extensible. — Dougist
Other things I’m doing as a result of focusing on FKM:
Next week: how FKM is influencing my plain text project and task management system.
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