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Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
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24 Jul, 10 tweets, 4 min read
I've spent an obscene amount of time trying to figure out the right TfT (Tools for Thoughts) stack for ME.

My curiosity led me to explore 10+ TfT tools, but at the end of the day, I was just trying to solve 3 major pain points.

And here is where I landed as of TODAY.

🧵👇
A little bit about what is important for me -
• I'm looking for a "functional minimum structure" that helps me to get shit done
• I have a hectic schedule and a fragmented mind, so having a powerful quick-capture tool is important

I choose my tools to solve 3 of my main pain points -

1. Quick capture + shallow processing
2. Deep thinking + facilitate connections between unstructured data/ideas
3. Structured workflow to collaborate with my future self or a team
1/ @BearNotesApp to capture ideas quickly

• Strength: easy quick capture, provide the ability to append, allows for images, pleasant writing experience
• Similar tools: Apple Notes, Drafts
• Context of use: mobile, desktop
2/ @RoamResearch to think/connect deeply

• Strength: unique block + outliner structure designed for those who are ready to invest the time/effort for knowledge to pay dividends in the long term
• Similar tools: Obsidian, LogSeq, Remnote, and more
• Context of use: desktop
3/ @NotionHQ to manage structured capture/workflow and team collaboration

• Strength: Once you have clarity of the data structure, Notion's DB is a powerful workflow and team collaboration tool; user friendly
• Similar tools: Airtable
• Context of use: mobile, desktop
Disclaimer 1:
The TfT space is constantly changing, I expect my stack to change over time.

However, it is a good idea to revisit and focus on the fundamental processes, workflows and results you wanted to achieve.

Great thread by @maggied on the topic.
Disclaimer 2:
It is important to note that these are MY current criteria; there are many others; your priority might be different and mine might change, some examples might be -
• Security
• Data ownership
• Community support
• Aesthetic
• Onboarding experience
• ADHD
There is no perfect tool. Beware of the "shiny toy syndrome."

That said, I'm still very curious about YOUR shiny toys lol.

• What workflow/result are you trying to achieve?
• What are your remaining pain points?
• What is working well for you?
• What's your TfT stack?
If you find this useful, feel free to jump back up to the top of the thread and share it with others.

• • •

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More from @JessicaShieh

Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
16 Jun
"Why would I pay for a course if I can find them for free?" This used to puzzle me.

(h/t) to @tferriss DiSSS rapid learning framework(deconstruct-selection-sequencing-stake) I think people underestimate the importance and time investment needed for Selection and Sequencing...👇
1/ Selection - When I first learn something, everything feels like a signal and I don't have the mental scaffold to decide what to keep and what to toss.

Being guided through a structure course helps to focus on the 20% that yields 80% of the result.
2/ Sequence - I don't think learners pay enough attention to this; there are skills/knowledge that serve as foundational blocks where the right sequence enables
maximum output.

And as an amateur learner, I do not have this knowledge.
Read 7 tweets
Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
13 Jun
Ever wonder if GTD had an app, what that'd look like?

Turns out David Allen (@gtdguy) had a clear idea in 1994, tried to build it twice but never got to where he wanted.

I stumbled on this and decided to prototype it out in Roam.

Took me about ~5h. 🧵👇
1/ Prototype progress: 65% done, but 100% functional.

I want to test drive this for ~2 weeks to tinker with the automation and smooth out some wrinkles.

Also still trying to read David’s hand-writing to decipher some of his feature requests lol

But damn. This is exciting.
2/ "What would David Allen’s tool for thoughts (TfT) look like?" I asked; I was so curious.

With the prototype, I deviated ~20% from David's original design (mainly to adapt the GTD principles to fit the digital context I work in) and 15% blocked by Roam's limitations.
Read 8 tweets
Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
26 May
Stumbled upon this gem from @tferriss; on fear, self-love & writing.

TL;DR
•Ask - what might this look like if it were easy?
•On writing - write atomically, have a routine, know thyself
•On marketing - good content has marketing built-in, write the book you wish you had

🧵👇
1/⏰26:24

•What might this look like if it were easy?

This is a really deceptively leveraged question.

BC you start to look for elegance and ease instead of the path of complexity that allows you to absorb and tolerate the most pain.

2/⏰40:15

Fear setting - this something Tim still does.

•Define - what are your specific fear?
•Prevent - what are the things you can do to decrease the likelihood?
•Repair - what are the things I can do to repair the damage or get back on my feet?

Read 9 tweets
Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
18 Apr
Thank you @maggied @roamhack for hosting the "Future of Tools for Thoughts" space. We covered -

1. Key elements for TfT (Tools for Thoughts)
2. Specific use case: task and project management
3. Interoperability
4. Trust
5. Future looking
1. What are the key elements for a TfT to be "good"?

- Capture and storage
- Frictionless
- Speed
- Search-ability

Note: there is no ONE right answer, it will be different depending on the problem you are trying to solve.
2. How do we layering time and action to resurface ideas?

- Touched on task management, spaced-repetition
- Discussed a particular usage of TfT being task management and compared tools such as Roam Research, Obsidian and nerded out on a few GTD plug-ins to play with :-)
Read 7 tweets
Jessica 🚢 (30/100) Profile picture
10 Apr
Learning Obsidian(@obsdmd) in 4 short hours

It's so easy to get sucked into the tech rabbit hole and end up spending hours on researching, instead of producing.

I wanted to share my process on how I usually onboard myself on any new technology.

It's very raw. I am on hour 4. Image
1/ Disclaimer: my goal is to get to a "sufficient" state so I can focus on producing, instead of tinkering. Avoiding "procrastination by learning".

By no means am I an expert, and I have every intention to continue to learn more.
2/ TLDR; summary -

•Focus on the problem - think "what am I solving?"
•Get feedback ASAP - test drive the tech against your use case, hack it however you can to see if it works for you
•Write down your pain point, solve it

And yes, this was written using Obsidian in h4.
Read 11 tweets

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