Why:
I am what might be called a knowledge worker 1 — i.e. I think and know things as a key competency. I work with knowledge and information as a profession. Writer, marketer, project manager, communicator, problem-solver. Knowledge and information are inseparable from productivity for me.
Components
This pillar area of interest for me consists of multiple parts:
- information, and personal information management (PIM)
- knowledge, and personal knowledge management (PKM)
- productivity, and personal productivity management, which overlaps with personal project management (conveniently PPM for both)
These components are built partially on the data-information-knowledge-wisdom pyramid or hierarchy, and partially on the Bloom’s taxonomy.
Applications, practices and systems
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The 4 documentation quadrants, or the grand unified theory of documentation, is a method of classifying documentation into tutorials, how-to guides, discussions/explanations/overviews, references.
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The Dewey, Johnny, Konik decimal systems (also: the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) List) are systems of cataloging files or books for easier discoverability and retrieval. Note that the Johnny Decimal and Konik Decimal systems are derivative of Dewey, which is the standard classification system used by libraries.
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The Agile methodology is a project management approach typically used in software development. It relates high-level plans, smaller actions, and segments of time, while keeping everything flexible to changes.
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The PARA Method: The Simple System for Organizing Your Digital Life in Seconds. (Project, Area, Resource, Archive). Technically everything boils down to PARA in the end, maybe just with different names, different foundational concepts (the why) and different relationships (the how). Projects are always the actionable and/or short-term efforts, Areas are long-term life responsibilities and spaces, Resources are topics you’re interested in and learning about (and which may or may not support Projects and Areas).
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The ACE system (Atlas, Calendar, Effort) and ARC system (Add, Relate, Communicate) are thought systems by Nick Milo of Linking Your Thinking.
- ACE is a personal productivity system that accounts for knowledge tasks like thought and reflection, not just checkable items. Atlas is for knowledge, Calendar is for time-based notes, and Efforts is for action-based notes and projects. ACE was a progression of ACCESS (Atlas, Calendar, Cards, Extras, Sources, and Spaces) and explained by Nick Milo on the Obsidian forum.
- ARC is a system for personal knowledge management.
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The Bulletproof Method is a personal productivity system originally designed for Notion databases. It’s meant to create a personal dashboard for storing and tracking project information, timelines, actions and references.
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The PPV system (or Pillars, Pipelines & Vaults) by August Bradley, also known as the “Notion Life OS” is an almost similar personal productivity system created with Notion in mind.
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The END system (Energizing, Neutral, Draining) is a task management and prioritization approach that plans around energy.
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The Alastair Method is a task and project management system created for analog bullet journaling, and uses a double-page spread to track task statuses and progress.
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The Gamification Project was a system created for Notion that assigned rewards to productivity and allowed for a social aspect.
Special mentions
- Valentin Perez is a neurodivergent creator I really admired, but he seems to have stopped maintaining his digital footprint. While not necessarily a unique system, he did document his Notion-based digital brain system, specifically his Topic Forest and his Creativity Temple.
| Method | Creator | Where to put actions and efforts that are measurable and probably have a time-component | Where to put guiding areas or pillars | Where to put knowledge-oriented notes | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PARA | Tiago Forte | Projects | Areas | Resource | Archive |
| ACE | Nick Milo | Efforts | Atlas | Calendar (for time-based notes like logs and periodic notes) | |
| Bulletproof | William Nutt | Bolts | Vaults/Buckets | Bytes | |
| PPV | August Bradley | Pillars | Pipeline | Vault |