I can't do anything the easy way

I seem to find ways to complicate and make a chore of even the simplest of tasks and projects; even those that are supposed to be fun. This cultivating a Digital Garden is proving to be no different. I haven't been able to set a true workflow because I can't pick a single methodology, because I am attempting to utilize multiple systems in multiple areas and kind of Frankenstein them together to work in this environment. I have always found comfort in a template, a structure, something that tells me what I can do and the boundaries of how far I can go. It has hindered me from exploring and experiencing so much and I am hoping that by challenging that need for guardrails in this small way doors will open for me to be able to challenge it in greater areas of my life as well.

Some Key Points

• The name of the game is linking. Links everywhere. As I am going along, if I have something that I think should be a note for whatever reason I go ahead an make it one with the double brackets [[ ]]

  • This allows me to keep on going with what I am doing and not break flow, and leaves a visible reminder to return to that idea later for processing
    • Thats where Graph View really comes in handy. This view (the map on the right side of your screen, but for the entire vault) shows me orphan notes so I can process them when it is time to do so. For some things that are simple concept notes I may just jump in and knock it out. For more involved ideas, I may wait until I see a cluster forming with the links before working on it.

• My note taking style and flow is constantly in flux, but right now I am heavily influenced by the Zettelkasten method and the idea of Atomic Notes and Evergreen Notes. Since I am not only keeping a PKM here but also doing long form writing (basically blogging I guess, but other stuff as well) and leaving myself random notes, I have to come up with some sort of hybrid system that fits all my goals

  • This has been a great exercise in learning to let go of systems and defining my own goals clearly and then working to meet them. A lot of the time I would change/edit my goals or desires to fit a system instead of changing the system to fit goals/desires. Which is funny since one of the most life changing things I ever heard was from an old mentor during my deconstruction from Christianity when we discussed the writings of Chesterton, primarily his book Orthodoxy and we talked about how you don't change your personal dogma to match the church, you take what works from the church that fits your dogma, or, Don't break your leg to fit into a box, make a box that fits.

I know that I don't know everything, and would love to hear your thoughts about any of the topics discussed in the garden. You can visit My Contact Page Here to find all the ways to connect with me, or you can simply Send an email