PTPL 040: One Small Idea Has Profoundly Changed the Way I Use Obsidian
PLUS the pens I'm currently using, how your tools affect your work, and the benefits of co-working sessions
This week —
How co-working sessions have supercharged my productivity
The tools you use and the places you use them in, really do affect your thinking
Obsidian is now for thoughts and ideas written in my words, no one else’s
A new sketchnoting book, and the pens I’m using
Productivity Tips and Inspiration
Co-working sessions
Co-working sessions are great for productivity. At the time of writing I’ve been to three, and can’t speak more highly of them.
Our sessions are two hours long, in four 25-minute pomodoros. The accountability factor is enormously motivating, and the reason why I’m focussing better and getting more done than I thought possible in each session!
Sessions are community organised through Ness Labs, but I’m sure there are other places already running sessions in your time zone. Javier Luis Gomez*, who runs the session I’m in, is a health coach who runs an Asian time zoned co-working session in the afternoon, and another in the evening via a Ship 30 for 30 group he was in that decided to continue supporting each other after it ended.
Other places to find a co-working session to suit you:
https:focusmate.com
https://interintellect.com
Search the #coworking hashtag
*Javier’s blog is worth checking out. He talks about the need for human connection to get healthy, and I think this applies to other areas we want to improve, including how we use our time and what we produce with the time we have.
Tools and places affect your thinking
Jorge Arango’s Informa(c)tion newsletter last week talked about how we think, and therefore how the work we do, is affected by the tools we use and the places in which we use them.
I think I’ve been in denial about that concept for quite some time, but no longer. While I’d like to believe that I can work the same anywhere, with any tool — I’ve been promoting app-agnosticism for years — I can no longer avoid the truth that our tools and environment do affect what we produce.
There’s more to learning and creating than writing down thoughts in a notebook: you must approach such tools as part of a system that includes several other tools and practices that will allow you to think and work differently.
The whole influences outcomes more than any individual part. Once you understand that, you can tweak components to support the whole more effectively.
— Jorge Arango | Information architect, author, and educator
Adventures in Plain Text (and a little paper)
One little idea has profoundly changed the way I use Obsidian
Before our most recent Ness Labs co-working session began, Javier told us he would be bringing ideas from Readwise into Obsidian. Puzzled, I asked him why he doesn’t just connect the two, to automate the process.
His answer was simple, but so profound it’s caused me to change everything:
When I search Obsidian, I only want to be searching my own ideas.
I’ve heard people say this before, but it seems I wasn’t ready to truly hear it. Isn’t that the way with so many things? Here’s a parallel: You can read about the importance of good food and exercise every day and do nothing about it, until one day you’re brought to a point where it hits you, and you’re motivated to make the change.
Having everything connected — ubiquitous linking — is still something I want and something I’m aiming for, but more like the Fediverse implementation, rather than one big, essentially borderless melting pot.
This is your on-the-ground report of my new way of keeping notes in Obsidian! Stay tuned for a deeper dive on the topic in coming weeks. Follow me on Mastodon (@ellane@pkm.social) to join the conversation around my thoughts as they arise.
This week’s adventure in paper: pens!
Talking about the tools we use (see the first section of this article), I have to admit that writing and drawing on real paper with yummy pens changes my output. I won’t say it’s always for the better, but it is different, and there’s value in that.
These are the pens I’m currently using for planning, taking fleeting notes, and sketchnoting:
Uniball Eye Micro
Uniball Eye Ultra Micro
Pilot Dr Grip 4+1 (the black is surprisingly good for lighter lines and shading)
Pilot Frixion .7mm (for reusable paper)
Pilot Frixion coloured markers (set of 12)
Tombow ABT N75 (double ended, grey, for shading)
Mike Rohde’s Sketchnoting Handbook is my latest book buy. I bought the PDF version because it’s cheaper, delivery was instant, I don’t need to find a place for it on my shelf, it’s supremely portable, and I can draw and note all over the pages on my iPad (in Noteshelf). If you’re interested in the book, hopefully the code I used to get 40% off (ROHDE40) is still valid.