Automate Your Mind: Smarter Personal Knowledge Management

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

Books

• "The Sweet Setup: An intro to personal knowledge management" by Mike Schmitz - This article is suggested as a good starting point for understanding personal knowledge management.

Tools & Software

• Obsidian - A tool for personal knowledge management that stores markdown files on your drive, is highly customizable with plugins, and has an active community.
• Apple Notes - A native Apple application that is useful for personal knowledge management, especially for rich media and sharing, despite some limitations in automation for rich text.
• Notion - A tool useful for collaborative projects and outlines, though the hosts express reservations about its suitability as a primary personal knowledge management app due to its data model and online requirement.
• Rome Research - An early web-based tool that popularized linked thinking in personal knowledge management, though the hosts did not care for its web-based nature or data model.
• NotePlan - A native Apple app described as "Obsidian light," offering many Obsidian features but is not multi-platform and has fewer plugins.
• MVLT (now MVLT Ultra by Brett Terpstra) - An early inspiration for markdown file-based personal knowledge management.
• Drafts - A versatile capture tool for text, useful for quickly getting information out of your head, which can then be processed and moved to other personal knowledge management systems.
• DevonThink - A robust application for managing diverse file types, particularly PDFs, and is often used in conjunction with Obsidian for document management.
• Keyboard Maestro - An automation tool mentioned for generating text files and saving them to personal knowledge management systems.
• Alfred - A macOS utility used with a plugin to search Apple Notes titles quickly.
• Hookmark - A tool mentioned for creating links to things and cross-linking information.
• Actions for Obsidian - An app that provides shortcuts actions for Obsidian, enabling deeper automation within Apple's Shortcuts app.
• URL Linker - A free Mac App Store utility for Safari that allows users to right-click and copy markdown links or links in other specified formats from web pages.
• Whisper Memos - An app for Apple Watch that dictates notes and automatically sends them to Drafts.
• Mermaid diagrams - A text-based diagramming tool supported within Obsidian for creating visual representations.
• Data View - An Obsidian plugin for creating visual representations and pulling information from notes, useful for advanced data handling and creating smart groupings.

People Mentioned

• Mike Schmitz (Co-host of Focused podcast, author) - Recognized for his serious approach to personal knowledge management and his resources on the topic.
• Brett Terpstra - Creator of MVLT Ultra, a tool that contributed to the idea of markdown file-based personal knowledge management.
• Nick Milo (Creator of Linking Your Thinking course) - A leader in teaching how to use these tools to develop thought and manage information.

Organizations & Institutions

• Relay FM - The podcast network that hosts Automators.

Websites & Online Resources

• practicalpkm.com (practicalpkm.com) - Mike Schmitz's website for his personal knowledge management product.
• practicalpkm.com/lifehq (practicalpkm.com/lifehq) - Mike Schmitz's Obsidian vault product for personal knowledge management.
• archive.org (Wayback Machine) - A website used to save web pages for future reference, mentioned in the context of preserving linked web content.
• Automators Podcast (relay.fm/automators) - The podcast itself, serving as a resource for automation topics.

Other Resources

• Shorcuts - Apple's automation app, discussed for its capabilities and limitations when integrating with personal knowledge management tools like Apple Notes and Obsidian.