Published inWorkings·PinnedMember-onlyThe Philosophy of Organizing Our NotesPragmatists versus essentialists. Or both. — One of the arguments that crops up in work processing, over and over again, is how to organize our notes. This idea of organizing has several layers: What forms of organizing do the tools themselves provide? For example, does a tool provide folders, tags, both, or neither? How many ways…Obsidian6 min readObsidian6 min read
Published inWorkings·PinnedMember-onlyA Bicycle for the Mind: An OdysseyNot second brains, but mind bikes. — What a computer is to me is, it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with. And it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds. | Steve Jobs I’ve written a great deal about what others call notetaking tools, and which I call workings: tools to think…Second Brain8 min readSecond Brain8 min read
Published inWorkings·PinnedMember-onlyWriting Using Canvas and Kanban in ObsidianObsidian now contains a set of tools that are quite similar — at least in part — to what Scrintal or Scrivener offers to researchers and writers. — I’ve written in the past about using the Kanban plug-in in Obsidian as a support for writing: see Card-Based Writing in Obsidian Using Kanban. I described the use of the Kanban as a means to aggregate materials for my Work Futures newsletter: When I find something to add to the…Obsidian5 min readObsidian5 min read
PinnedDig your own hole, sharpen your own shovelAll work is personal. In a recent post (see Deep business culture eats shallow corporate culture), I took a somewhat different path to the question of reengagement in business. It’s well known that only 30% of the respondents to a recent study considered themselves engaged at work (see Why are…Tech5 min readTech5 min read
Published inWorkings·PinnedMember-onlyHow I Take Notes When Doing ResearchFollowing a suggestion by Clive Thompson. — Clive Thompson recently wrote How I Take Notes When I’m Doing Research, in which he lays out his thinking about research, and — to a limited extent — the tools and techniques he employs. He ends the piece he asks ‘Let me know if you do something like this, what…Research7 min readResearch7 min read
May 23Member-onlyWord of the Day: De-Risking“De-risking” is the new term of art, created by the Europeans, to describe a strategy of reducing their dependence on Chinese supply chains…Word Of The Day1 min readWord Of The Day1 min read
May 19Member-onlyWord of the Day: Longue DuréeThe longue durée (French pronunciation: [lɔ̃ɡ dyʁe]; English: the long term) is the French Annales School approach to the study of history. It gives priority to long-term historical structures over…Word Of The Day1 min readWord Of The Day1 min read
May 13Member-onlyWord of the Day: Démarchedé·marche noun a political step or initiative. “foreign policy démarches” When the Pentagon detected a Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States this year, Ms. Sherman called in a…Wotd1 min readWotd1 min read
May 9Member-onlyWord of the Day: Hope FatigueProbably behind all the mass murders — Wotd1 min readWotd1 min read
