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- PKM in the Wild #10
Hi all!
Hope you’re all well and having a nice April so far.
It’s been a while since the last newsletter, it’s been a busy time with lots of change. To get back into the swing of things, I am sending somewhat of a warm-up edition to my newsletter, and will pick things up as normal in two weeks 🙂
In this mini-edition...
Content Roundup
Since the last newsletter:
5 Ways I Use Queries in Capacities - queries are a great way to ask your notes questions - what events occurred in the 9th century? What meetings have I attended with John? I showed 5 ways I’m currently using queries in Capacities here.
Introducing my boyfriend to Capacities and Morgen- before I started dating an academic, I thought all they did was teach and do research. Wrong! It’s a lot of admin too, so I helped my boyfriend find a system that works for him. It’s still going well!
Calendars as life-logs- Calendars, time, timelines, eras. It’s all I think about. I decided to actually publish something concrete about how this thinking feeds into my everyday by showing my current set up.
My new Obsidian Publish vault - lots of fledgling thoughts and random extras I never include in my posts, and that’ll give you an idea of what I might write about later, if that’s of interest
What does Madonna have to do with history notes?- ramblings on history. I know history notes aren’t for everyone, but I’ve learned more about PKM whilst focusing on history than ever before. It’s great fun.
12 Centuries in 12 Months Update- I rounded up learnings, resources and insights from my history project which is most of why I’m taking notes atm! Whilst it’s obviously a history project, I’ve learned an unbelievable amount about PKM in the process.
I’ve also just started my full time job at Capacities which is a lot of fun! So expect lots of new and varied content on their channels 🙂
Content I’ve enjoyed
PKM is a life practice, and Matt’s tweet summed up this sentiment beautifully. I read it often. Notes, journals, PKM, it’s all a journey and one we should try to enjoy.
"knowledge" is not a thing that's out there to be explored + acquired,
it's the ridiculously short name that we give
to a process of engagement
between you, yr experience, your moment-by-moment engagement with the present, + all who have gone before you, on the paths you walk
— Matt Jugo (@Jeanvaljean689)
9:44 PM • Feb 6, 2024
Along these lines, definitely check out Réka’s article about PKM as a life practice- it’s exquisite!
I loved Tara’s idea of using the graph to see which of your notes have a lot of links, and using that as potential encouragement of splitting the note down to something more specific.
I also really liked Dave Stewart’s article that I saw via this tweet:
The work is never just “the work”. The actual “work” you have to do, is just a very small part of a whole invisible set of a project. There’s the world around the work, to get the work, before the work, between the work, beyond the work, outside the work, etc.
— Stef Walter (@WalterStephanie)
1:00 PM • Mar 12, 2024
I am having a real task management dilemma at the moment, and this article gave me some words that helped me dig into exactly what that is.
Finally, I have to shout out this definition of note-taking and note-making I saw in a post by Steven Thompson. It’s so succinct and it’s given me a lot of food for thought, and a new way to frame what I do.
PKM Puzzle- what is PKM?
In the time I’ve been away, I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking about PKM, digital systems and anything related.
Some feelings I keep coming back to:
PKM is a life practice, therefore PKM systems are an extension of you, that’s why it becomes abstract and hard to explain to others. It is so much more than whatever tool you use to take notes in because…
…PKM is not the same as note-taking. Note taking is one form of PKM.
I think note-taking and journalling are functionally the same thing. It’s writing, learning and reflecting on different subjects.
I will expand on these points through some real-life examples in the coming weeks and months. But this leads me into the next point…
Side note- The future of my content
After nearly 18 months of content creation, my ideas and opinions are crystallising, and I want to focus on the more niche interests I have.
I love all things PKM, but I’m currently exploring PKM through the lenses of history notes, journalling, life-archiving and celebrating the essence of the everyday.
I understand not everyone will be interested in these topics though. If you’re looking for more general Capacities content, definitely follow the Capacities channels because we’re doing some cool things over there, with much more to come.
But for those who do choose to stick around, I think we could have some very fun conversations and learn from each other. This is the best part of content creation and of the PKM community.
That’s all from me today, normal newsletter will follow in a two weeks!
Beth
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