DeveloPassion's Newsletter #155 - Personal Knowledge Management in Practice

Edition 155 of my newsletter, discussing Knowledge Management, Knowledge Work, Zen Productivity, Personal Organization, and more!

DeveloPassion's Newsletter #155 - Personal Knowledge Management in Practice

Welcome

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

This week, I've continued working on the Knowledge Worker Kit's part about Personal Knowledge Management. That part is so important to me that I really want to nail it. First, it needs to really be convincing. It needs to highlight its value for personal and professional development as well as its compounding effects. Second, it needs to be practical enough so that people who are not familiar with the topic understand what it means and how it works, so that they can get started without feeling lost.

The interesting aspect of explaining PKM from the ground up is that it forces me to go step by step and chain the topics in a thoughtful way. As such, it creates a mini-course on the topic, that should be valuable to the community, but also potentially to others. For instance, I could repurpose that content to create a free 7-day e-mail course (anyone interested??).

Alright, let's gooooo 🚀

The lab 🧪

As I've mentioned, I've continued working on the Knowledge Worker Kit. I've added the following articles recently:

There's still quite a lot to cover, but this is already quite useful for our community members.

I feel far behind on the marketing side. I've lost my momentum on X, and don't publish nearly enough. It's a real grind, and it feels so tiresome sometimes. Meh! I wish more readers would help me share the word about what I'm spending so much time and efforts on 😂

Why I chose Obsidian

Obsidian is my favorite note-taking and Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) tool.

I like it because:

  • It stores everything locally in an Open Data format (Markdown), meaning that the data will always remain mine, and in a format that I will always be able to edit and maintain. This is great for vendor independence, privacy, security, etc
  • It is very performant compared to Web-based alternatives. It starts quickly, and all operations are lightning-fast
  • It has been audited by an independent security firm, meaning that it is secure and safe to use. It also means that they truly care about security
  • It has awesome built-in features such as local and global graphs, note metadata, canvas (diagrams), browser-like tabs, powerful search capabilities, bookmarks, support for links and backlinks, tags, theming, and much more
  • It has a huge and very welcoming community
  • It has a large collection of plugins (1000+). I listed my favorite ones a while ago
  • It is free

There are more reasons, but those are the most important ones for me.

Curious about Obsidian? Then check out my beginner's guide.

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Obsidian
Discover Obsidian with this ultimate guide for beginners. Don’t waste time, and learn what really matters.

And if you want to take the fast lane, then check out the Obsidian Starter Kit. I've been working on it for the last two years, and it made hundreds of customers happy:

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

New articles

No new articles this week, but I'm preparing a guide about how to name notes thoughtfully.

Quotes of the week

  • You don't have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long time — Charlie Munger
  • The formula for failure is a few small errors consistently repeated — Shane Parrish

Thinking and learning

Long-term Attention Mechanisms in Personal Knowledge Management
The Power of Visual Meta-Notes
Gems from Polanyi’s Personal Knowledge and Tacit Dimension
A Selection of Quotes
What Are The 7 Different Learning Styles And Do They Work? | Avado
There’s a theory that human beings can be split into 7 different types of learners, so we decided to try and teach people about them in 7 different ways!
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.
How I put my whole life into a single database · Felix Krause
Obsidian Daily Note Implementation v2 – AgileAdam.com