If you’ve joined any of my live streams where we talk about a PKM, you know that I’m less than excited about the term itself. It feels a lot like the homesteading days when everyone wanted to claim some ground and call it their own. But in this case, folks want to be the ones who coined the terms used to describe their notes system.
For those new to the conversation, a PKM is a Personal Knowledge Management system. It’s a notes storage system with the caveat of using interlinking among your notes. Depending on who you follow there will be more caveats added to the definition, but they all require hyperlinking between notes.
The question I have behind this is one of validity. Namely, are the time and daily commitment required to gain the benefits of a PKM worth it?
I wish I could give you a blanket yes or no to the question. But like most answers, it depends. The problem is that most of the people pushing and promoting these note-making systems are creators who gain some benefit from the promotion of new tools and systems. By adopting these new methods, they gain ideas that they can talk about online.
The trouble is that many who read and watch this content are drawn into the new and shiny. That’s not necessarily bad if the tool or system has added benefits for you. But you have to remember the cost associated with setting up the new system and the time commitment required to make it work.
In the case of PKMs, the bulk of the people promoting them are content creators, researchers, and students. If you resonate with one of those, the answer is yes. You could benefit from an interlinked note-making system.
But if you find yourself outside those categories, the water resembles the Big Muddy. It’s hard to see the answer and there’s a lot of swirling going on that seems to pull you under. It looks fun and it appears that you’ll get some benefit, but it’s dangerous territory.
I say dangerous because many who create content about their note-making admit to how much time is required. And it’s normally in the scope of hours per day. You’ll find a few who fall below that range, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.
This begs the question: is it worth it? Is the hype justified?
The hype over the term PKM is blown out of proportion. We’ve had interlinking notes systems for a long time now. Yes, some of the nuances are different, but the gist is the same.
The hype over the methods and the benefits are justified, though. That is if you want a tool to help you clarify your thinking and have a place to publish the results of said thinking.
Again, it depends.
That said, if you want to talk about this more, I’ll be showing off and discussing my latest Obsidian setup today on the stream.
My Links
Bookworm 119: Effortless by Greg McKeown
High-achievers have been conditioned to believe that the path to success is paved with relentless work. But today’s author challenges us to stop pushing harder and find an easier path. Join Joe & Mike as they embark on a journey to make their most essential activities the easiest ones.
Upcoming Schedule
LIVE - It’s Time For An Obsidian Update - Today @ 1 PM Central
Last week I explored the building of a project status board like Macsparky’s. This week, we need to review where I am currently.
[Team Analog] Workflows with Dave Caolo - Wednesday, May 19 @ 2:30 PM Central
Dave Caolo is a man of many talents. But the ones that of special interest to me are his podcasting (Home Work), his past blogging at TUAW, and his use of note cards in playing DND!
YouTube Stream - Monday, May 24 @ 1 PM Central
[Team Analog] How To Set Up Your Workspace - Wednesday, June 2 @ 1 PM Central
There are so many things we want to pile on our desks. But what are some of the tricks and best practices for setting up your workspace to be the most productive? And once you do that, does it still show personality?
[Team Analog] The Essential Everyday Carry - Wednesday, June 16 @ 1 PM Central
Do you carry a backpack? Maybe a purse? What do you keep in it? Is it jammed full or can you add more? Should you add more? A lot of this depends on what you do, but there is a baseline, which we’ll cover in this session.
All The Things