Deep Work & Systems

Ive been looking everywhere. what i need is:

RELIABLE sync between laptop and mobile [obsidian git is just not working for me and the syncthing thing doesnt look reliable]

version history just incase something happens
end to end encryption [goodbye notion]

UNLIMITED storage and note capacity

can handle long notes with no lag, im using it to write a novel

has folders

all features stated above being FREE

Dont recomend google docs, its horrendous too as its very buggy for me.

If anyone can help id really appreciate it. what do you guys use?

Three years ago I started with Zettelkasten and tags, thinking of tags as a hierarchy. That mindset carried forward when Bases came out, tags became frontmatter properties, and it completely changed how I built my folder structure and dashboards.

Since then the system has evolved a ton: values tracking, project management, wireframes, iterations, too many CSS snippets.

In a recent interview, the conversation turned to how I learn. I started talking about my note taking system, how long it's taken to build, the thinking behind the wireframes, and ended up pulling it up and showing them the actual dashboard.

That system was built for me, not for anyone else. Turns out it also showed exactly how I think, iterate, and stay accountable to myself. Got the job.

If you've ever wondered whether all the time you sink into your vault "counts" for anything outside it, it can. Thanks Kepano and the Obsidian team! Can appreciation flair be added? If this is not allowed, please remove.

I've had days with 15+ hours of screen time. At the end of those days, I couldn't tell you a single thing I'd learned, built, or accomplished.

I'd feel guilty and disgusted. Then I'd do it all over again.

One day I got sick of it and said fuck this shit. I started learning every country and capital, something I'd always wanted to do but never made time for.

That was just the beginning.

The gap between scrolling and actually doing something started closing. I remembered what it felt like to be curious. I started learning how to learn again.

So pick anything. The thing you've always wanted to do. The hobby you abandoned. The skill you keep telling yourself you'll get to.

You'll suck at it. You'll feel awkward. Do it anyway.

Because if you never let yourself be a beginner, you will always be one. Forever.

Fuck what people think. Fuck waiting until you're "ready."

Put the phone down. Go create something

Twelve weeks ago I added one thing to my routine that made a bigger difference for me than any other habit. It was a meta-habit. The habit of reviewing my habits.

Every Sunday evening, 15 minutes, four questions:

1. What did I plan vs actually do this week?
2. What kept getting in the way?
3. What's one change for next week?
4. What am I dropping to make room for it?

Some honest findings from 12 weeks of this:

The first three weeks were uncomfortable. My mental picture of my week and the written record disagreed constantly. I felt like I worked out regularly but it was about 60% as much as I was giving myself credit for. I "barely watched TV"... if you consider nearly 10hours a week "barely" then maybe..

I don't think I was lying to myself so much as never checking.

Around week 5, the reviews started changing behavior upstream. Mid-week, mid-decision, I'd think "this is going in the review" and make a better choice. The observation was doing more work than the planning.

Adding a layer of visibility into my week basically forced me to start acting like a better version of myself.

To try to make it even more objective I do my weekly review with AI so that I can get an "outside" perspective that sees through my excuses.

It can be a bit brutal to admit you spent 2 hours watching Gnetflix each night when you should have been studying or working. It completely destroys the "I don't have time" excuse when you actually look at your numbers.

If you aren't tracking and reviewing your performance on a weekly basis I highly suggest giving it a try. Absolute game-changer for me.

I was very productive at the beginning of the year. And these past 2 months I started noticing that I’ve been slacking.

I just noticed that when I’m always doing some chore, etc. I’m always putting something in the background relates to useless content. Even for things that won’t take long. A few examples:

1. Time to fold clothes after laundry? Tv.

2. Building furniture I ordered? Tv.

3. Unbox Amazon deliveries? Tv.

4. Drill holes to hang pictures? Tv.

5. Lunch? Dinner? Tv.

Basically, I am always trying to watch something which likely caused me to keep doing that even when I’m done with those chores (scrolling videos on my phone).

I started listening to audiobooks again instead of putting on mindless content. At least that way I can work towards completing something at the same time I’m working on something else. It’s odd that I had this habit just fine at the beginning of the year - but I think I fell off this habit when I finished a book and didn’t have any audiobooks next.

Hey guys I’m very far behind in life and it’s making me extremely depressed, feeling like a loser, and making me wanna give up.

What I’m doing right:

I’m in good shape. I workout a good amount and eat right.

I go for walks in the morning to get out of my apt.

And I’m not addicted to drugs

That’s it lol.

And the bad:

I have a shit restaurant job and hardly get any hours. I basically make no money and I’m ashamed to not have a career going for me. Which means no good woman is gonna want me and it makes me walk with my head down feeling that way. I basically have no future or status or anything.

I’m extremely depressed and lonely.

I have choice paralysis and don’t know what career I need to stick to, to not waste my time cause again I’m 26 and I really don’t wanna waste more of my life.

Basically I have no skills worth money.

So that’s it.

I’m working on getting therapy cause I know I need it at this point. Although I don’t know how effective it’ll be. I have somewhat of a drive to get better but everything hitting me like this is so difficult.

My problems are all summed up by career and money. That’s what I’ve identified. What needs to be done?

Hey, on the last few months, I've trying to fix my productivity problems (procrastination, avoiding doing things I would find really hard, overall lazyness), and I have done some progress! Last month I delivered some important tasks for a college project, without the quality being the usual trashy, last minute garbage I usually deliver. This month, I started a two-people-paper, and my partner is *extremelly* competent and one of the best students in my class.

The pressure to not let them down (they invited me to do the work! both of our usual pairings were taken), and do a job on pair with theirs made me power through angst and procrastination, despite the paper being a really hard one to write. It's not like it wasnt challenging, but I actually locked in for once, and I am pretty proud of the first part of the paper.

My problem is, now that I proved to myself that the paper "is not that hard" and that I could, in fact, do a good work just like my colleague, I just... stopped. I once again started to get lazy, or frozen in front of my phone watching YT shorts, or just sitting in front of the computer opening and closing google tabs, watching the hours pass by. I think I might only find will to do this kinds of hard tasks if I feel like Im up against a huge monster, if im the underdog trying to prove myself, in a epic battle fighting for my life or something, but when Im confortable with the situation, my work comes out... extremely wonky, if it even comes out.

One time, with a solo project (no one counting on me) and with an easy topic, I procrastinated so much that I wrote the first line of text with 45 minutes until I had to send the document to my professor. That project from last month, I also was under enormous pressure, because it was a hard and *extremely* important project I was sharing with our whole class. From this and other cases, I think its clearly a pattern

Do you have any tips I can use to lock in even if the sky isnt falling down on my head? It would really help! I don't think it would be healthy to lead a worklife based uppon stress and high stakes scenarios lol

Hey everybody! I am looking for some advice that might help me get myself out of this rut that I’m in. For context, I’m a 34 year old married father of a toddler. I have anxiety and depression that I’ve dealt with since adolescence and is fairly well under control, as well as a more recent ADHD diagnosis. I have struggled my whole life with self-discipline, organization and executive functioning. I coasted in my school years since I was interested in most subjects and got good grades, but I have had a much harder time in adulthood now that priorities have shifted and I am now responsible for earning a living, raising a child, owning a home etc. My wife and I both struggle with things like keeping our house and cars clean/free from clutter, paying bills on time and managing finances.

We both have steady employment and a healthy and happy daughter. But day to day feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water— overwhelmed by all the things I’ve procrastinated. Then I end up wasting time distracted on my phone, feeling too tired to do chores and eating lots of sweets late at night to soothe the cycle of stress and shame.

Intellectually I know what I need to do to help myself, and I know that it’s not an all-or-nothing thing. But the older I get the more cynical and discouraged I become. In my 20s I had periods of good habits like running and eating right. I even successfully trained for and ran two half marathons. But now that I’m in my 30s and have less energy and free time, each attempt ends in a false start, and I’m back to eating fast food milkshakes every night in a messy house.

My life is so different now that I am a parent, I think I need a new framework for making changes to my life and health. Applying what worked in my 20s has proven unsuccessful. Any fellow 30-somethings have any tips for making lasting changes and combating the cynicism and jaded feelings after years of backsliding?

Have you built anything yet

For context I am 22(F). I’ve dropped out of college because of personal issues and lack of funds. I don’t have a job currently because I recently moved states but I have been searching non stop. Long story short, I’m kind of a bum right now and have nothing going for myself.

Because of this, I’ve been extremely depressed and I spend my days struggling to get out of bed and also struggling to sleep early. When I do wake up (which is mid afternoon) I spend most of my day scrolling aimlessly on my phone or playing video games. I have absolutely no motivation for anything and I just genuinely cannot feel anything. I’m constantly binge eating because I’m bored at home and alone most of the time. I have no friends and I have no energy to get out of the house. I see everyone having fun around me and there’s so much to do if I can just get myself out of the house. I genuinely cannot get out of this rut.

I have NEVER been the type of person to be this lazy and unmotivated. I cry every day because I really don’t know what I became and I don’t know how to fix it. I know this is so embarrassing and I might get criticized but anyone please help me? I want to get out of this hole but idk how.

I have struggled my whole life with motivation for anything; cleaning, exercising, homework, whatever it is, I just can’t get myself motivated. Now, as an adult, it’s even worse.

How do people become motivated to make changes? I want to be one of those people that wakes up one day and decides to make a change.

I’ve made decisions to change multiple times, but I never follow through. I think I struggle with the belief that I will just fail. I can’t fail if I don’t start, which isn’t true because it’s a failure to not start.

I’ve been in therapy trying to deal with my trauma and self worth, and I so badly want to work on my mental and physical health. I just don’t know where to start. I’ve read self help books, I’ve done the apps, I journal, and sure, it sounds great but it’s like I’m missing something in my brain to get motivated (not sure that makes sense).

I just don’t know what to do.

I’ve looked into what a productive weekend is and try to apply it to my life as much as possible, but no matter what I still feel as though I didn’t do anything.

For example this weekend I:

Saturday: played basketball with a friend, read, worked out, went out for drinks at night.

Sunday: I plan on working out, reading, and maybe cleaning a bit.

I have tired almost all productivity tools from Todoist to Notion, Obsidian to Asana. From simple task manager/habit trackers to complex project management tools. But nothing worked for me. Either I find it too simple and lacking what I want or too complex and I end up spending more time building the system than improving productivity.

Every time I try a new tool I think this it will be different, but again in a few days or maximum in a few weeks I will reach back to my notebook.

I'm I alone? has anyone else been through this?

So i have started setting up a vault and syncing it across all my devices, but i am just stuck.

What do you guys take notes of? Should i delete all my plugins and start on a basic vanilla vault?

*sorry for any writing errors, im not a native english speaker and my autocorrect likes to find different words.

Which 3 productivity books would you recommend from this list, and why?

• Atomic Habits
• Deep Work
• Rework
• The 5 AM Club
• The ONE Thing
• Make Time
• Win the Day
• Getting Things Done
• The 80/20 Principle
• Ultralearning
• Getting Sh*t Done

You can only pick 3.