Learn to Thrive

~ PKM Meet-Up (Ness Labs)

PKM Workshop - Basics of a PKM System + Identifying Bottlenecks

Table of Contents:

Date: Thursday, July 10th
Time: 11:00 AM EST
Duration: 55-60 minutes Format: Virtual (Zoom)
Participants: 10-15 people

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garden.learntothrive.club/pkm-workshop-july10

Today’s Agenda

Quick Tally

  • Raise hands if you’ve been here before. Welcome back!
  • Raise your hands if this is you’re first time. Welcome!
  • Extra: Attendance POLL?
  • Note: Sam - Roles & Volunteering

Objectives

  • Define the basics of any PKM system
  • Identify common bottlenecks in PKM systems
  • Bottlenecks breakout rooms discussion

Recap of last time

  • Focused on building an active PKM garden where our purpose defines the content we collect. You can find the notes here.
  • Discord tutorial. Does anyone need help getting into the discord?
  • Is there anything anyone wants to share from last week? How did identifying your purpose help move your system forward?

Share link Discord

https://discord.gg/YRPMfEXJ

Basics of a PKM System

Every effective PKM system has four essential stages - like a pipeline that transforms raw information into valuable outputs:

• Input - What information enters your system • Processing - How you make sense of what you captured
• Storage - How you organize and retrieve information • Output - How you create and share knowledge

The key insight: Most PKM failures happen when one stage becomes a bottleneck that blocks the entire flow. Today we’ll identify where your system gets stuck and how to fix it.

Common Bottlenecks by Stage

• Input bottlenecks: Capturing too much/too little, consuming low-quality sources • Processing bottlenecks: No time to reflect, unclear methods for connecting ideas • Storage bottlenecks: Can’t find things, over-organizing, system complexity
• Output bottlenecks: Never actually creating, perfectionism, unclear goals

Our approach: Map your current system, identify your biggest bottleneck, then learn from others who’ve solved similar problems.

Input - What Information Enters Your System

The Goal: Capture the right information at the right time without overwhelming your system.

Think of input like eating - you need enough nutrition to fuel your goals, but consuming everything available will make you sick. Your input strategy should serve your purpose (from last week’s workshop).

The Input Challenge • Firehose Mode: Saving everything “just in case” → system overwhelm • Drought Mode: Capturing nothing → missed opportunities and repeated searches

Key Questions

  1. What sources do you currently follow? (newsletters, podcasts, people, websites)
  2. Which sources actually serve your current project goals?
  3. How do you decide what’s worth capturing? (Do you have criteria, or is it random?)
  4. Where do you capture things? (apps, notebooks, voice memos, screenshots)
    • Note: Aim to have 1 (at MOST 2 - ie digital/analog) places you store captures. Develop your capture habit.

Common Bottlenecks: • Source overload: Following too many newsletters/feeds • No filtering criteria: Saving everything because you can’t decide what matters • Broken capture tools: Using systems that are slow or unreliable • Context switching: Constantly jumping between capture methods

Quick Audit (3 minutes):

  1. List 3-5 information sources you check regularly
  2. Rate each: Does this directly serve your current project? (Yes/Maybe/No)
  3. Identify your biggest input frustration this week

Remember: The best input system is the one you’ll actually use consistently. Perfect capture that never happens is worthless.

Processing - How You Make Sense of What You Captured

The Goal: Transform raw information into personally meaningful knowledge that you can actually use.

Think of processing like digestion - you don’t just swallow food and hope it becomes energy. Your brain needs time to break down, connect, and integrate new information with what you already know.

The Processing Challenge Most people skip this step entirely. They capture tons of information but never actually think with it. Their notes become digital hoarding instead of thinking tools.

What Processing Actually Looks Like: • Reflecting: What does this mean for my project? How does this change my thinking? • Connecting: How does this relate to other things I know? What patterns do I see? • Questioning: What questions does this raise? What am I still confused about? • Personalizing: Why does this matter to me? How might I use this?

Key Questions:

  1. When do you make time to think about what you’ve captured? (daily, weekly, never?)
  2. How do you connect new information to existing knowledge?
  3. What does “processing” actually look like for you? (writing, talking, visual mapping?)
  4. How do you know when you’ve processed something enough?

Common Processing Bottlenecks: • No processing time: Constantly capturing but never reflecting • Unclear methods: Not knowing how to process information effectively • Perfectionism: Waiting for the “right” way instead of starting somewhere • Information anxiety: Feeling behind on processing your growing pile of captures

Quick Audit (2 minutes):

  1. When did you last spend time thinking about something you captured?
  2. What’s your preferred way to process ideas? (writing, talking, drawing, walking?)
  3. What’s stopping you from processing more regularly?

Remember: Processing is where captured information becomes personal knowledge. Without it, you’re just collecting other people’s thoughts.

Storage - How You Organize and Retrieve Information

The Goal: Organize your knowledge so you can find it when you need it, without spending more time organizing than creating. In other words, the goal is to work in your system, not always on your system.

Think of storage like your kitchen - you need to find the ingredients when you’re cooking, but if you spend all your time reorganizing cabinets, you’ll never make dinner.

The Storage Challenge People either become obsessed with the “perfect” organization system (and never use it) or throw everything in one big pile (and never find it). Both kill productivity.

What Good Storage Actually Does: • Enables quick retrieval: You can find relevant information in under 2 minutes • Supports serendipity: You stumble across useful connections while browsing • Grows organically: The system evolves with your needs, not against them • Reduces cognitive load: You trust the system to remember so your brain can focus on thinking

Key Questions for Your Storage System:

  1. Can you find what you’re looking for within 2 minutes?
  2. What’s your organizing principle? (by topic, project, date, source?)
  3. How often do you actually browse your stored information?
  4. When did you last discover an unexpected connection in your notes?

Common Storage Bottlenecks: • Over-organization: Spending more time categorizing than creating • Under-organization: Everything dumped in one place with no structure • System complexity: Too many folders, tags, or organizational layers • Tool switching: Constantly changing apps instead of improving workflows • Dead storage: Information goes in but never comes back out

Quick Audit (2 minutes):

  1. Try to find a note you made 2 weeks ago about your current project
  2. How long did it take? How frustrated did you get?
  3. What’s the most annoying part of your current storage system?

Remember: The best organization system is the one that disappears - you don’t think about it, you just use it.

Output - How You Create and Share Knowledge

The Goal: Transform your captured and processed knowledge into something valuable for yourself and others.

Think of output like cooking - you gathered ingredients (input), prepped them (processing), organized your kitchen (storage), and now you’re making the meal. Without this step, everything else is just expensive food prep.

The Output Challenge This is where most PKM systems die. People become amazing at collecting and organizing information but never actually create anything with it. They mistake building the system for using the system.

What Output Actually Looks Like: • Writing: Blog posts, reports, emails, documentation, journal entries • Speaking: Presentations, conversations, teaching, podcasts • Building: Projects, prototypes, art, code, businesses • Deciding: Using your knowledge to make better choices • Connecting: Introducing ideas or people, facilitating discussions

Key Questions for Your Output System:

  1. What have you created using your PKM system in the last month?
  2. How does your stored knowledge actually influence your work?
  3. When do you feel most confident sharing your ideas?
  4. What output format energizes you most? (writing, speaking, building?)

Common Output Bottlenecks: • Perfectionism: Waiting for ideas to be “complete” before sharing them • No clear purpose: Creating content without knowing why or for whom • Fear of judgment: Keeping insights private because they might be wrong • Analysis paralysis: Over-researching instead of creating • Disconnected storage: Can’t easily access relevant knowledge when creating • Wrong format: Forcing yourself to write when you prefer to speak (or vice versa)

Quick Audit (2 minutes):

  1. What’s one thing you could create this week using knowledge from your system?
  2. What’s stopping you from creating more regularly?
  3. How do you currently share your ideas with others?

Remember: Your PKM system exists to help you think better and create more. If you’re not outputting, you’re just building an expensive digital library.

Identify YOUR Bottlenecks

Using the previous sections, take a few minutes to identify the BIGGEST bottleneck to your current PKM system. If you don’t have a system (or if you don’t have ANY bottlenecks - hmm, perfectionist?) then feel free to dive into the following prompts instead.

  • Is applesauce more of a sauce or a soup? What about cereal?
  • Why are bare winter tree branches the shape of neurons?
  • How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant?
  • Do you think cavemen had nightmares about cavewomen?
  • Is a hotdog a sandwich?
  • Who would win in a fight? 1 500-lb duck or 500 1-lb ducks
  • What is the correct way to put on socks and shoes? Sock, sock, shoe, shoe or sock, shoe, sock, shoe?
  • Which is smarter, a sheep or a cow, and why is it a sheep?
  • Note: We should probably quit fluffin’ around and get back to work.

Once you’re done. BREAKOUT ROOMS!! (15 minute timer)

For next meeting, would you like…

  • Consider how popular PKM systems are built? (ie Zettelkasten, PARA Method, ACE Framework, BuJo Method, etc.)
  • Q&A Time - Any questions?

Resources to explore on your own time:

2025-08-27