Stop Procrastinating With Note-Taking Apps Like Obsidian, Roam, Logseq

Creators:: Sam Matla
Date:: 2022-12-14
Source:: https://youtu.be/baKCC2uTbRc
Status:: 🟩

Notes

Sophisticated Procrastination:

• talking about something, but actually not doing it
• PKM can be sophisticated procrastination
  • creating complex systems → makes you feel smart → feel smart = feel good → good feels don't always equal good work
  • you feel smart, but aren't
  • optimizing the system all the time, takes much time
  • Collector's Fallacy

PKM is not work!

• if you treat it as work, you give PKM as much time as possible
• if you treat it as none-work, you will limit the time effort for it
• note taking, research, planning, etc. help with the work, but it's not the work that matters
• PKM is an aid to your work, not the work itself

The Optimization-Procrastination Trap

• perfect system
• constantly change the tool
• constant optimizing the system, watch tutorials how to make the system better
• → "good enough" should be your principle

The "Perfect Tool" Trap

• people are talking about why they switched from one tool to another
• there is no tool that does the work for you

How to solve it?

1. Stick with one tool for the next 6 months
2. Trust your brain more (and relax)
   • second brain can be helpful, but the actual thinking is done by your brain
3. Be project-based with your note-taking
   • ignore all the stuff that is not relevant for your current projects
   • you will procrastinate less, because you have a targeted outcome
4. Improve your work capacity & output FIRST
5. Set clear boundaries
   • example: you work on your note taking system to improve it for maximum 30 minutes per day
   • separate capture and process of information → process the captured information at a later time and structure it then

YouTube Comments

use note-taking / note-making as a way to thinking (Sascha Fast)

if you don't have a framework - take GTD and PARA Method with links (Andrew Moon)

This is the missing meta-perspective. Great to have the general system (BASB) by Tiago Forte, an overview of the apps by Franceso D'Alessio, details about Obsidian by Nick Milo, beautiful concepts like digital gardening by Maggie Appleton and all those excellent and inspiring guys. But if you want to get real work done, you have to lean back, look at your procrastinating self, rethink and follow those principles.
(Hayley)

PKM isn't only for work, it helps also to keep track of anything (Channel)

"the enemy of a good plan is a perfect plan" (Andrew Gallegos)