PLAIN TEXT, PAPER-LESS PRODUCTIVITY DIGEST
PTPL #20: On Over-Automation, a New To-Do List Structure, and Journaling in Obsidian
Also: Tana — a revolutionary new productivity app to check out
Welcome to the 20th in a series of posts documenting my plain text, paper-less, Obsidian-flavoured journey — exploring productivity through a future-proof, plain text mindset, with a soft spot for the paper that counts.
Past Episodes live in my PTPL List.
Today I’ll be talking about —
- The dangers of over-automating a productivity system
- A new to-do list structure: Done, Waiting, Top 3, Soon (DWTS)
- Tana — a new (revolutionary?) productivity app you might want to check out
- Why journal (or anything else) in Obsidian, rather than DayOne
Productivity Inspiration
Just because you can automate your productivity system, doesn’t mean you should
Charlie Brown’s story “Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should” got me thinking.
Such wisdom in this phrase! It’s one I regularly used with my offspring as they grew. All four needed it. Some to stop them taking on too much, others, to keep them (and us) alive. Here’s a good one:
Just because you can use AI to do your job doesn’t mean you should
— Charlie Brown
There’s a parallel here with productivity. Don’t over-automate your productivity system beyond your needs, to the extent that you lose touch with the bigger picture. Yes, even when that automation claims to give you a bird’s eye view.
Don’t misunderstand me; I am a fan of freeing up brain space by automating repetitive tasks. This warning is about over-automating. You’ll need to be the judge of where that line is in your productivity world.
One way I’m avoiding this trap is by de-automating my to-do list. I used to dump tasks inside my daily/weekly notes and project pages, and pull them together with the Tasks plugin. Hey, it’s a great plugin, if that’s what you’re looking for! But a more manual approach is working better for me these days. That could be because I’m old(-ish) and only work with one other person, but I suspect it’s also because I don’t feel on top of things without a bit of useful friction.
New AI productivity app: Tana
I heard about Tana from TFT Hacker over on Twitter. If he thinks it’s that good, I want to take a look. I don’t have too much to tell you, sorry, other than that if you want to check it out, you’d better go put your name down.
Productivity Tips
- If your email provider or app doesn’t do this automatically, set up a shortcut to place all newsletters into a group or folder. BIG time and brain-space saver! Read more.
- Here’s a simple way to structure your to-do list, from Todd Lewandowski. He calls it DWTS, and no, it’s not a reference to a popular TV show! DWTS stands for Done, Waiting, Top 3, and Soon. Todd has successfully used this approach in his personal and professional life for 15 years. I’m grateful he chose to share it. Here’s how I’ve been implementing it.
This week’s stories:
Adventures in Obsidian
Why journal in Obsidian?
In a recent Reddit thread, users were discussing whether Obsidian or DayOne is better for journaling. The verdict: Both can work, but DayOne is automatically encrypted and easier to use.
This comment nicely sums up my views on the topic:
The downside is that your sensitive, personal journal entries are encrypted on
someone else’s server that you have to pay for, in order to have access to your
own notes. Obsidian lets you keep your own notes on your own computer under
your own control. You can password protect them, back them up, and even
encrypt them if you wanted to badly enough. But with proprietary apps, you pay
the company to keep your data “safe in the cloud” (which is about the biggest
oxymoron ever) and hope they don’t go out of business or sell your data to
another company. With Obsidian, you keep your own notes, at whatever level of
security you need personally, for free. And if Obsidian ever vanishes, you STILL
have your own notes on your own computer.
— No_Bid_3355
Free Planner Vault News
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded my free Obsidian planner demo vault, and an especial thank you to those who sent money my way. I’m very grateful for your support. My planner system continues to evolve toward simplicity, and eliminating reliance on Obsidian-only features. Expect a new update in the next week or so, showing how I implement the DWTS to-do list mentioned above.
Past Episodes live in my PTPL List.
Other things I’ve written about Obsidian live here.
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