storing new information

A

ArcCaster

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GTD gives me a structure for capturing and retrieving thoughts about projects and next actions.

Over the days and years, I keep learning new things about GTD, about my profession, and about life in general.

I am wondering whether a similar structure exists for storing such new thoughts so that they can be easily retrieved and so that patterns become apparent.

What has been your experience?

Thanks,
rob
 
ArcCaster;88227 said:
I am wondering whether a similar structure exists for storing such new thoughts so that they can be easily retrieved and so that patterns become apparent.

What has been your experience?
Click to expand...

I capture those in text files, in notes now in DEVONTHink and occasionally as someday/maybe projects or notes in larger projects.
 
I keep a mindmap on my ipad for Ideas - I dump any idea into the map. Reviewing this is one of my weekly review items where I can decide if anything needs doing on this or not, plus I can then look at if things need clustering where they are related.
 
I just spent the 6 minutes to listen to David's talk on Personal Brain -- there was one thing missing -- does the brain LINK to everything -- that is, currently, I have hundreds of mind maps, dozens of lists, many dozens of procedures (hey, I do work in a software company), as well as running files on other dozens of topics. If the brain can link to all of these existing documents, sounds like it might be WONDERFUL!

Can it?

Thanks,
Rob
 
Ok, so after Kelly's suggestion I've actually been playing with PersonaBrain for 2 days already and it looks really usefull so far. The interface is kind of outdated though but I got used to it already.

I'm actually considering moving most of my data from Evernote to PersonalBrain now. And I have thousands of notes so it's a serious investment of time. I would still use Evernote as inbox for qucik capture and as a bookmark manager but organize things in PersonalBrain. It can also filter information by multiple criteria so it has many uses (could be used for gtd and other systems too)

Actually Evernote and PersonalBrain are extremely similar tools and the difference is that you can also connect/link information in PersonalBrain. And the information is presented differently. In evernote you can browse through tags and subtags but in PersonalBrain you are navigating through endless mindmap with unlimited connections...

I'm amazed I didn't even know anything about this tool until now. Are there any similar tools to PersonalBrain? It looks unique. I find my mind works a lot better when information is presented visually. I did use flowcharts for brainstorming and as process diagrams, etc. and organized everything really well in evernote so PersonalBrain is not a huge difference for me however I think it might speed up and streamline the process and present data in a better way for me. I would still need to use separate app for flowcharts and diagrams though because PersonalBrain does only mindmaps, for example it's impossible to make a workflow process diagram (with AND/OR statements and etc.)

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep using PersonalBrain though but so far I'm really impressed with it. I'm going to research it heavily and see if it will become a part of my workflow.
Lots of fun anyway.
 
May;88342 said:
in PersonalBrain you are navigating through endless mindmap with unlimited connections...
Click to expand...

Wondering where I would draw the line between using MindJet and using PersonalBrain. Will MindJet-created maps become an integral part of what Personal Brain links to? Or will Personal Brain render MindJet unnecessary?

Thanks,
Rob
 
Here is my decision about PersonalBrain, and I'm really surprised:

I am going to use PB for everything, as a complete GTD tool with actions and projects and filtering Next Actions by multiple criteria (Area of Focus, Context, Time, Energy) aswell as for non actionable project support material and as a complete genereal reference material storage and so on and everything is connected and separate at the same time.

So instead of using 2 tools: Evernote for non actionable stuff and a dedicated GTD app for actionable stuff I'm going to keep everything in one tool. I've been thinking about this really hard and I've been comparing pros and cons and testing things and eventually decided to just move to PB completely. Even though a dedicated GTD app might be better because of some its dedicated GTD ui features, PB still has all the functionality and the pros outweight the cons overall. For me it's the best option. I can actually even use Evernote for everything(exactly the same functionality) if I had to but it's only going to decrease my productivity because the interface is just not really designed for that.

I do mostly knowledge work and I have to keep track of thousands of things (literally) and with PB I'm just faster. I really need a complete electronic brain. PB just makes perfect sense. I used to naturally do mind maps and flow charts to connect pieces of information from projects prior to PB and I'm still going to use additional software for some really specific flow charts and mind maps.

PB is just easier to navigate and search and a more advanced/flexible tool overall. The ability to connect everything speeds up the workflow.

It just feels much more natural. However it might be too powerful/advanced for some people, it is only a tool and a very flexible one and not designed specifically for GTD so you have to know what you are doing, using it for everything is not going to work for everyone(maybe even most) but for me it's the best option.
 
May;88476 said:
I used to naturally do mind maps and flow charts to connect pieces of information from projects prior to PB and I'm still going to use additional software for some really specific flow charts and mind maps.
Click to expand...

So, it sounds like you might already be a user of MindJet and that you will continue to use it for some really specific mind maps. Will you tell me more about where you see the line being drawn between Personal Brain and MindJet?

Thanks,
Rob
 
ArcCaster,
I am not using MindJet.
I am using LucidChart/Visio for Flowchart type of diagrams where I need to specify a direction of a link and also be very specific about AND/OR connections and to have more control of an overall layout of items.
I would use it to visualize some scripts/apps/processes I create. Sometimes I want to see how some thing works at a glance without having to read the code and puzzle things out. My mind just works better/faster when the information is presented visually.
 
An update:
Since I got comfortable with the expanded view in PersonalBrain and found some easy ways to use thoughts as operators and also different types of link I've realized that 99% of stuff I did in LucidChart/Visio I could do in PB. And it's also really fast to do in PB.
So the more I use it the more I like it :D
I'm not sure if would really use other app for mind maps at all
 
Curse you Kelly and others! I was quite happy with Tomboy Notes, but now I have downloaded Personal Brain and it looks good too. Darn software overload!

But since I am a newbie, what will be lost after the 30 day deluxe trial? I guess I will come across that soon in my learning about it - we'll see how good they are at getting their hooks in! :D
 
Since I've been very heavily using Personal Brain for quite a while now I think I completely got the overall concept so I could distinguish what are main differences between Personal Brain and Evernote and similar apps

Made those conclusions while brainstorming with a mind map in PersonalBrain but will post as just text:

Evernote has:
Notebooks ( which work kind of like Types in Personal Brain)
Tags
Notes

PersonalBrain has:
Types
Tags
Thoughts (which work kind of like both tags and notes in Evernote but also provide a lot more functionality, more on that below)

Main differences:

Evernote has a strict hierarchy for tags(which are used as topics/categories).

Sure you can have a note under multiple tags but then a note is not a category(tag is). And you can't have multiple connections for categories in any way except for keeping those connections in your head. (well in theory you could write about those connections in notes as well :) but then it's not practical and still hard to navigate and review )

PersonalBrain has a dynamic hierarchy for thoughts (which are used as notes as well as topics/categories and then they could also be further grouped by Types and Tags) and a strict hierarchy for Types and Tags (which aren't used for navigation as in Evernote and instead are used for filtering based on multiple criteria and more)

Evernote pros
- It's easier to understand the concept

- Fast to capture web content

- great mobile support

Evernote cons
- So basically remove all functionality from PersonalBrain except Types and Tags and you get Evernote (kind of)
- only an outline view is available, no visualization and multiple connections

PersonalBrain pros
- allows to visualize all kinds of connections and dynamic mind maps without strict hierarchies and etc.

- possible to make unlimited connections between related categories and information

- Better search (can search for categories instead of just notes as in Evernote. Also can use wildcards for search anywhere in the word and more)

- faster to find and review data because of connections and multiple views/ways to look at the information

- could be used as a better brainstorming and thinking tool compared to only basic text notes with multiple tags storage tool (evernote)

PersonalBrain cons
- Slower to capture web content compared to Evernote (so I use Evernote as an additional Inbox)

- Limited mobile version
 
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