I'm Souring More on PKM These Days
I’ve read a lot and consumed a lot of content around Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) systems, sought to implement a so-called “second brain” at times, and eventually settled on a zettelkasten as my primary notes-taking system for a while. Lately though, I have been coming to rethink PKM altogether, or at least my approach to it.
What has been lacking for me specifically about PKM is its insular nature. Ideas are meant to be expressed, and I felt I was simply collecting, or some in worst-case scenarios rewriting wikipedia with my own spin on it. That’s not to say that there can’t be life in the insular. We can discover the unique along our quest to document the mundane, but I wasn’t feeling it.
Disappointing Nature of PKM “Scene”
The other thing, and I don’t mind calling this out, is there is a predatory nature that exists in the so-called PKM space online. There are plenty of “influencers” out there, such as Tiago Forte, who popularized the Second Brain as a concept and a brand. Forte’s vapid books deal with little in the way of content, and would be better suited for blog posts, yet he is happy to upsell you his premium content in courses, even offering a quarterly membership to his slop at the insulting high cost of $225/quarter.
These snake oil salesmen are happy to sell you on their cohorts, or their premium Obsidian themes and plugins. Andy Matuschak has a great note called “People who write extensively about note-writing rarely have a serious context of use”. These individuals are like any other influencers, like those in the manosphere, their job is to sell an image of a lifestyle through a subscription.
Why I Stopped Caring about PKM
But what really led me away from PKM was that, for me at least, it seemed to be a solution seeking a problem. My note-taking has two use cases.
- To facilitate focus, continuous learning, and writing in my personal and sometimes professional life, I capture my thinking over time.
- To document specific notes for work.
It’s a practical necessity for me to keep two sets of notes because of this: work and personal notes can never mix because my work notes are sensitive. My work notes largely live in OneNote on my work-provided Microsoft 365 account. My work needs are largely out of scope of this rant, though, so that leaves the rest.
What I Am Doing Instead
I’m focusing on writing and sharing my working notes through this website. This allows immediate feedback from people who happen to stumble on it or find it interesting. This ties back to my goal of learning in public. I have set up goals for writing each day to keep me focused on producing notes. The act of producing notes myself daily drives my workflow, which drives my thinking. By writing, I’m putting my thinking to paper.
Gone are the days of maintaining databases on the minutiae of my life or the intricacies of my various hobbies. Instead of rewriting wikipedia I’m writing about what I’m thinking about and doing.
What about the Zettelkasten
Before I took this new approach, I had been maintaining a Zettelkasten. I still have it around for historical purposes, and I might continue to add to it as I have ideas I absorb that I want to remember, but not necessarily commit to public notes. I’m not maintaining it with any activity, however. I still believe in the Zettelkasten approach, as described by Bob Doto in his great book, A System for Writing. I would love to commit to maintaining multiple systems, but the truth is, I just don’t have the time.