my digital ecosystem
My most recent thinking is documented as my updated system for 2023
I have a fascination with systems, networks, and automation. I’m a systems nerd perpetually iterating on my personal operations for writing, working, learning, and managing digital data, files, and knowledge.
I also have a passion for everything nature and outdoors. Permaculture, farming, ecosystems, environmentalism—I believe in the connection between humans and the earth, and always find myself thinking about the relationship between entities, wondering about the role each entity might play in connection to a larger system.
Early in 2020, I discovered a community of folks passionate about building their own personal wikis, productivity systems, and digital gardens. Several community members also share a love of permaculture and systems thinking. I was hooked.
The result of many conversations within this community led me to make note of what I need in a digital workspace.
A knowledge worker’s toolkit needs to be well-rounded, so after much experimentation and exploration of new practices and tools, I’ve made significant improvements to my learning and knowledge management system. It’s considered a work in progress, however, as it’s always being iterated on and improved as my needs evolve and change.
While this ecosystem is intended to facilitate writing, I’ve come to learn that It’s not a writing system, it’s a thinking system whose byproduct is writing.
Here’s what I’m working with right now
- Drafts is for immediate note capture
- Notion is my workspace for mostly private, messy, diverse types of work
- Obsidian is for building my body of work and tending my digital garden to refine ideas over time
- Things is for getting shit done
- Whimsical is for visual thinking
- Day One is for personal journaling since 2013
- Readwise is for resurfacing once-valued knowledge and wisdom
- Matter has become my read-it-later app, though I’ll be trying Readwise’s Reader soon
- Here’s a running list of my most utilitarian apps
Each app serves a discrete and distinguished purpose within my digital ecosystem. I’ve explored consolidation, but honestly, the strength’s of each are worth the size of the stack, so long as guidelines are put in place. Most of these apps can be deeplinked to one another from any other app, so relevant notes and information are almost always a click away if I make sure to include those links.
If you would like to setup your own digital garden, I wrote a note on how mine is made through my Obsidian Jekyll workflow.
A knowledge worker’s toolkit needs to be well-rounded, so I’m OK with it for the time being.