Thread by @rjnestor

If you want to build effective workflows using Tools for Thought (@RoamResearch, @amplenote, @obsdmd, etc.), you have to get comfortable with Systematic Iteration.

“Ah, right, R.J.,” you might say.

…and then add: “But what on earth does THAT mean?”

Iteration is a fundamental meta-process—meaning, it’s a process that underlies other processes.

Life itself relies on iteration, copying and changing our DNA to create the next generation.

Reliable workflows do the same: they revisit and refine material.

Examples:

#Zettelkasten

Pass 1: Copy what you read, along with its metadata
P2: Re-word what you copied
P3: Connect what you re-worded to other knowledge
P4+: “Converse” with your knowledge to develop further knowledge

#GTD

Pass 1: Capture an idea, task, project, etc., in your Inbox
P2: Process the Inbox (Do, Defer, Delegate, Delete) and connect what you captured to your projects
P3: Review your projects to determine what to do next within each
P4+: Choose what to do NOW from your next actions

Writing a story

Pass 1: Gather ideas—don’t worry about what’s “good or bad”
P2: Organize what you gathered based on character, plot, etc.
P3: Structure what you organized to maximize the ups & downs of story conflict
P4+: Draft the story based on the structure

So, iteration underpins many processes. But I haven’t answered what I mean by “getting comfortable with Systematic Iteration.”

I mean a few things:

1. Trial & Error gets a bad rap, so you have to stop worrying that iteration is inefficient. If it’s systematic, it’ll work.

2. When iteration is “systematic,” that means there’s a method to the madness.

The CONTENT will change from one project to the next, but the stages of iteration remain reliably stable.

I’ll process my Inbox—or connect notes to my Zettelkasten—the same way each time.

3. Developing the stages of a workflow is, itself, iterative.

Meaning sometimes you’re “hopping up a level” to examine the process itself and refine it further.

One caveat: Do this only when you feel friction, or you can get into an eternal loop of “fiddling with your system.”

4. When it’s YOU designing the workflow, that can be legitimately terrifying.

“What if I do it wrong? What if there’s a better way?”

Get comfortable saying “I’m SURE there’s a better way, and working with my workflow is how I’ll FIND the better way.”

Which brings me back to Tools for Thought.

My chosen tool, @RoamResearch, is amazing at the first step of most iterative processes—getting your thoughts out of your head. But Roam isn’t particularly “opinionated” about how you should go about PROCESSING what you put into it.

Lest that sound like a criticism: that’s WHY I love Roam. It gives me the freedom and power to build my OWN systems.

No matter what TfT you use, or how opinionated it is about workflows, your comfort with Systematic Iteration will correlate with your success using the tool.

You can get past your initial fear by hiring a coach or starting with a workflow someone else built.

Coaches: …well, ME (DM me!), @rroudt, @cortexfutura, @elaptics

Folks with workflows: @beauhaan, @tracyplaces, @LaptopLifeLisa

And many more I don’t have room to list

Get comfortable with the way YOU iterate in YOUR workflows, and you’ll learn more, get more done, create more, and even find more space in your life for OTHER things too.

Because as your workflows become streamlined and reliable, the bandwidth for everything else opens up!