💪AIP 74 The Power Of Personal Knowledge Management In 2 Minutes

Whenever I tell someone I'm fascinated by Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), they ask the same question: why?

Despite getting this question many times, I have yet to come up with a concise answer. Most of the time, I say something like "PKM is the neurostimulative enhancing practice of human knowledge advancement." Then they look me in the eyes and wonder how they didn't realize I was a demon earlier.

So, for my own sake and yours, if you ever want to explain what PKM is to someone in less than 2 minutes, here you go (bonus points if you tell them to check me out afterward, yup this is a pyramid scheme).

How many genius ideas have you had and forgotten?

How many insights have you not taken action upon?

How many times have you wanted to show something awesome only to say, "now where did I put that again?"

Most of us constantly feel pressure to learn, improve, and progress. We spend hours a day reading, listening, and watching informational content.

But where is this information going? Is it there when we need it? Our first brain can only store a few thoughts at a time.

It's becoming increasingly clear in modern society that being effective requires understanding how to manage information. And there is more information than ever before. What can we do?

Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is the art of collecting ideas from our daily experiences, readings, or work, and nurturing them to improve productivity and creativity.

A PKM system requires only three parts: a system for collection, connection, creation. With PKM, you can ensure your genius ideas are kept safe and cultivated. You can find that damn quote or funny video you want to show a friend. You can make it easy to consistently read, write, share, and teach.

It's clear PKM isn't just a skill for geeks obsessed with finding the perfect folder, tag, and linking system.

It's a skill for everyone--artists, managers, writers, teachers, athletes, students, and more.

The next question is, where should you get started?

Over the past three years, I have spent 1000+ hours learning to create an effective PKM system. I have taken courses like Building A Second Brain With Tiago Forte, The Linking Your Thinking Workshop with Nick Milo, and Build Your Knowledge Portfolio With Bianca Pereia. I have made more mistakes than I can count in Spanish, which, granted, is only 100, but it's been a lot of mistakes. I switched notetaking apps six times. I wasted hundreds of hours trying to create the perfect system.

While you can use many PKM apps, my favorite is Obsidian.

It has a thriving community of creators showing how to use the app. Its link-based note-taking allows you to connect notes to create novel insights. It exists as a series of markdown files on your computer's filing system, meaning your notes are encrypted and safe even if Obsidian shuts down. And finally, the logo is just plane awesome:

So, if you want to dive down the PKM rabbit hole, check out my Obsidian Beginner Resource list.

Save yourself countless hours of time and energy looking for the best Obsidian learning resources. It includes all of the resources I wish I had on Obsidian 3 years ago, including the best creators to follow, links to immerse yourself in the community, and my most popular curated content on Obsidian.