A few weeks ago, I sent an email where I introduced an idea called The PKM Stack.

Just to recap, there are several levels represented in the PKM Stack:

• Information - the things you consume. Some of this information may be important someday and is worth sticking in an archive folder somewhere so you can dig it up when needed, most of it is temporal and doesn’t really matter in the long run.
• Ideas - the things you need to develop. I believe you don’t really know what an idea is when you first have it. You need to have a greenhouse for your ideas where you can cultivate them until they are ready, then deciding what these ideas mean for you - and what you’re going to do about it.
• Actions - the things you do. This is where you take action on those ideas and they become real. There are three types of actions: one-off tasks, multi-step projects, and routines or habits.

And if you stop after these three, you have the components that comprise what I call The Default Life.

Being unintentional about the information you consume causes you to live a default life. You consume more information because you’re looking for the secret that will change things for the better, leading to FOMO and a general sense of overwhlem because there is just too much information for you to try and keep up with it all.

When you overconsume, you also don’t have the time to think about or develop any of the ideas you already have. You just jump from one thing to the next, searching for the next hit of dopamine (which social networks are happy to provide). This leads to a feeling that you just aren’t creative because you have trouble coming up with ideas. Then because you have trouble creating (which is really just thinking critically and connecting the dots), you feel stuck doing things that you don’t want to do, that lack meaning, and are unfulfilling.

But there’s a fourth level to the PKM Stack that changes everything.

I call this layer Philosophy, because it’s defined by what you consider to be true and how you think about life (your vision and your values).

Once you have your philosophy you have the potential to flip the script on the default lifestyle. Because once you know your vision and your values, you can start to select the Actions that are in alignment with your personal philosophy. You many not actually change any of your actions, but the way you go about them will be different because you’ll infuse meaning and purpose into your tasks, projects, and routines since you can see how they are moving you in the right direction. This additional excitement will spark curiosity, and cause you have more and better ideas.

You’ll also be more selective about the information you consume because you now have a filter to help you decide what’s worthwhile and what’s not. So instead of feeling anxiety and stress from FOMO, you can embrace JOMO - the joy of missing out - by selecting the things that are beneficial and dismissing the things that aren’t.

I call this top-down approach The Intentional Life.

The problem is that the difference between The Default Life and The Intentional Life is not as big as it seems.

Which is why we need to consider the apps and technologies we use in our PKM Stack and ask:

The key here is to pick the right app for the right job. I love Obsidian, but I’m not going to use it for everything. I use it for some very specific purposes, but I have very clear lines to determine what belongs in Obsidian and what belongs somewhere else.

If you want to see the apps that I use in my own PKM Stack and where I draw those lines, check out this week’s YouTube video.

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I know this is really conceptual, but I believe this is really important to understand before you can start plugging apps into your PKM stack. You have to understand what you’re trying to accomplish at each stage of The PKM Stack so that you can hire the right app for the right job. You need to understand the role each app plays in the flow of information into and out of your PKM system.

When you do, your technology can actually keep you from slipping back into The Default Life and help you live a life of intention, purpose, and meaning.

— Mike

P.S. What's your biggest struggle when it comes to PKM? I'd love to know 🙂 If you're willing to share, just reply to this to this email.