Welcome to the 140th edition

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

The lab has moved almost two weeks ago already. It's been quite exhausting, but I'm slowly establishing new habits. I'm patient with myself as such a big change takes time to get accustomed to, but I'm highly motivated to engage the second gear as quickly as possible!

Alright, let's gooooo 🚀

The lab 🧪

This week, I've used all the time I could find focused my efforts on writing. I've gone through my ideas backlog, and I've prioritized topics for the coming weeks. I planned on publishing two articles, but only managed to finish one (link below).

Next week, my goal is to publish the second one and to edit/publish the video that I've recorded. I have yet to configure/test my new video recording studio.

I've also worked on the Obsidian Starter Kit to try and fix nagging issues with the Dataview plugin, without much success so far. I'll continue working on that, and will release a new version in the coming days. The system I have in place feels solid and seems really helpful for my existing customers, so I don't want to change everything all at once. I have many improvement ideas, but I'll roll those out step by step, to help accompany the change.

I'm also on the lookout for new problems to solve around note-taking, note-making, PKM and productivity in general. If there's something I can help you with, then I'd love to know (just hit reply!).

Last but not least, I really want to convince more of you to become paid subscribers. Currently, there are only 6/860 heroes among you ($32 MRR), but I'm sure that we can do better 🎉. It always feels bad to be asking for support, but I'll be honest. Without your support, there's little hope for me to continue working on the newsletter for long. I'm not all about business, but this endeavor has to be sustainable, and there aren't a million ways to achieve that. I don't want to turn the newsletter into yet another ad/spam source, and I don't want to sell you junk. All I want is to focus on delivering useful and timely information, as well as valuable content and products. And for that, the best solution is for me to get your financial support. Each contribution counts! ❤️. By the way, the newsletter discount is still available. And if you're not convinced, then please reply to tell me why, because I'd love to bring more value to your life!

New articles

I've published an article exploring how to better filter out the noise in our lives and how to better consume information: https://www.dsebastien.net/take-less-information-in-but-do-more-with-it/

Take less information in, but do more with it

If you struggle to filter the noise in your life and feel like you’re not taking advantage of what you consume, then this article is for you.

Sébastien DuboisSebastien Dubois

Quotes of the week

• The only way to find out if it will work out, is to do it — Simon Sinek
• If you can't decide, the answer is no — Naval Ravikant

Thinking and learning

I've written about how to capture thoughts and ideas before. The video below is also a gold mine of ideas on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fZ-qOKXOdM

I don't understand all the bashing about tags. Tags are great. I want tags in all apps. The real problem is knowing how to tag in a maintainable way. I've shared some thoughts about that a while ago. Here's an interesting article on this topic: https://medium.com/chris-messina/the-problem-with-the-problems-with-hashtags-35d4ba29b04d

The problem with the problems with hashtags

16 years after their invention, is it time for a change?

Chris MessinaChris Messina

For the newcomers here, have you already heard about my Obsidian Starter Course? It's a great introduction to Obsidian, but also to Personal Knowledge Management concepts and journaling:

Obsidian Starter Course

Who is this for?You are just getting started with note-taking or you’ve recently switched to ObsidianYou want to discover Obsidian and its key featuresYou wonder how to take smart notesYou want to know how to properly organize your notes and avoid creating an overwhelming messYou want a solid system…

Gumroad

I agree with L. M. Sacasas: the answer is not more information. The answer is the right information, at the right time. This is an important point I've tried to make in my latest article: take less information in, but do more with it!

The Answer Is Not More Information

My point turns out to be relatively straightforward: may be you and I don’t need more information. And, if we think that the key to navigating uncertainty and mitigating anxiety is simply more information, then we are probably going to make matters worse for ourselves.

The Convivial SocietyL. M. Sacasas

How to think better? A skill that very few schools actually teach!

How to Think Better: The Skill You’ve Never Been Taught

Thinking better isn’t about learning more; it’s about doing a few simple things that really help create unstoppable progress.

Farnam StreetFarnam Street

A wonderful presentation about linguistics and style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5J6BfToSw

Indie Hacking and bootstrapping

I feel like letting go of the indie hacking and bootstrapping section of this newsletter. My game plan is to focus solely on PKM and learning, and to provide more resources and insights about those topics.

What are your thoughts? Are you disappointed? Do you care? If at least 5% of you reply to complain, then I'll bring it back in some way ❤️

About Sébastien

Hello everyone! I'm Sébastien Dubois (you can follow me on Twitter 🐦).

I'm an author, founder, and CTO. I write books and articles about software development & IT, personal knowledge management, personal organization, and productivity. I also craft lovely digital products 🚀

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Ready to get to the next level?

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