My PKM has 4 systems: capture, process, action, and thinking.
Notion was the only app for my Action System.
Little by little, I’m moving action processes to Obsidian.
Here’s why.
My Story
I started using Notion as my Action System one year ago.
I came from Omnifocus, and Notion literally killed it.
I loved (and still love) Notion’s flexibility to create “my own” system.
After one year of using it daily, I’ve concluded something: it’s not fast enough.
It’s not slow, but Obsidian is much faster.
The more I use Obsidian, the better I feel about it.
Obsidian is my main app inside my thinking system but, little by little, it’s growing as my action system too.
Why Notion Isn’t Fast Enough For Me?
I started using Obsidian’s daily note as my main tool for journaling.
When an action came to my mind while writing, I went to Notion to create that action.
Consequences:
- I lost momentum.
- I wasted time by changing from one system to the other.
- In Notion, I had to create my action in a “certain place”.
- I lost connections between journaling, thoughts, and actions, something essential in a PKM.
Why Obsidian’s Speed Is Amazing?
The workflow changes dramatically in Obsidian.
If an action pops up while I’m writing, I keep writing and create my action inside the same system, on the same line, simply using a simple tagging system I’ve created.
Benefits of this:
- I don’t lose momentum because I can keep writing without stopping.
- The action is automatically created in the right place by using my tagging system.
- I can easily connect thoughts and notes to actions.
A Clear Example
If I’m in a meeting, I have my script prepared with all my goals (actions), the things I want to say, and so forth in just one note.
Throughout the meeting, I write down notes and, at the same time and in the same note, I write the action immediately if there’s something I have to do.
Another benefit: I don’t need to process my note after the meeting because all the tasks have already been created, and are just waiting to be done.
Moving from capture to act or think without processing is a huge step, talking about productivity and high-performance.
Takeaways
- Your PKM should work like your physical brain, not only using the same workflows but also speed.
- The faster your PKM is, the better you’ll feel with it: simplicity, frictionless, a natural way of doing things.
- That guarantees you’ll use it.
Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash.