PLAIN TEXT; PAPER, LESS — PRODUCTIVITY DIGEST

This week — The plain text format is the best for preserving the words you want to remember, but not everyone is ready for it and that's okay. Keep your enthusiasm for open formats running hot anyway and you could change a life.

All words, ideas, and faults 100% human made. While paid subscribers are enormously encouraging and help me to keep writing, non-subscribers are always welcome to read for free.

Why not just use (fill in your favourite method)?

When smart, logical-thinking people choose a different note making app or system to yourself, it can mean only one thing:

—their priorities, experiences, and working style are different to yours.

Rather than recommending your specific favourites to others, Scott Nesbitt's Why Not Just Use… article invites you to —

consider who you're saying that to. Take a moment to think about how their use cases … might differ from yours. You might discover that there's a good reason someone opts for tools and applications other than your go-to solution.

He's talking about Emacs and org-mode enthusiasts evangelising to plain texters who aren't ready for or interested in that kind of power, but it also applies more broadly. Here I am telling you (in my 117th weekly article on the topic) how and why to choose plain text, but I accept that some people don't care enough about digital longevity to change their processes.

People whose digital notes are fleeting and optimists who are happy to trust the continuation of proprietary app formats that are online only or make it hard to export data into an open format you can actually do something with, I wish you well!

Fine pencil lines on a dark background showing 2 stick figures. One is standing near a small building with an open door. The door is very thick and resembles a vault. Inside there’s a note with writing on it, attached to the wall. Stick figure one is standing outside the building, looking at figure two who is striding away over the hills with a jaunty air. Figure 2 is wearing a backpack with notes poking out of it.
Pencil sketch from the Author's notebook illustrating just how free she feels walking from here to there with fully portable notes

Share, but don't info-dump

So, yeah. Organise your stuff however you like using whatever apps and methods suit you best, but don't expect your solutions to suit everyone.

some people don't care enough about digital longevity to change their processes

I couldn't be more convinced that open formats like plain text are the best foundation for the typed words you care about, but I accept that not everyone cares enough to see that far into the future. People like that won't want to read articles like this, and definitely won't appreciate a verbal info-dump on the subject from an enthusiast!

But don't let that stop you from throwing out intriguing one-liners from time to time. I latched onto one of those back in 2016 and am very grateful for those who spoke up.

Keep up the good work, my fellow digital longevity enthusiasts!

This week's adventures in plain text

  • I've read through Bob Doto's A System For Writing, and have been successfully creating main notes for my Zettelkasten that are, for the first time ever, not overworked or undercooked. The book is teaching me how to relax into the process, see into the heart of an idea, and not worry about 'getting things right'.
  • Johnny Decimal's CLI lessons have given me just enough know-how to finally get along with Espanso, the open source text expander. I installed it via Homebrew, and found the correct config file to add my own snippets. It's as good an excuse as any to clean up years worth of messy shortcuts in Keyboard Maestro, only bringing across those I'm still using.
  • Consolidated task lists in Workflowy, inspired by Carl Pullein's advice to focus on time rather than task management.

I love hearing from readers, and I'm always looking for feedback. Why do you read Plain Text. Paper, Less? Is there anything you'd like to see more, or less of? Which aspects do you enjoy the most? Found an error? Let me know in the comments, on Mastodon, or hit reply if you received this as an email. Looking for a way to support my work? It's here.