Stop Procrastinating With Note-Taking Apps Like Obsidian, Roam, Logseq

This is the best 20 minutes of procrastinating I've had in awhile.

This video is exactly what I needed to hear. I've fallen into the trap of constantly looking for the perfect app and system at the cost of actually creating something meaningful. Thank you!

5 Rules/Principles To Adopt 1. Stick with one tool for the next 6 months 2. Trust your brain more (and relax) 3. Be project-based with your note-taking 4. Improve Your work capacity and output first 5. Set clear boundaries

No fluff, no background music, no distracting images in a desperate attempt to keep the most distracted of us entertained, just clear and useful thoughts. Thank you from France, sir. This video is a gem. You've earned a new newsletter & youtube subscriber.

Zettelkasten (aka Obsidian) may not work for you because you don't operate with really complicated things. Content creation, online business and internet marketing is not what zettelkasten was built for. This system was developed for scientists working with huge amount of knowledge, abstract ideas and data. Second mistake is that zettelkasten is not about knowledge storage. It is about finding new unexpected connections and ideas within your knowledge graph. It is a working research tool, not note-taking app. You literally pick up nails with a microscope and tell that it is a bad tool. Yes, that's true. Just pick right tool for specific work.

I agree with you on the rabbithole of optimization of note taking and the glorification of note taking apps. But at the same time, as a researcher working in academia, I've gotten lost in my notes and optimization would do a lot for my sanity and comfort. Because here, personal knowledge management is work. I went from being the person who puts everything on paper and then literally surrounds oneself with the notes and arranges and rearranges them to a point where this system just can't work anymore because I have too much stuff. And parts of my work still involve writing ideas and connections on paper. but a part of my work also relies on being able to call up all the papers I have in my "knowledge database" for a particular topic and also being able to branch out from them and complete them with further notes. But also for the more "creative" part of my work: I use quantitative methods in novel ways, which includes implementing methods from different fields to work in mine. And for this, again, a good set-up does wonders for sanity.

I procrastinated 20 minutes learning why I shouldn't procrastinate taking notes. Now I feel real smart

If you are lost after this video - try to do next: - set up your goals. It's crucial. It's the most important thing you should do right now - to be more productive, become a programmer, or something else - if you have no idea what notetaking app to choose - take Obsidian - if you don't have a framework - take GTD and PARA with links. No need to go further - just start with Obsidian and the framework for the next 6 months. After 6 months you will see, what works, and what doesn't and you can improve your system more precisely - Atomic habits - just read it - Dopamine detox - just do it - work hard on your goals. Don't look for new info or something. Just do the work. - If you see you lack something - sleep, energy, or motivation - consume new info every day, but only up to 30 minutes. Don't procrastinate consuming info or tweaking your system - After 6 months you can abandon these rules - you should have habits. You should have strong ground for your goals. And motivation to go ahead, without procrastination.

This video reminds me of an idea, I think it was from Atomic Habits, that says that preparation can be a trap because it gives you the illusion of progress without the risk of failure. So true! Thanks for a thought-provoking video!

As someone who struggles with ADHD, working on tasks adjacent to something I'm struggling to engage with helps massively. That includes working in and on my Obsidian notebook. As a memory aid it is also invaluable

Thank you for putting into words that feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. As a coder I tend to do this with my desk, workstation, apps, themes… trying to make everything look picture perfect, minimalistic and refined. I tell myself I’m creating a space where I can focus and be more efficient when really I’m just decorating when I should be coding.

One caveat: Note-Taking (or rather: Note-Making) is both: The very act of writing itself and thinking. What you describe is the issue when you disconnect the thinking from the writing and the writing from the producing. The solution I propose is to set up the system in a way that you merge back what is disconnected. When I want to understand something, I go into my Zettelkasten and start thinking on the canvas which is a note. When it gets to big, I break it up and let a structured note collection emerge (this one aspect of the bigger bottom-up principle). When I am finished thinking about something, I already got 70% of the learning, 50% of the writing and 10-20% of the editing (the numbers are just a rough metaphor for my intuition) done. That means, however, to take each note seriously instead of just jotting down some keywords that you'd have to decipher later on. There is a false dichotomy present: You don't have to settle for a good enough system because there are people who crush it with a bad system. My grandparents crushed life on malnutrition (in soviet communism) and there are high-level athletes who live on pasta. That does not mean that I should throw away my fishoil and ignore my needs for micronutrients. Putting in the work is the deciding factor. But constant improvement of the backend is still valuable. (However, I agree with you that quite a lot of people are believing that it is the system and not doing the work that is the bottle neck) To make it more tangible: If I dedicate two session per week to just working with my Zettelkasten I will generate 3--4 major break throughs in my work. Then having material to write is never the bottle neck which is a an issue for many people: > Maybe you have writer's block because you don't have a damn thing to say. - Guy Kawasaki > It's not that I'm blocked. It's that I don't have enough research to write with power and knowledge about that topic. I always means, not that I can't find the right words, [but rather] that I don't have the ammunition.... I don't have the goods. I have not gone into the world and brought back the goods that I'm writing about, and *you never want to solve a research problem with language.* -- Sebastian Junger The twist: I agree with most of your practical implications. :D

"The magic you're looking for is in the work you're avoiding." - heard on Chris The Modern Wisdom podcast. What you are speaking on is so true and is so clarifying!

Dude, this hit so close to home. You put into words what I have been feeling about Notion. I definitely end up falling down the optimization procrastination hole.

As a musician, when I stopped doing that search for the perfect creative system and stuck to the simple apple notes I went to write my full length album and now I’m producing my debut with some amazing people. That’s it :) I also use the apple notes to journaling and habit track. It’s not perfect but it is simple and that’s the best.

I have ADHD and the following has been helpful. If you can do something in a few minutes just do it when you think about it and don't add it to the do list. Try and make the to do list for things that will take at least 30 minutes / decisions you aren't allowed to make on your own (If you have a business partner, etc.). Also, if anything you have to do has to do with messaging / emailing someone JUST DO IT! Don't put it on your to do list!

I’m into a super sophisticated form of procrastination watching your video about my procrastinative PM tools.

I normally don't comment on YouTube videos but just as I was starting to fall down the endless Obsidian-optimization rabbit hole I stumbled upon your video, and it is exactly what I needed to hear. It's ironic that for 3 days I've been reading and watching videos about how to use Obsidian effectively without writing a single note, but I watched this video and the ideas presented here made me think "Yeah, I have to write that down," and so my first note was born. Thank you.

This video has been a game-changer for me this year! Despite my procrastination habit, which led me to watch hundreds of videos on the topic, read dozens of books, and search incessantly, I never found the "perfect tool." I've tried every note-taking and to-do app out there, but nobody ever warned me about falling into the "perfect tool" trap. Finally, this insightful individual opened my eyes with a gentle metaphorical slap.

By far the best advice on YouTube. I have tried everything and end up just giving up on each system because I just end up "doing the work" and researching without having to write every single thing down or planning 40 steps ahead.