Articles
I'm often surprised by how simplifying things can end up being a daunting task.
Several months ago, I got stuck trying to code a complicated set of rules to try to automate the process of building my newsletter, while also making it more intuitive for readers to understand. That turned out to be a huge task because I’m not a developer, and I went back to the laborious manual process.
However, for some unknown reason, my brain refuses to let go of some projects and continues to secretly work on them. After a few days, years, or hours, when I’m lucky, these bursts of insight begin to emerge in no particular order or interval. For example, In June, I was here doing something completely unrelated, and my brain asked me this:
🧠 “—Why don’t you just send an email for each article you post?”
It was indeed a good idea. It’s not only much easier technically speaking, but Substack, the platform I was already using, had that feature. So, it was just a matter of copying the post from my blog and pasting it on Substack. In hindsight, I don’t even remember why I decided to send a monthly compilation of posts.
Of course, the new plan came with its own set of problems. Because that made things so much easier, at some point I decided to post the articles across more platforms, which led me back to a time-consuming task. Not to mention that I’m unsure if it’s worth the effort.
Little did I know, my brain had been secretly plotting to automate the process I gave up many months ago, and today it came up with another brilliant insight:
🧠 “—Compared to what you attempted to do in the past, I’m pretty sure it is much easier to create an automation on your blog platform to send a single article instead of that compilation.”
That’s a great idea, I thought. And here we are. This is a test article to make sure posts like this get sent automatically. If everything goes as planned, I will be able to centralize all the processes of posting and sending the newsletter in a single place. And it will all be done on its own. Finally!
Update: It worked!
It is amazing that, while trying to simplify a situation, we often end up making things even more complicated. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, sometimes it’s just a matter of turning things around a little to see how simple a solution can be.
More than just features: Bending Spoons has a vision for Evernote.
As a longtime Evernote user and frequent collaborator with the team, I’ve always felt a deep connection to the app. But a recent Vergecast episode with David Pierce and Federico Simionato made me see things from a different perspective.
However, before that, “The Great Evernote Reboot” episode title evoked a wave of nostalgia. It made me remember all the years I went to the Evernote conferences and when the company and its products were on the news all the time. Ironically, that nostalgia made me freeze for a moment and skip that episode. I wanted to listen to it with attention and give it the deserved respect and treatment. In honesty, it felt like a special moment.
The features discussed didn’t surprise me, though. For example, I just published a video about the sidebar customization. But Pierce’s approach was like turning things around just enough to give me a new perspective on Evernote’s direction after the Bending Spoons acquisition.
The goal is not to give users all the features they’ve been asking for quite some time. That’s great, but the main goal seams to be re-examining many things, from what Evernote is about for its users to the company’s revenue model. It is about focus and making the company sustainable for years to come. In a way, it feels like a reboot of the “100-year start-up” mantra, and I love it.
But listening to this episode also taught me a valuable lesson: sometimes, all it takes is a well-crafted question to gain a fresh perspective, even on something as familiar as Evernote.
On how tidying up my mess is inspiring me to create delightful memories on Obsidian.
One important element of my Timeline System is what I call the Containers of Information, which can be created using any grouping feature, even tags. However, I typically opt for folders, such as in the case of Obsidian and Supernote, or Notebooks, when utilizing the system on Evernote.
One of the Containers is the Timeline, which may initially appear to be an archive, but in reality it is a dynamic part of the system that also serves as a temporary storage space.
The others, known as Action Containers, are where I keep notes about activities in progress. When an activity is completed, the note is moved to the Timeline. But since information kept there, may need to be accessed or used again in the future, it has to be easy to find.
Since there is a book explaining the system coming soon, I am not going into further details about it in this post. I just wanted to give you a brief overview of how I use the Containers to convey a sense of doing or being done. My goal today is to tell you what the videos “Preparing Obsidian to Set Up My Timeline System” are about.
Preparing Obsidian for the Timeline System
When I start using a new device or app, I often don’t spend much time organizing things. My main focus is to learn how the information I’m saving there can benefit from some of the features I’m still figuring out how to use.
However, one thing I usually do is set up Containers, as they provide a dedicated space to intuitively save all the notes and files related to a specific ongoing topic. And that’s what I did when I started using Obsidian.
When the moment came to implement my Timeline System, I had to first figure out a categorization scheme that would allow me to find all information moved to the Timeline Container. I’m not 100% there yet, but it’s already good enough, and I started moving several notes, as shown in yesterday’s video. In other words, I’m currently tidying up the mess I left behind.
As I said in the video, I am now focusing on the Trips folder. But before I talk about that, here’s how I first organized my trips on Obsidian.
As you can see, I created a hierarchy of folders, which, by the way, is something I really don’t like. But it’s quick, and it gets the job done.
My goal now is to dismantle all that by moving PDFs and other files to the Files folder, explained in the first video of this series. Regarding the Itinerary note, which contains all the trip information and links to the files, it will be moved to the Timeline.
However, the first step is to date everything, including YYYY-MM-DD in each note’s title. I also explained the reason for this in that first video:
- 2024–09–19 Paris Itinerary
- 2024–09–19 Flight OPO-PAR-OPO
The Itinerary note also has the word “Itinerary” in the “type” property, and all the tags and geolocation coordinates to make it appear in the Map View plugin. By the way, I’m very excited about how cool that map will be when all of my relevant memories become a dot there.
With all that done, I can start removing all files from the Trips folder, leaving only my next trips there. In other words, it will be converted into an Action Container. Meaning that whatever is inside is in progress. The final touch was to create the search below and save it as a bookmark to easily filter all my old Itinerary notes.
[type:Itinerary]
To learn how to create a search like the one above and to better visualize all the explanations in this article, please watch the video below.
Before I go, there’s actually one more thing. Remember my Photos folder? I came up with the idea of using it to save some precious photos from each trip and drag them to the correct position in the Itinerary note. And the same works for blog posts. I’m also dragging the ones I wrote while on a trip, creating this captivating snapshot of the entire journey.
And it doesn’t stop there. Anything in the Timeline related to the trip is also being added to the Itinerary notes, creating a mini journal inside a larger journal: the Timeline. I’m so overjoyed with it that I’ll definitely produce a video to show you how it works and how to build something like this.
On how am I rediscovering my creative freedom with digital scribbling.
The Supernote is helping me to rediscover the joy of handwriting my scripts. It’s like using magical paper to seamlessly capture and reorganize ideas.
Years before Evernote, I would write many of my first podcast scripts on any piece of paper I could get my hands on. I’d usually have the ideas after a run, like it still happens today for the YouTube videos. But even though writing them down was a great way to remember later, trust me, the final “document” was typically a big mess.
Let’s be honest, it’s tough to keep handwritten notes as organized as a bullet list. Ideas don’t always flow in a neat, linear way, so it can be a real challenge to make sense of them later. My drafts were often ugly and pretty challenging to understand because of all the small text inserts. On some occasions, I would use arrows and even a second piece of paper with numbers on both parts of a sentence to try to connect them. I suppose you can imagine that it was often difficult to decipher.
In hindsight, I’d say I’d moved to digital writing as soon as technology was portable enough, probably because of the impossibility of inserting new text in between lines on paper.
I frequently do that on my computer; however, typing comes with its limitations. For example, sketching can be difficult to integrate with typed text. That’s great on paper, but again, there are all the problems mentioned above. Furthermore, I’m not good at drawing, so I frequently have to erase and fix things as I go.
For example, the thumbnail you see in the image below was created at a much larger size. It was the first thing I did on that page. When I was happy with it, I resized it to fit the corner of the screen (paper?). All the text you don’t see — more on that in a moment — was rearranged several times as I was writing, just like the pieces of a puzzle slowly falling into place.
It’s impossible to do that on paper, but the Supernote brought back the freedom and joy I remember having many years ago, and improved the process. It is like having the best of both worlds. And the most convenient part is that I can easily send the final version to Evernote or Obsidian.
As for the hidden text, there’s no secret there. I’m just trying to keep a mystery aura because I have already started to produce this video and don’t want to spoil the surprise. But if you cannot contain yourself, the untouched drawing is available for supporters on Patreon and YouTube.
Anyway, I think that you can probably tell by the thumbnail and the other drawing that the video has something to do with sending content to the Supernote via Evernote.
Hidden Potential: How to Listen to Books on Your Supernote Nomad
*Remember my rant about the microSD expansion on the Supernote? It appears that it’s not as limited as I thought.
Yesterday, I was feeling a bit frustrated, as I couldn’t figure out the full potential of a using a microSD card on my Supernote Nomad (A6X2). But today, I stumbled upon something that started to change my perspective.
It turns out the Amazon Kindle app has a hidden gem: the setting that lets you save all your books directly to the expansion card on your phone also exists on the Supernote. To activate it, simply open the Kindle app, go to ‘More’, and then ‘Settings’. There, you’ll find the option ‘Download to SD Card’.
After enabling this setting, I checked the card and found a new Android folder that looked remarkably similar to the one on my phone. That’s interesting to learn.
Finally, I went to the Supernote storage settings and confirmed that the card was indeed being used. But there’s more!
Now that the books are being stored on the card, I decided it would be worth it to try downloading and check if I could listen to audiobooks. There’s no headphone jack on the Supernote, but it is possible to connect a headset via Bluetooth, and I had to try this. By the way, there’s also an option in the settings to auto-download your audiobooks.
And the answer is yes, it is possible to listen to audiobooks. That microSD card is starting to look more promising now.
The Value of Experience
I feel foolish in retrospect for not considering some advice given to me by my parents and grandparents. Things change from generation to generation, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing they don’t know anything about our generation. The real lesson we seem to never grasp as young people is how to deal with life’s challenges and setbacks. And that’s generation-agnostic.
When I noticed my kids behaving just like I was in the past, I started each piece of advice with, “Do whatever you see fit with this information; I’m just telling you what happened to me”. Believe it or not, that made them at least pay more attention to whatever I was explaining. Only time will tell if it actually worked or not.
Have a lovely week.
My cluttered workspace 🫣
I took the pictures below to illustrate a point in a conversation I was having on Mastodon, but something unexpected ended up happening.
I arranged my desk so that I can comfortably type on the K380 and, at the same time, easily reach the Touch ID sensor on my MacBook Air. At my right, not visible, there’s a Mac Mini and another screen where I produce my videos. I use the same keyboard and trackpad through Apple Continuity.
It took me many trials and errors, but I love this arrangement. Not only that, I’m proud of my creation. I built several of the parts, including the sliding extension for the keyboard. Everything is easily accessible and highly efficient. Now, can you guess how the AI-generated captions of the pictures start the description of my desk?
“A cluttered workspace”. 🤪
The video below will give you an idea of my workspace. It’s from 2023, and I have made minor adjustments, as predicted at the end of the video. Nevertheless, the computers and most of the items remain the same.
From Pixels to Plastic: When the Old-School Beats Digital
Google Wallet is perfect for scanning loyalty program barcodes and QR codes. However, one supermarket I sometimes go to struggles to read phone screens. Frustrated, I opted for a low-tech solution. I attached the loyalty card to my eco bag with a zip tie, and all I have to do now is put the bag first on the conveyor belt to grant some rewards.
The best solution is the one that works for you. It’s even better when It’s simple to implement and use.
From Sketch to Reality with my Digital Planning Powerhouse: #Supernote and #Evernote
I’m excited to bring this improvised kitchenette in my office into reality. I created it a while ago as a proof of concept that I’m now ready to bring to the next level using my favorite duo.
The Supernote has been a game-changer for sketching out ideas, and Evernote keeps everything organized for easy access. To learn how I make both work together smoothly, you can check out this video. Back to the project, all the drawings and measurements were automatically sent to my Evernote, where I added the list of materials. The next steps are buying all the items and building.
Can’t wait to share the final result! Any design tips or suggestions?