all posts — 15 more
What is a second brain, and do you actually need one?
What is a second brain, in plain terms: an outside store for the things you will need later. What goes in it, what usually goes wrong, and a one-week trial.
Notion vs Obsidian: which one survives your actual week
Notion vs Obsidian, decided on the two things that actually bind you: where the file lives and what a year of it costs. With prices read this week.
Logseq vs Obsidian: outliner or file tree, and what that costs you
Logseq vs Obsidian comes down to what a note is: a bullet with an id, or a file with a name. Plus where each project stands right now, checked.
Todoist vs TickTick: the differences that matter after month one
Todoist vs TickTick, judged on what still matters in week five: the free-tier ceilings, the yearly price side by side, and where each one quietly stops.
The someday maybe list: where not-now goes so it stops shouting
A someday maybe list only works with a review date on it. What belongs there, what gets miscategorised, and the rule that stops the shelf becoming a graveyard.
Choosing a personal knowledge management app without starting over
A personal knowledge management app is a five-year decision. What each one costs today, what you can take back out of it, and the catch in every export.
A Notion alternative for people who never finished the setup
A Notion alternative for anyone whose second brain is still half-built. What Notion makes you decide first, what its free plan limits, and where it wins.
Second brain apps: what the job needs, and what most of them skip
Most second brain apps do four of the five jobs well and quietly skip the fifth. Here are the five, which apps cover which, and how to pick on that.
An Obsidian alternative with sync and a web client built in
An Obsidian alternative for people tired of assembling one. What Obsidian Sync really costs a year, why there is no web client, and where Obsidian wins.
The GTD weekly review checklist that survives a busy week
A GTD weekly review checklist with minutes against each stage, the exact thing you open at each one, and an eight-minute version for weeks that go wrong.
The PARA method, applied to the app you already use for tasks
The PARA method sorts everything by how actionable it is. Here is what each bucket maps to inside a task app, and what breaks when one of them is missing.
How to write a next actions list you can actually start
Most next actions list entries stall because they name a topic, not a movement. Ten real lines, their rewrites, and a six-pass edit for the whole list.
GTD inbox: how to process capture without doing the work twice
A GTD inbox is a decision queue, not a task list. The five questions that empty it, how long each one costs, and why processing belongs in windows.
Start date vs deadline: the field most task apps collapse into one
Start date vs deadline is two jobs in one field for most task apps. What each app calls them, why it matters, and how to split a list you already have.
GTD vs PARA: two systems that disagree about where material lives
GTD vs PARA is not a choice between two rivals. One decides what you do next, the other decides where a file goes, and they collide in exactly one place.
How to pick an app for GTD (and set it up in one sitting)
What an app for GTD really has to do — the five lists, capture that survives, and a weekly review you keep. Plus a setup you can finish today.