I’ve spent one year evaluating this move.
Meanwhile, Obsidian’s been my main app.
Switching to Mem has been, again, a great move.
Yes, I did it again.
Another “big move” in my PKM. Each time, I move faster and easier from one app to another. Once again, I’m delighted because I have my best PKM ever.
It’s been a great move!
I Don’t Care About Apps
Workflows are my obsession.
Based on them, I take the best out of each revolutionary app that comes on the market. New apps polish my workflows.
They improve in every move, especially the big ones.
Be Careful When Switching from One App to Another
You have to be 100% sure before the move.
I never regret the move because I never do it on a whim. I think deeply about it, measure everything, take things seriously, rationally, evaluating the pros and cons.
That’s why every move has meant a huge improvement to my life.
This one is no exception.
What I Look For When Moving from One App to Another
My main goal is to improve my workflows because they improve my life.
I achieve it by looking for 3 imperative things:
- Simplicity. I have to make things simpler. If not, why the hell am I moving?
- Improvement. I have to improve: higher performance, less friction, speed up my life.
- Fresh air. I need to enjoy a better GUI and UX. It motivates me a lot. It gives me energy, power, dynamite to keep accomplishing my goals without suffering, feeling anxious, or any other negative emotion.
My Story with Mem
Whenever an app raises a significant amount of money, I pay attention to it.
Mem did it in April 2021. They raised $5.6 million.
Since then, I’ve tested it a lot, watching and carefully studying its evolution.
I didn’t doubt about my bet when I heard Dennis Xu, one of Mem’s co-founders, saying they were aiming for “a world with no tags”.
After a “world with no folders”, that’s always been my goal: avoid tagging in my PKM, aka my life.
I just want to write, put things into my system, and easily recall, make connections, see related things effortlessly.
They’re into it, thanks to AI. I’m pretty sure they’ll do it.
And, thanks to them, so do I.
How Mem Makes My Life Simpler
Just take this with you: Mem equals simplicity. Period.
I can enumerate an endless list, but I’ll do that in future articles because it’s not this one’s goal.
I list just a few.
1. Capture System
My best capture system ever.
It’s overtaken all the previous ones and, even more impressive, it’s the simplest one I’ve ever had.
I’ll dedicate a whole article to it.
2. Managing tasks is a game of kids
I can handle my tasks at the speed of my brain.
I can create them all over the place. At any moment as they come to mind.
I know what I have to do and when to do it.
3. The concept of “mem” is simply brilliant
For my workflow, a “mem” totally surpasses the concept of note or block.
That’s how I think: in mems.
It goes far beyond the concept of a daily note. It totally beats it.
4. Keyboard shortcuts
They took this feature seriously.
It’s great how I can navigate all over the app using my keyboard.
It avoids hurting my flow. It’s frictionless. It’s fast.
5. Forget about plugins
I know that way of improving a tool is great for developers. You got people for free improving your app. You can focus on your core features.
The point is: why do I, as a user, have to be looking for “the best plugins”?
It’s much easier to trust a company that takes care of everything.
Maybe it sounds “old school”, but, for me, it works.
How Mem Improves My Life
My life improves as I simplify things, as I mentioned above.
The next huge step is Mem X.
It’s been the main reason to “make this move”.
I see my PKM as a part of my brain, as crucial as my physical one, because I use the exact same workflows for both.
Improving my PKM using AI is mandatory for me.
I trust AI a lot, and I do believe there’ll be considerable improvements shortly.
I want to be on that train.
Mem X will make this possible. Here, you can see it.
How Mem Gives Me Fresh Air
I’m sorry to say this: I never felt comfortable with Obsidian’s GUI/UX.
For me, it was its biggest weakness.
I’m so sorry to say this because amazing guys are developing fantastic themes to overcome this obstacle. I do really appreciate them. They’re geniuses. Period.
I always felt terrible talking about Obsidian’s GUI/UX. It was like going back 5 years. It didn’t feel like a 2022 app for me. I don’t mention the mobile experience either.
Obviously, this is a very personal and subjective perspective.
I accepted that drawback and kept using Obsidian because of its powerful features, which are amazing and represented a huge step forward when I moved from Notion to Obsidian.
Mem’s another story.
It’s clean and easy. Everything’s in its place.
I don’t need to dedicate time to set up my environment using plugins or themes because it’s what it is. Maybe you like it, or you don’t. You don’t have any choice. In my case, it has everything I need.
Time dedicated to it: 0 seconds.
Mem’s Main Drawback
Every decision in life has drawbacks.
This move to Mem is no exception.
I’ll focus on the main one that made me think and delay my switching decision for quite a while (in fact, almost a year…).
The “famous and fashionable” concept of “local storage”.
Yes, it seems nowadays that you’re selling your soul to the devil if something’s not stored in your local devices.
Yes, this made me think a lot because local storage is not only related to privacy or safety, but also performance.
I’m still impressed by the speed of Obsidian’s search. My fastest system ever.
Anyway, as I get older, I’ve learned I cannot have everything in life. It’s just a matter of balancing pros and cons to evaluate if a thing is worth it. This time, nothing changes. Losing local storage is a critical drawback.
Here’s how I approached and overcame it.
My Approach to Mem’s Main Drawback
Not so long ago, nobody talked about local storage.
Now, it seems you’re crazy if you don’t put it into practice.
What about trusting companies that seem serious, professional, and safe?
Why can’t I give them a chance as I’ve done for decades all over my life?
I approach this issue by asking myself 2 questions:
- Can I export my data from the app?
- What are all the things I get by losing the local storage feature?
Mem allows me to export my data to markdown and lets me download it as a JSON file along with any associated metadata.
Sure, it’ll be a mess, and I’ll have to spend quite a long time in case I bet on that option. Anyway, nothing new in town.
All my life, I’ve been doing migrations from one app to another. That’s how I’ve evolved and improved. It’s only a moment of friction and “suffering” for a better future.
Another approach I’m doing in my last moves is keeping the old app, using it as an archive. I still have my old content on Evernote, Craft, Notion… Maybe one day I’ll come back to them. Who knows…
Anyway, do you want to know a secret? I’ve rarely visited that archive.
We think we need historical data, our whole life for the last 30 years! The reality, at least mine, is that life is much simpler and more “present-day”.
My life a year ago is almost prehistory for me. I don’t look back as much as I thought I would…
Beware: it’s a personal opinion based on how I see life.
You Always Have to Look For the PKM that Fits Your Needs
I’m an entrepreneur running 4 companies simultaneously.
I’m not a PhD dedicating a huge bunch of time to research.
I want a fast system that allows me to:
- Quickly manage my projects and tasks (thousands, by the way…).
- Write down ideas that make me reflect, improve, evolve.
- Achieve that state of peace of mind I need to perform at my best, feeling I have everything under control.
- Support my clients, suppliers, and co-workers.
My goal is also to help overwhelmed knowledge workers and entrepreneurs build a simple PKM based on what worked for me, just because I’ve been there, feeling anxious, stressed, totally collapsed.
Each person needs to create a PKM that 100% fits his needs.
In my case, I agree. I don’t have my data on local storage. I need to rely on an external business (Mem guys, please, take care of me!).
Maybe that’s a border you don’t want to cross.
In my case, when I see all the pros I get by implementing this move, my decision is crystal clear: it’s worth it!
Last Thoughts
It took me a year to make this decision.
I managed in parallel Obsidian and Mem. Not easy stuff…
Now, as it always happens after I make a move, I have my best PKM ever.
Each time, my life’s easier, simpler, and more relaxed thanks to polishing my workflows in each iteration and all the fantastic apps launched daily.
Takeaways
- Beware when making big moves in your PKM.
- This is not a game for kids. It’s your life.
- My biggest takeaway: when you take your PKM seriously, your life improves dramatically.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.