August 14th - PKM Workshop
Today’s Agenda (5 min)
- Importance of an inbox
- Identifying information sources
- Exercise - Information as Energy Systems
- Discussion
Date: Thursday, August 14th
Time: 10:00 AM EST
Duration: 55-60 minutes
Format: Virtual (Zoom)
Participants: 10-15 people
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learntothrive.club/notes/pkm-workshop-aug14
The importance of an inbox (5 min)
“Your inbox is your single source of truth.”
Key concept: Pick one dedicated place to store all physical and digital things.
- Choose one place to anything reference related (notes app inbox)
- Choose one place to store anything action related (task manager inbox)
Consolidate your inbox(s)
- Downloads folder
- Sticky notes
- Text messages
- Calendar
- Email inbox (starred emails)
- Physical mail
- Fridge (magnets, notes, papers)
- Physical inbox
- Task manager
Note: You don’t have to save everything here, but you do want to save a note for anything you want to follow up on here.
- If there’s an email you need to follow up on, add a task to your inbox, and if possible link to the email in question.
- Try to clear your inbox at least once a week (weekly review)
- If you do have multiple places, make a list (every friday, check downloads folder, notes app inbox, task manager inbox, etc. - consistency!!)
Discussion (10 min)
- How do you manage your inbox(s)? Where is there room for improvement?
- What are you most struggling with when it comes to managing information?
- Do you prefer (a) physical or digital inbox(s)?
Identifying Information Sources (10 min)
- Internet’s evolution over time (discovery of information vs actively shielding against)
- Mental Squeeze Point = Information Overload
“A Mental Squeeze Point is when your unsorted knowledge becomes so messy it overwhelms and discourages you. It’s an emotion you feel in your body - that familiar overwhelm, discouragement, or frustration when your system stops helping and starts hindering.”
Think about the informational sources in your life (books, movies, TV, articles, newsletters, social media, conversations with friends). Think back over the last 3 days and try to write down where you obtained, came across, or absorbed information in your life.
- Think of the information in your life as energy.
- Now rate that information (and it’s source) on a scale from 1-5.
- 5 being energy-giving
- 3 being neutral
- 1 being energy-draining
- Based on this - what can you get rid of? What can you stop watching/reading/listening to? What areas can you de-optimize?
Resources
- Refining your capture habit - not covered in workshop, for more information on overcoming information overload
- Read Later App
- CODE Method - not covered in workshop, framework for turning insights -> ideas -> actions (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express)
Discussion (10 min)
- What came up for you? Did anything surprise you?
- What are you going to stop reading/watching/listening to?
Back to PKM Meet-Up (Ness Labs). Or if you’re interested, feel free to check out the PKM Track.