DeveloPassion's Newsletter #154 - Knowledge Management Matters

Edition 154 of my newsletter, discussing Knowledge Management, Knowledge Work, Zen Productivity, Personal Organization, and more!

DeveloPassion's Newsletter #154 - Knowledge Management Matters

Welcome

Another week, another newsletter! I hope that you all had a great one 🤩

This week, I've worked on the Knowledge Worker Kit, and added many sections about Personal Knowledge Management. The cool part is that it not only increases the value of the offering, but also helps me publish more content. Double win 🎉

I've also continued reading How We Learn by Stanislas Dehaene. It's a great read, and I'm capturing tons of cool insights. I especially enjoy all the parallels he draws between Deep Learning techniques and how the brain actually works. It's definitely a book I will recommend!

If you enjoy this newsletter, then please subscribe to support me and share the link around! ❤️

Alright, let's gooooo 🚀

The lab 🧪

My focus is almost solely on the Knowledge Worker Kit. So far, I've sold 45 copies ($1.6K), and I'm hoping to sell a lot more. The content is valuable, the feedback has been great so far, so this is really motivating. I can really see myself working on this for a few years! There's so much I want to share ❤️

Knowledge Worker Kit and community (BETA)
Who is this for?You are a Knowledge Worker or Lifelong LearnerYou feel disorganized, unproductive, or overwhelmedYou don’t know how to go to the next levelYou want to learn from someone who’s always on top of thingsI have a proven track record of delivering at work and with my side projects. I have worked as a software developer, team leader, project manager, IT architect, information management specialist, CTO, founder, coach, and solopreneur. I have also written and published 3 books, 300+ articles, courses, YouTube videos, digital products, manage communities, and more! And I did it all with a busy life and kids. My personal system works and helps me achieve my goals consistently.You want a solid system that scalesBeing a Knowledge Worker today is much more challenging than it ever was. Getting started ain’t easy, and there are many traps to fall into. Spare yourself some time and benefit from my experience and battle-tested system. I’ll share everything I know with you: my approach, my systems, my routines, templates, guidance, and more! My mission is to help you avoid the pitfalls of Knowledge Work and empower you through technology.After you finish exploring the guide, you’ll have:Clarity in your life and an obvious path forwardSolid habits, routines, and systemsClear ideas about how to “manage” your careerAn effective approach to learning new thingsSolid knowledge management and personal organization systemsKnowledge about how to organize, plan, control, and manage projects (large and small!)A toolkit to prioritize workA system to manage your tasks at scaleEffective means to focus your attention and manage your timeWork methods that will propel your career forwardWhat is this?I’ve been passionate about information, knowledge management, learning, personal organization, PKM, and productivity for more than 20 years. As an author, blogger, knowledge worker, entrepreneur, coach, and father of 3 kids, I needed effective solutions to be and stay organized, focused, and productive. The Knowledge Worker Kit includes everything I know about these topics, and more!What’s included?WARNING: The Knowledge Worker Kit is in BETA. The content will be added and expanded over time. If you buy access now, you’ll benefit from a lower price. The product is already available so that I can find early adopters and get as much feedback as possible in order to make it great for everyone.If you buy access to the Knowledge Worker Kit, you’ll get:The user guideAll the templates and guidanceLifetime access to the private community for support and knowledge sharingLifetime access to all community events (meetups, workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions, invited talks, etc)Ask Me Anything (AMA) Q&As with meIn addition, you’ll also get free access to all future updates. Over time, I’ll continue expanding the kit with new ideas, techniques, systems, templates, and more!What’s in the user guide?The user guide is a growing and evergreen knowledge base. It includes detailed explanations covering a wide range of topics that all Knowledge workers should explore:01. Clarity: values, behaviors, goals, non-goals, priorities, and intentions02. Habits, routines, systems, processes and methods03. Career Management and Anticipation04. Learning05. Projects Knowledge Management and Journaling06. Projects Organization07. Planning and Prioritization08. Task Management09. Focus, Attention, Time Management and Action10. Personal Development11. Control: periodic reviews, progress tracking, course-adjustment12. Personal Organization13. WorkThe user guide is a Notion space including tons of articles, how-to guides, guidance, and links to useful templates and resources.You will get to explore the content at your own pace, and to focus on what is useful to you right now, as each section is actionable on its own.Evergreen ContentThe Knowledge Worker Toolkit is going to expand over time. Day after day, week after week. Buy it once, and you will have access to all future updates.Overview of the main topics01. ClarityThis part explores key elements that help bring clarity to one’s life:NeedsValuesPrinciplesGoalsPrioritiesEach of those is important to know what matters, what has value, and what to focus on.02. Habits, routines, systems, processes and methodsThis part explores the base elements of productivity systems:Habits and routinesSystems, processes, and methodsThose are key to building an “effortless” life, requiring as little willpower/motivation as possible to make things happen.03. Career Management and AnticipationThis part focuses on career management: its importance, your responsibility, the mindset you need to acquire, and all the related ideas.04. LearningThis part shares ideas about how to…Learn how you best learnLearn more effectivelyExplore new topicsResearchFilter informationLeverage AI and LLMs…05. Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) and JournalingThis part explores how to collect, organize, and link all your knowledge and information. It explores the main concepts of PKM, note-taking, note-making, tools of the trade, and structures/tips to help you keep everything useful, manageable, and maintainable as your knowledge base grows.It also introduces journaling and how to approach it to support your whole life.06. Projects OrganizationThis part focuses on how to organize projects and their information in a way that enables you and your teams to make focused progress.It shares ideas about how to organize project information, how to document projects, how to organize backlogs, etc.07. Planning and PrioritizationThis part focuses on how to plan projects and tasks, how to deal with deadlines, and how to prioritize work using various methods.08. Task ManagementThis part focuses on task management for personal and professional projects. It explores ways to keep tasks under control, how to organize personal work, and how to make the link between your different backlogs and your day-to-day life.09. Focus, Attention, Time Management and ActionThis part focuses on how to make things happen every single day, regardless of whatever is going on in your life. It’s all about techniques, tips & tricks, and tools to help you better manage your time, focus, and attention in order to ACT.10. Personal DevelopmentThis part explores important aspects of Personal Development that can make a big difference in a Knowledge Worker’s life. A sane mind in a sane body.11. ControlThis part is dedicated to control. How to control your progress, your trajectory, your projects, etc. And also, how to adjust course when things don’t go as expected.12. Personal OrganizationThis part helps better organize yourself and your information. It shares “zen” techniques you can use to remain organized, independently of how much information you have to juggle with.13. WorkThis part is all about WORK. How to do the work, how to improve your attitude, your results, and your recognition. It also dives into how to better collaborate with others to achieve your goals and those of your company/group.

Other than that, I didn't progress much on my other ongoing ideas. YouTube is still on hold at the moment, but I'm going to record and publish new things soon!

New articles

I've published an article covering how to connect ideas together. If links, backlinks, tags, organization systems, or Knowledge Graphs are unfamiliar, then go check it out!

How to connect ideas together
As you learn and grow, you’ll accumulate more and more knowledge. While each piece is important, the relationships between ideas is, at least, as important as the ideas themselves.

I've also published an introduction to Personal Organization. It discusses key elements of Personal Organization systems:

Personal Organization 101
Do you feel disorganized? Overwhelmed? Lost? Drowned in a mess? Do you regularly forget tasks? Do you miss your deadlines? Do you lose your files? If any of those ring a bell, then you may need to read this!

That content will also be part of the Knowledge Worker Kit 🚀

Quotes of the week

  • Be studious in your profession, and you will be learned. Be industrious and frugal and you will be rich. Be sober and temperate and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous and you will be happy — Benjamin Franklin
  • All knowledge is personal, and all personal knowledge is passionate — Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge
  • Man is a knowing animal — Michael Polanyi

Thinking and learning

This week I've listened to a mind-blowing podcast episode in which Lex Fridman interviews Matthew Cox, a con-man who once was one of the most wanted criminals in the US. The episode lasts almost 6 hours, but I couldn't stop listening. Matthew Cox has a gift for telling entertaining stories, and his own is quite something! It's amazing how far people can go when they're arrogant.

While we're discussing podcasts, I've also listened to a series of interviews about ChatGPT by Dan Shipper of Every:

It shares cool ideas and tips about how to better use LLMs.

Tiago Forte has interviewed Nick Milo about Obsidian. Well worth a watch if you're on the fence about Obsidian:

Gareth Stretton, one of the members of our PKM community has published a cool article explaining how to do time tracking in Obsidian. He shares his method, but also sells a template vault so that you can use his approach in the blink of an eye:

Obsidian: Time Tracking
In this article I share how Obsidian can be used to summarize your activities. The simple dashboard lists the major task and time spent…

Marco Serafini has published an interesting video explaining how to create cool data visualizations in Obsidian using the Obsidian Charts plugin:

Obsidian Starter Kit
Jump straight to stress-free note-making with Obsidian