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People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

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Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#61

Post by Jorslu »

dmd wrote: post #46
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

Over the last 20 years or so I've tried: index cards, wunderlist, todo.txt, remember the milk, Asana, Any.do, Evernote, Google Notebook, Simplenote, Trello, Workflowy, Google Keep, Bear Notes, org-mode, and probably a dozen others. Three years ago I started using Apple Notes and told my wife "if you see me trying anything else at all, yell at me". I've been pretty happy with it and am much more productive just using…

You have described the 2010's for me succinctly. Wow.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#62

Post by spzb »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #49
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

The same thing happens in the workplace, too. My last two jobs have had groups that adopted Notion and tried to use heaps of rules and templates and emojis that they wanted everyone to use to structure and document everything in Notion. It turns into an exercise where the Notion document becomes the goal, rather than a tool to help get work done. The Product Management group at my last company was the worst at this.…

> It turns into an exercise where the Notion document becomes the goal, rather than a tool to help get work done.

Same, except it's Jira and Confluence. Everything has to have story points assigned to it just so we can say we did an arbitrary number of points per sprint and show a impressive looking graph in retrospectives.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#63

Post by ravenstine »

dmd wrote: post #46
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

Over the last 20 years or so I've tried: index cards, wunderlist, todo.txt, remember the milk, Asana, Any.do, Evernote, Google Notebook, Simplenote, Trello, Workflowy, Google Keep, Bear Notes, org-mode, and probably a dozen others. Three years ago I started using Apple Notes and told my wife "if you see me trying anything else at all, yell at me". I've been pretty happy with it and am much more productive just using…

Been using Apple Notes for 8 years now and can't imagine using any other tool at this point. Everything else is too complicated and with distracting thrills, or is too barebones. Notes is the perfect balance, and I like that the notes can be totally offline.

The only thing that needs improvement is the search function.

EDIT: Another thing I really like about Notes is how notes can be password protected, which includes full encryption, and they can be unlocked with your fingerprint. If the user doesn't interact with the app for a few minutes, the notes automatically relock themselves. This is great for journaling because I can be confident that the more candid thoughts I express won't be accidentally read by anyone.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#64

Post by czbond »

mabbo wrote: post #33

The software that's running my life right now is ToDoist. I have daily chores, I need to remember to do at different times of the day. Other things are every 3 days. Others are on specific days. Others are every k weeks. If I need to remember to do something, it goes on the list with a specific day and time I want to do it by. At the end of every day I review what's left and either do it or postpone it. Cleaning a ch…

I opened the comments to see if anyone mentioned ToDoist. I use it and love it for personal use.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#65

Post by harryf »

dmd wrote: post #46
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

Over the last 20 years or so I've tried: index cards, wunderlist, todo.txt, remember the milk, Asana, Any.do, Evernote, Google Notebook, Simplenote, Trello, Workflowy, Google Keep, Bear Notes, org-mode, and probably a dozen others. Three years ago I started using Apple Notes and told my wife "if you see me trying anything else at all, yell at me". I've been pretty happy with it and am much more productive just using…

In the end there’s actually doing stuff. And there’s putting it on a TODO list. Both are types of activity but only one actually got something real done

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#66

Post by 226_ebro_treaty »

rvense wrote: post #59
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

When I first got into Linux it seemed like a lot of people mostly used Linux to configure desktop environments and Conky to take screenshots of. There's a Buddhist parable about someone spending their whole life building a boat to cross a small river and dying before they made it across.

It happened to me :-)

But the older I get, the more I prefer Window's Traditional UI. Needless to say, I don't like W11's design choices at all.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#68

Post by runjake »

dmd wrote: post #46
Jackevansevo wrote: post #30

The 23 minute video linked on the "ultimate notion setup for 2023" sounds like a great trap to fall into to not actually get anything done. I get the impression some people spend more time configuring these productivity tools instead of actually being productive. Although I admit I've been guilty the same thing, perfecting my .vimrc instead of actually working on projects. Messing around with static site blog generat…

Over the last 20 years or so I've tried: index cards, wunderlist, todo.txt, remember the milk, Asana, Any.do, Evernote, Google Notebook, Simplenote, Trello, Workflowy, Google Keep, Bear Notes, org-mode, and probably a dozen others. Three years ago I started using Apple Notes and told my wife "if you see me trying anything else at all, yell at me". I've been pretty happy with it and am much more productive just using…

Is there an easy way to link other notes in Apple Notes?

I've used Obsidian for years now. Mainly because it's frictionless, I can easily link notes, and just Markdown files. I don't spend time looking for cool new plugins or new methodologies, so I don't have those temptations. I wish there were a better mobile app, though.

Re: People who use Notion to plan their whole lives

#69

Post by arthurofbabylon »

I built minimal.app as the antithesis of over-planning, over-documenting, over-organizing, and over-thinking. The feature that keeps the mind open is the Note Lifetime, whereby notes die when you don’t engage with them [1].

This is in contrast to notion, evernote, et al where writers collect stuff and live in these information silos, trapped by the confines of their tools. Of course many (most?) thoughtful people can pull themselves out of these traps with discipline, but I prefer my tools devoid of these slippery slopes that make discipline a necessity [2].

I use Minimal to “plan my life” just like the characters in this story, except every time I open the app it feels like an empty slate, a blank canvas, so new projects can take new directions and new mindsets are less constrained by prior mindsets. As the designer and builder, my goal is to capture the best of a paper notebook and the best of software. I know I’m not executing perfectly, but this is a fun and exciting guiding principle.

[1] – Also the interface is just clean with features hidden away until they are needed.

[2] – Just like a well-architected structure makes the resident by default open-minded, comfortable, and joyous, our tools similarly have a “gravity” or default effect on the user. It’s very important to observe these patterns.

[Final aside] – Anyone who wants to can get a free membership and unlimited access tk premium features by joining the beta program - do it at minimal.app/#beta if you want to check Minimal out.

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