Forte Labs

haven't seen anyone recommend this yet so I will toss in a link to PARA: https://fortelabs.co/blog/para/

You want a system simple enough to remember, as well as all these other properties (quoting Tiago here):

- universal, encompassing any conceivable kind of information from any source

- flexible, able to work with any project or activity you take on, now and in the future

- simple, not requiring any time-consuming maintenance, cataloguing, tagging, or reorganizing beyond a bare minimum

- actionable, integrating seamlessly with task management and project management methods

- cross-platform, able to be used with any application, now existing or yet to be developed

- outcome-oriented, structuring information in a way that supports the delivery of valuable work

- modular, allowing different levels of detail to be hidden or revealed, depending on the needs of the current task

- opportunistic, in the good sense, taking advantage of work already being performed, instead of requiring dedicated overhead time

So PARA breaks down to Projects — Areas — Resources — Archives:

- A Project is “a series of tasks linked to a goal, with a deadline.” Examples include: Complete app mockup; Develop project plan; Execute business development campaign; Write blog post; Finalize product specifications; Attend conference

- An Area of responsibility is “a sphere of activity with a standard to be maintained over time.” Examples include: Health; Finances, Professional Development; Travel;…

I didn't really understand org-mode for a long time either - my problem was that I would read tutorials which gave very detailed descriptions about the various theoretical abilities of org-mode, which are like tools, but left up to the reader the task of determining an overall "goal" or workflow to be accomplished using these tools. So I ended up just working in a single org-mode file, not really understanding which tools I might like to use, how I could use it as an organizational system.

For me, the lightbulb moment came from a couple of blog posts called "Building a Second Brain in Emacs and Org-Mode" [0][1], which outlined an actual workflow (based on Getting Things Done or GTD [1]) and explained how org-mode enhanced it. If you follow along, you may find it helpful to see the author's actual emacs configuration (especially the parts that relate to org-mode) [3], the templates he uses to create projects and e.g. weekly reviews [4], and a talk he gave at an Emacs meetup about his workflow. It could be a little more organized in a single place, but this is the best "tutorial" I've ever found about org-mode.

After implementing this myself, I've found that I use certain parts of it a lot, and other parts not at all. I also found that I prefer to periodically refile org-mode notes into a "knowledge repository" (a series of text files in my org-mode directory), rather than in evernote as suggested, and that this is best managed/browsed (for me) using Deft [6] rather than…

What I've written also has a connection with productivity systems like GTD (which I don't use personally but serves to illustrate my point).

Many if not most people on HN are knowledge workers. For us especially, many tasks in our inboxes are non-actionable. E.g. a link you stored that teaches a great trick to use your editor, or an elusive shell one-liner you came up with.

What to do with these? A good productivity system should also include a knowledge base, so that those non-actionable bits of information that have future value can be easily stored and later retrieved. Here they explain it better than I do: https://praxis.fortelabs.co/gtd-x-pkm-8ff720ef6939/

A further tweak is to force spaced repetition on those knowledge bits you want to be able to learn by heart. In Emacs, you can achieve this by simply tagging them for later org-drill (spaced-repetition) sessions.

As a student I used to do this with pen & paper. I would patiently deconstruct books into extremely long lists of items that included definitions, theorems, corollaries, demonstrations, and whatever concepts in the right order. Then I recalled them during repetition sessions. Doing this with a spaced-repetition algorithm is a much more efficient way, as you focus your effort on hard stuff and you time sessions appropriately to maximize the chances of learning it.

Anecdotal disagree here. I have a system that would probably be deemed complicated by anyone that would look at it (even more so than the OP article).

While I wouldn't consider myself the most successful person, I've got a lot done, and I attribute a lot of it to my system, notes, and organization. The system wasn't immediately complicated either, it has been developed and refined over 10 years to suit my needs. And for me in particular, it alleviates a lot of mental overhead and allows me to just focus on whatever it is I'm working on.

But that's just me, I think you do have a point to some extent. It depends on the person, YMMV.

Here's an article that goes into more about these concepts, the author calls it a "Second Brain":
https://fortelabs.co/blog/basboverview/

Surprised nobody has mentioned the PARA method. After years of ad-hoc organizing setups I started using it for both home and work (separately).

Best thing is it’s simple and gets out of the way, so I focus on what I’m trying to do and not on the metawork of maintaining some complex hierarchy. I looked at more complicated schemes like Johnny Decimal and they were not for me.

I organize my filesystem, notes app, and todo app in the same way. It works really well for me and has stopped the nagging desire to periodically optimize the system. It just gets out of the way so I can focus more.

I’m actually pretty neutral on Tiago Forte overall, not a big fan for various reasons. But his PARA system has been super useful for me. https://fortelabs.com/blog/para/

I ~like~ love Obsidian. I also like Steph Ango and his philosophies. In fact, a lot of his ideas shaped and improved mine. His approach is opinionated.

So pick the good ones you like and make your own.

For instance, I’m pretty well-organized, and I like it that way. This leads me to native organizations using folders and some patterns that I learnt aloong the way. Nothing more complicated. One day, if I have to walk off Obsidian, I can, and I will still know where things are.

Right now, my organization is a loose combo of PARA[1] and Johnny Decimal.[2]

Obsidian is another tool; it just happens to be one hell of a good tool.

1. https://fortelabs.com/blog/para/

2. https://johnnydecimal.com