A productivity cornucopia of tutorials, tips, and templates — Welcome to an index of the stories I’ve written, and resources compiled on and around Obsidian, the app that describes itself as a “a powerful knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.” Here’s where you will find the complete list of articles I’ve written…

PLUS TaskPaper in Obsidian, and comparing MoneyWiz with YNAB — Not a Medium member? Here’s my referral link, or you can read my work for free as it’s released, on Substack. Articles lock 3 days after publication. Welcome to the Plain Text, Paper — Less Productivity Digest! I’m Ellane, and this is a once-a-week taster of the unusual, the helpful…

And why I like paper over digital sketchnoting — The other day I read this question on Mastodon from Austin Govella: What should you put on the last slide of a presentation? One commenter, Jorge Arango, recommended a video called How to Speak, from a presentation given by Patrick Winston, an MIT professor who passed away in 2019. I…

PLUS The 3 neurochemicals of fun, fear, and focus, and why they matter — A note to non-Medium members: I’ve decided to remove the Substack paywall on all articles less than a week old. This means that you can read my work over there as it is released, paying member of Substack, Medium, or not. Welcome to the Plain Text, Paper — Less Productivity…

Focus on your notes, not the app they’re in — Some people seem to want to like Obsidian, but feel initially overwhelmed by the puzzling user interface, the massive number of plugins, and all the options for making it look pretty once you really get going. That was my experience, and since those early days I’ve heard many people say…

PLUS A bare bones time-line template for my Obsidian daily notes — Welcome to the Plain Text, Paper — Less Productivity Digest! I’m Ellane, and this is a once-a-week taster of the unusual, the helpful, and the delightfully mundane, as well as the next instalment in my quest to future proof and simplify my digital-analog workflow. This week — To do apps…

An alternative for people who don’t get on with Git — You already know you should be backing up your work, and I’ll optimistically assume you’re already doing that. But are you doing enough? Do you have sufficient version control of your most important files, without spamming your backup service? I know, I know. Git does this very, very well. But…

PLUS Tips for tables, and 3 lessons after using Obsidian for a year — Welcome to the Plain Text, Paper — Less Productivity Digest! I’m Ellane, and this is a once-a-week taster of the unusual, the helpful, and the delightfully mundane, as well as the next instalment in my quest to future proof and simplify my digital-analog workflow. This week — Tables in Obsidian …

A non-precious notebook might be the key to boosting your creative process, too — Section 1, Where I unapologetically claim the fussbudget crown I’ve heard that the things that bring us the most joy, also have the potential to deliver the greatest pain. It’s true! If you’ve ever parented a teen or experienced the delight of picking up a stunningly beautiful notebook only to discover dark, 8 millimetre-spaced lines inside, you’ll know exactly…