PTPL 019: Updated Obsidian Planner Vault Download, and How Not to Copy Someone Else’s System

Plus: How to tell if your phone is a tool or a toy, and a free text widget for your lock screen

Sep 26, 2022

Welcome to the 19th in a series of posts documenting my plain text, paper-less, Obsidian-flavoured journey — exploring productivity through a future-proof, plain text mindset, with a soft spot for the paper that counts.

Today I’ll be talking about —

A free text widget for your iPhone lock screen
How to tell if you are using your phone as a toy, or a tool
How to avoid the disappointment of copying someone else’s system, and not getting the fulfilment you thought you would
My updated PTPL Obsidian planner demo vault — free on Gumroad

Productivity Inspiration

Aleid ter Weel wrote an interesting piece about taking back control of your day by learning how to tell if you’re using your phone as a toy, or a tool. She recommends we make a list of all the features of our phone (no app required), and all the apps. Next, and without overthinking, mark each as a tool, or a toy.

For example, the flashlight and camera on my phone are tools, but the A.R. special effects are, for me, a toy.

Medium is a tool, TikTok is a toy — though if your side hustle focuses on TikTok reels, and you only read the true crime stories on Medium, I can see how that could be reversed.

Productivity Tips

Free text widget for iOS 16 iPhone lock screen

I’ve always had text on my iPhone lock screen with my husband’s phone number on it, and my email address. An honest person will have immediate access to my contact details, and can (in theory) quickly get my phone back to me.

LockScreenOne, a free iPhone app, is just what I’ve been looking for to get that job done.

Evolution, or distraction?

Don’t copy someone else’s system, productivity or otherwise. You’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment if you do.

Instead, look at what they’ve done and make a note of why you like it. What do you think that person’s system can do for you, that your current system doesn’t already do? I find that making a note of my expectations before starting a new productivity technique, or even while waiting for that amazing product I rashly bought online to arrive, can help me look at it with a clearer, more analytical eye.

The problem was their unrealistic expectations or underlying motivations. They wanted it to be something that gave them validation and happiness, but it didn’t — because it doesn’t. — Anthony J. Yeung (source)

If it doesn’t give me the benefits I thought it would, why is that? Is there something I can retain from their idea to adapt to the way I work?

Be realistic and truthful enough with yourself that you can recognise where the system-hopping restlessness comes from. Learn to separate the real need for your system to evolve, with the desire for a distraction from things you’d prefer not to face.

Adventures in Obsidian

Today I launched my Gumroad store, with the PTPL Planner demo vault the first item on the shelf. You can download it free, here.

If you like what you see, please consider leaving a star rating on Gumroad.

This is the latest version of the planner I use every day in Obsidian, and sometimes in iA Writer.

The links and embeds have been simplified so that they work well in both apps, making it significantly different to the first vault I released as part of this article.

iA Writer Helped Simplify My Obsidian Daily Note
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Main differences between versions 1 and 2 of the demo planner vault:

Removed the months of the year from all but the Year page, as they didn’t preview well. Pressing the Command key while hovering over a link is a technique I’m using a lot these days. It’s especially useful on the daily page, where each part of the date points to a different link in the week-month-year chain.
Removed the pre-filled in intentions on the daily page. Realised I love having an (almost) empty page to write on each day.
Removed the weekly note section under each day on the weekly page. All days appear on the weekly page in order, but 100% of the content in that section now comes from my daily notes.
Added a link to every month, week, and day to the yearly page. This is a compilation of the weeks currently showing on each week and month page, pulled into one location via transclusion. Will it be useful? Can’t say, but it sure does look nice!

Is this it, or will these weekly and daily notes continue to evolve?

Who knows? I think they’ll continue to evolve as new ideas for simplifying come to mind, but really, what does it matter?

The important thing is that this latest iteration has me feeling a sense of planner peace I haven’t felt in a long time.