across all of your material, which might assist you given your way of thinking/processing your information? In other words - have one Group or something that serves as your catch-all “Retrieve” group, and then structure various Groups for ‘synthesis’, as you were planning to, but inside that same DB.ĪFAIK, the single biggest benefit of this would be that you are able to search/use the AI etc. One point I’d throw in – not that I’m a long-time user or anything – but couldn’t you achieve the same by still using 1 DB? Love reading other approaches to structuring DBs! Thanks for sharing! On the other hand, on the looser databases, the AI often suggests “creative” connections you may not have expected! On tighter databases, this makes for powerful classification and suggestions “easier” on the AI. The AI makes logical connections from static data (oftentimes better than we do). It doesn’t abstract information in the way we do (nor can it). One thing to consider: “auto-grouping” will likely not function as well in the loose databases, as connections won’t be as easily detected.Īlso, while the AI is amazing, surprisingly so, it is still just a computer. Our search capabilities are so good, finding “needles in a haystack” is often still easily done. When I do, it’s usually when I’m testing something. I rarely even group much of the data in these. I also have very loose databases I capture data too, very organically. I also have other organized databases on more focused topics, like Health, etc. I have a Support database that’s well organized (though I occasionally have to rearrange / file extemporaneous captures and notes). Thoughts? Opinions? Has anyone else tried anything like this? Thus, I would be honoring my nature and at the same time mitigating my inefficiency with routine file retrieval. The result I would like to get from this setup is that I would go to Retrieve to store something that is static, or at least in progress on the way to becoming static but I would go to Synthesize to make connections and generate ideas. In this database I’m thinking I might not create any groups at all, but might just have DT auto-group from the inbox. Could include notes/excerpts from books I’ve read, articles, videos, social media posts, random notes to myself, paragraphs I’ve written that I like but haven’t found a use for, out-of-date work that I don’t want to throw away, etc. In the Synthesize database, I’d store what I think of as resources. In this database I’d make use of Groups (using topic as an organizing principle, probably) to keep everything easy to find. Could be anything from bank statements to recipes to white papers or graphic designs I’m working on at work. In the Retrieve database I’d store records and files that I need to quickly find. So now I’m thinking of creating just two databases: Retrieve and Synthesize. I’ve come to understand that it just will not work to treat the records I need to retrieve in the same way that I treat the information I want to collect, compare, and connect. None of them has stuck except Evernote, and that’s out of pure laziness. In addition to DT, I’ve tried The Brain, Evernote, and a raft of note-taking, project management and task management tools (OmniFocus, Pagico, Pear Note, Tinderbox, Curio, and many, many others). This is not helping me retrieve anything. My file names say things like FINALproductionversion.doc and SeriouslyFINALproductionversion.doc and AbsolutelyFINALproductionversion.doc. It takes me forever to find the note where I jotted down my credit card repayment plan, or the most recent version of a white paper or infographic I’m doing for work. Unfortunately, this thinking style means I am “disorganized” when it comes to retrieving records from amid the piles of my collections. My particular talent is arranging and rearranging unlike things to generate ideas, and this is the main reason I’m trying to manage information outside the finder’s file structure, which is too linear for me. I have trouble grouping and tagging things because my brain is more like a spiderweb, where one node has many connections, than a filing cabinet, where things have distinct relationships. I am a synthesizer by nature, and strongly idea-oriented so that means I collect and consume (or rather hoard and gorge on) unwieldy numbers of books, articles, notes, quotes, videos, music, etc. I have owned DT Office Pro for quite awhile and have a spotty usage history, because I couldn’t figure out a way to make it work for my thinking/processing style.
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