Organizing Digital Space
I enjoy experimenting with different methods for organizing and storing information. When it comes to analog or paper formats, I absolutely love Moleskine notebooks for their quality. They’re just pleasant to hold, and it feels great to jot things down in them. For many years, they were my primary tool for planning and organizing. Nowadays, I mostly use physical notebooks for reflection, sketches, or situational notes.
At some point, I began combining paper note-taking with digital methods. I tried a wide variety of programs and services.
For myself, I’ve identified the following favorites:
- Notion – One of the market leaders, suitable for virtually any task related to organizing and managing information, including teamwork;
- Craft – A similar tool, but more appealing in terms of style. However, it has some limitations when working across different platforms;
- Obsidian – A powerful tool with its own philosophy. It allows you to organize a personal knowledge base of any size. Plugin support exponentially expands its already vast capabilities;
- Notes – The default note-taking app available on nearly every phone;
Before moving on, I’d like to emphasize Obsidian’s philosophy: File over app.
If you want to create digital artifacts that last, they should be files you can control, in formats that are easy to access and read. Use tools that give you that freedom. File over app is a call to tool developers: acknowledge that all software is ephemeral and give people ownership over their data. The entire structure and all files in Obsidian are stored locally in .md format, which allows you to work with them in any editor on any system.
After switching to digital note-taking, I eventually felt the need to organize my space. I studied and implemented various methods, combining them with my own needs. At this point, I’ve settled on using the PARA system from @fortelabs.
In short, this system is based on the idea that you can divide your entire digital space into (P)rojects, (A)reas, (R)esources, and (A)rchives.
- Projects – Your main and current projects. The key feature of this section is that all projects have deadlines. For me, this is where I keep all the projects I’m actively working on.
- Areas – Your areas of focus. Things you’re currently concentrating on, like family, hobbies, learning foreign languages, etc. For example, if you’re studying German, this section contains all your notes, sources, links, and helpful information. Brainstorming ideas for a family vacation? It goes here, until it becomes a full-fledged project with its own deadline.
- Resources – Any useful or interesting information you might use later in an Area or Project. Tweets, links, quotes, notes, and more. In my case, this is the largest section.
- Archive – Finished a project or wrapped up an area of focus? Everything goes into the Archive. This is also a key aspect of the system. We almost never delete anything. Whatever we’re no longer actively working on, we store here so we can return to it at any time. I’ve found this especially useful after a year of actively using the system.
What’s one of the main benefits of this system? It can be applied to any source of information storage. Whether you use the default notes on your phone, Notion, or Obsidian, it’s easy. Working with files and need to organize cloud storage or your hard drive structure for easy navigation? No problem.
Discipline and time are needed to develop a fully functional knowledge base that will work for you in the long run. But if you manage to break through that barrier, you’ll definitely enjoy the results.