#5 · Plain Text, Paper-Less Productivity Digest
On boundaries, friction, using Siri to get text directly into Obsidian, converting Paprika recipes to plain text
Welcome to the fifth in a series of posts documenting my plain text, paper-less, Obsidian-flavoured journey.
Each post is a 5-minute or less summary of what I’ve read, learned, and implemented since the last edition. Links to earlier episodes are at the end.
Today I’ll be talking about —
- Using priorities to set productivity boundaries
- Why you might want to say no to automation and yes to friction
- A way to use Siri to get text directly into Obsidian (!!)
- Moving recipes from Paprika to Obsidian
- Sync problems with iCloud
App-Independent Productivity Tips
Fantastic advice from termicky for anyone starting with a new notes system:
Start small and simple before bolting things on, keeping your current workflow. You’ll adapt the way you do things over time as you see what the program is capable of. There’s a huge time sink if you get into fancy stuff before you need to, and the risk of spending more time sharpening the tool than actually cutting with it.
Read the rest of their comment on Reddit, here.
My thoughts on avoiding app obsession by focusing on the right kind of productivity.
Productivity Inspiration
- I like this simple illustration from Liz and Mollie on setting productivity and life boundaries. Divide your To Do list into what you have to do, what you want to do, and what other people want you to do. Prioritize those lists.
- I agree with Kara Monroe’s assertion that “Friction sometimes works to our advantage in a system”. In the past I’ve written about the importance of frictionless input for notes and reminders, but re-writing or re-typing tasks can provide a valuable opportunity to re-evaluate and re-prioritize.
- Have you seen what DALL-E is capable of? AI-generated illustration is going to change the way people tell stories. Some professional illustrators are no doubt groaning, but I truly hope much good comes of it. From Merzmensch: “DALL·E doesn’t mean the end of human creativity. It opens new ways for storytelling. And for creative human-machine collaboration.”
Adventures in Obsidian
🔥 Voice to text in Obsidian!
The most exciting news of the week: I’ve found a shortcut that lets me enter text directly into Obsidian, with Siri!
Drafts is still a great way to go, but being able to go from voice directly into my vault feels like a special kind of magic. Here’s the shortcut. Works on Mac and iOS. I’ve set up the Auto Note Mover plugin to send my fleeting thoughts into a folder of the same name.
When I use my voice, I give the note a title related to the topic. When holding my phone, I have the option of choosing a default note title complete with today’s date. I’ve edited the shortcut to add a working [[link]] to the creation date, and a hashtag that the Auto Note Mover uses to pull it into the right folder for me.
A theme of Biblical proportions
I’ve changed to the California Coast theme, because transcluded, numbered text paragraphs don’t have numbers cut off on the left, which happens with the Minimal and Sanctum themes. Red Graphite doesn’t cut off the numbers either, but lately I’m prefer the softer colours of themes like California Coast.
This change was driven by my recent discovery of an excellent way to do scripture study in Obsidian. Having verse numbers cut off in transcluded text was enough to have me theme shopping again. If this is something that can be changed with all the options available within the Minimal theme, I couldn’t see it.
Recipes from Paprika to Obsidian
This past week I’ve been looking into the best way to get my recipe collection from Paprika into Obsidian.
There seem to be two main options: the .cook format, and this Python script. Cooklang is very easy to master, and there’s an Obsidian plugin to display it correctly in-app. In the meantime, I’ve exported my Paprika recipes as an HTML backup.
This solution is impressive: How to build a recipe “database” in Obsidian — but too complex for my plain-text driven tastes.
Dataview for beginners
If you’re new to Dataview, this article by Denise Todd is worth bookmarking.
Thesaurus in Obsidian?
My excitement at finding this Nick Milo video ) was short lived. The fully searchable Roget’s Thesaurus he mentions seems to be offline, sadly. I’m open to suggestions for a really good Thesaurus; app, online, or otherwise.
😞 Sync woes
I’ve been having some serious sync issues with iCloud this week. My Mac shows a connection error. It’s got me thinking that Obsidian Sync might be worth the expense.
Digital Garden: stalled
No digital garden news this week. I’ll come back to it with fresh eyes after a bit of a break.
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