[{"_path":"/my-workflow-revisited","_draft":false,"_partial":false,"_locale":"en","_empty":false,"title":"My Workflow: Revisited","description":"My workflow, appropriately enough, is the flow of information from one tool to the next. The central tenets of this system are:","excerpt":{"type":"root","children":[{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"My workflow, appropriately enough, is the flow of information from one tool to the next. The central tenets of this system are:"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"blockquote","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Collect"}]},{"type":"text","value":" → "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Organize"}]},{"type":"text","value":" → "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Action"}]}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"The tools in each of these steps may vary based on the type of work I’m performing. Starting with a collection of ideas and pushing them through the system into actionable outcomes. Designed over the course of many years, this workflow is a combobulation of "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Getting Things Done"}]},{"type":"text","value":", "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"PARA"}]},{"type":"text","value":", and "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Zettlekasten"}]},{"type":"text","value":". "},{"type":"element","tag":"mark","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"ymmv"}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"h3","props":{"id":"collect"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Collect"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"All collection happens in the "},{"type":"element","tag":"a","props":{"href":"/bear-notes"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Bear Notes"}]},{"type":"text","value":" app. Described as a "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"fleeting note"}]},{"type":"text","value":" in Zettlekasten or the "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"inbox"}]},{"type":"text","value":" in GTD. Every idea, thought, link, random pieces of data, enter the workflow as a new note in Bear, untagged."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Bear app natively supports an "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"@untagged"}]},{"type":"text","value":" filter that I use during my "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"daily review"}]},{"type":"text","value":" at the end of each day to process the notes."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"h3","props":{"id":"organize"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Organize"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Processing these notes daily is a crucial step in the workflow, decisions MUST be made; notes that no longer seem interesting are deleted."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Any actionable item that take under 2 minutes is performed immediately in the ways of GTD."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Tasks, links, and time-sensitive items are pushed to the Microsoft To-Do app (more on this in the "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Action"}]},{"type":"text","value":" section below)."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"The Zettlekasten Method"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":"\nNotes with ideas and thoughts are elaborated on and linked to other notes."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"ul","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Information is spread across many interconnected notes."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Linking related ideas form the hierarchy rather than categorizing notes by topic."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Notes are organized based on how you might use them in the future."}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"If you're doing the Zettelkasten Method right, it should resemble a wiki. It's easy for me to get lost in the process, but every now and then, I'll look at the notes and ask myself if it still looks like my personal wikipedia."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"blockquote","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"This is NOT, however, a \"set it and forget it\" system. Every time a new note is added, you must follow through with the curation; adding links to related notes, including references to source information, etc."}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Goals, Projects, Tasks"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":"\nThe "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"raison d’être"}]},{"type":"text","value":" of all these notes."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"ul","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Goals"}]},{"type":"text","value":" are high level themes in my life. Never ending pursuits."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Projects"}]},{"type":"text","value":" contain a series of tasks linked to a goal with a deadline."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Tasks"}]},{"type":"text","value":" are actionable steps that can be finished."}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Tags"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"img","props":{"alt":"Microsoft To-do","src":"/assets/images/img-bear-notes-tags.png"},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":" The top level tags provide a structure for projects and goals and are visually better thought of as "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"notebooks"}]},{"type":"text","value":". The nested tags are "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"entry points"}]},{"type":"text","value":" to areas of interests."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"The tags starting with an underscore (so they are sorted at the top, alphabetically) are my "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"notebooks"}]},{"type":"text","value":" for apps I work on. The "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Deck of Pain"}]},{"type":"text","value":" app, has 11 projects and their notes are collectively tagged with "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"_deck of pain"}]},{"type":"text","value":"."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"The remaining tags are notebooks related to themes in my life."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"My "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Travel"}]},{"type":"text","value":" notebook, contains notes related to places I want to travel or articles about traveling. Actually traveling to Japan will become a project with actionable tasks like booking flight, accommodations, etc."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"h3","props":{"id":"action"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Action"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Tasks are an atomic unit of work, isolated, with a clear definition of done. Crossing off tasks help track progress, create momentum, and maintain motivation in the project."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"All my tasks are in context specific apps, best suited to track and complete them."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Microsoft To-Do"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":"\nTasks here are grouped by "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"context"}]},{"type":"text","value":" borrowed from GTD. My post on "},{"type":"element","tag":"a","props":{"href":"/microsoft-to-do"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Microsoft To-Do"}]},{"type":"text","value":" describes how I use it to focus on tasks for the context or frame of mind I’m in."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"In addition to grouping them by context, there is also a transitory list called "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"My Day"}]},{"type":"text","value":". It’s a great way for me to see a focused list of the most important action items for that day."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"I start each day here."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Linear"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":"\nIssue tracking for software development. I wrote about how I use "},{"type":"element","tag":"a","props":{"href":"/linear-app"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Linear"}]},{"type":"text","value":" to manage my software projects. "},{"type":"element","tag":"em","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Issues"}]},{"type":"text","value":" in Linear adhere to the same rules as the tasks in the To-Do app. All of my development work is in Github and Linear provides an automated way to link the tasks to the codebase."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"strong","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"MindNode"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"br","props":{},"children":[]},{"type":"text","value":"\nSometimes the collection of notes in a project can be difficult to visualize as a coherent concept. This happens to me most with writing projects, where I have a lot of related things to talk about, but can’t easily flow from one idea to the next. Mind mapping helps provide a structure/outline for the concept and guides me understanding the next steps. My post on "},{"type":"element","tag":"a","props":{"href":"/mindnode"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"MindNode"}]},{"type":"text","value":" has an example of how I drafted that very post in MindNode first."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"h3","props":{"id":"books-movies-podcasts"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Books, Movies, Podcasts"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"I used to have a note with a running list of books I’d like to read or movies I’d like to watch. It didn’t fit the system. Content that is recommended or that I find interesting are added directly to these respective apps:"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"ul","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Kindle (books)"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Letterboxd (movies)"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"li","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Castro (podcasts)"}]}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"I prioritize, consume, and these apps automatically log or archive them. Maintaining a complete history without cluttering my workflow. Highlights from books or show notes from podcasts are often collected in the workflow and lead to new projects or further reading."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"h3","props":{"id":"final-thought"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"Final thought"}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"This workflow helps me be and stay productive. When the process works, I find myself looking forward to the next day, energized and ready to tackle the projects at hand."}]},{"type":"element","tag":"p","props":{},"children":[{"type":"element","tag":"contact","props":{},"children":[]}]}]},"slug":"my-workflow-revisited","date":"2022-01-02T05:00:00.000Z","tags":["workflow","gtd","zettelkasten"],"_type":"markdown","_id":"content:my-workflow-revisited.md","_source":"content","_file":"my-workflow-revisited.md","_extension":"md"},{"_path":"/one-small-step-at-a-time","_draft":false,"_partial":false,"_locale":"en","_empty":false,"title":"One Small Step At A Time","description":"TBD","excerpt":"lorem ipsum....","slug":"one-small-step-at-a-time","date":"2022-08-04T05:00:00.000Z","tags":["software philosophy"],"draft":true,"_type":"markdown","_id":"content:one-small-step-at-a-time.md","_source":"content","_file":"one-small-step-at-a-time.md","_extension":"md"}]