Recommended
Tools and resources that I think are incredibly helpful. Also some notes on how I operate.
Books
Attempted Thoughts
Here's a very long list of books I'm reading. I hope to clean them up and sort out what's great from the merely good.
This is helpful if you are interested in current affairs, doing good better, inclined to effective altruism, and some science-fiction.
Software
Notion
Great for project management and organising your life. I use this to manage my ongoing tasks with Tom Frank's PARA template.
I also use this to store static files and compendiums on things in my life that don't need much updating. Think general notes on my exercise regimen, or a budget.
Free for students (with an edu email), so highly recommended.
Obsidian
Also free and very fast.
I use this to store academic notes and things that are complex. Whenever I read things and have thoughts, I store them on Obsidian.
It's also very fast since it's locally stored.
If you write academic notes on Notion, you'll end up having to scroll endlessly to find it. You may also just forget to look at it again since it's stored as if in a typical folder.
Instead, on Obsidian notes can be linked with each other. This helps you see the connections for later reference. Very helpful for writing future essays or thought pieces.
Readwise
Paid but there's an academic discount. Something that I've recently started trying out.
It helps you compile all your articles, links, pdfs, and youtube videos that you want to read/watch in one place. No more bookmarking links in a confused mess.
You can then highlight and robustly note down thoughts. The best part is that you can link this via a plugin to Obsidian to export your notes automatically.
General Workflow
I want to read and process as much information as possible. The real value is in processing it in my head, and having something useful.
So I don't want to memorise things - which means I want to outsource my notes and store them somewhere I can reliaby pull them from again.
Here's my process so far:
- Read and consume information from links, books, and files. Recently compiled with Readwise, and reading actual books (and journal articles) on my e-reader or in print.
- Note-taking manually with pen and paper. I find that pen and paper produces the highest quality of notes (since I make actual connections and there's some visceral feedback).
- Typing and linking on Obsidian. This allows connections to be made when I want to reference it later. The point is that I can actually re-use the information and my impressions when it matters (as opposed to just letting notes die in a linear notebook).