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As I’ve talked about the value of going through your old notes many times, today I used my random note strategy to find some content I hadn’t seen in a while.
Cross Platform Apps
Allen Pike wrote about how hard it is to maintain apps in a cross-platform fashion if you want amazing functionality on all platforms. This is a refrain I hear regularly from macOS fans looking for Mac-assed Mac apps, which is an app they feel fully inhabits their chosen platform fully. One that takes advantage of all the macOS features that Apple provides and feels fully native on the platform.
Contrast this type of app with Obsidian which I used on macOS for a few years, and have spent the last year using it on Linux. The app feels the same on both platforms, and feels excellent on both platforms. It doesn’t take full advantage of every feature on either platform, but is so full featured itself that it is just as useful on either platform.
Then you have another class of app with Godspeed as an example. It to has it’s own interface that is opinionated but doesn’t have a Linux app, what it has is an excellent web app that can be turned into a native app and then used as if it was said native app. The Godspeed keyboard commands work flawlessly if you’re using it on macOS or on the web.
A variation on this last type of app is one I’m really interested in because it’s not reliant on any capricious gatekeepers1, an app like Godspeed that only lives on the web yet feels intuitive. It feels so good you don’t even worry about it not being a native app on your desktop. Feedbin is a good example of this. It doesn’t have any desktop apps, though it has an API which I use with Newsboat, and is so nice to use on the web that you can be highly productive with it solely on the web.
There was a time I desired to build native platform apps because I thought it would be an interesting programming challenge, but lately I’ve been far more interesting in building stuff on the web that feels so awesome to use that you don’t care about the lack of native desktop platform.
Do you write in books?
Richard Carter explored the idea of writing in books. There was a short window when I did this and then turned my highlights into notes later. I’ve also used sticky notes in a book to highlight thoughts2.
I have two issues with physically marking up books now. One, you loose any resale value and lets be honest, some of the books you have in your library you’ll never read again and probably should have stopped reading the first time through. I’m lucky enough to have regular access to a used bookstore that will give me store credit so I can get other books that interest me.
My second issue is all about personal growth. I’m a different person if I’m reading through a book a second time this means different things will stand out to me. If I’m constantly wading through the notes while reading I’m far more likely to read it as the same person I was during the first read. If I’ve taken notes in any other format, I can look back at them but not be influenced by them on a re-read.
Though I’ve waffled a few times over the years, my favourite way to take notes is to physically write them down in my reading notebook. If it’s not worth the effort to write down the notes not worth taking. If it’s not worth the effort to move my thoughts to digital form in Obsidian, then I’m voting the book/notes aren’t that valuable.
There is always more to do
No matter how many personal productivity techniques you master, there will always be more to do than you can ever accomplish in the time you have available to you, no matter how much it is. Eat that Frog Loc 116
After saying this the book does try to give you more productivity advice, but the main point is to do the important stuff first and then don’t sweat the rest so much.
It’s always a good reminder that there is more than you can ever do and sometimes you should just sit down and do nothing even with a list a mile long.