Work & Life Tech Stack / Workflow

This is something I've been thinking about how to perfect for weeks now, and I think I finally got it how I like it. Thought I would share.

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Capture

• Pen / Paper

• Things3 Inbox

The goal is to get the info I want to collect down as quickly as possible. I have shortcuts setup to past in links to the notes section of Things3 so I can quickly add the title and/or thought for quick saving.

To-Do's & Tasks

While it is in Things3, I can either move it to Notion later (see 2nd Brain below) or assign it to a sub category + date on the spot / later. Two Birds, One Stone.

Second Brain / CRM / TMS

• Notion

I was using Obsidian for my daily notes, due to it’s customization, however I use Notion for my company and with the AI features it would be crazy for me not to utilize that since I can allow multiple users (work / person).

The goal would be once I sit back at my desk, or catch a breather, I would take my quick capture notes from the Things3 Inbox and add them to Notion. If I am already at my desk and wanting to create a note I can just go directly to Notion.

I can copy links back to Things 3 as needed (Command+L) and update my tasks/to-dos for quick references.

Workflow

Within Notion, I have one large database for my personal life with four fields. This way I can call the base in any other page I create and it all stays in sync. Also, I can add any other YAML as needed, for example books I can add sources or website I can add links, but generally I want to keep it as simple as possible.

1. Name (Note Name)

2. Status:

   • Inbox - Things that are needing to be updated, started, created

   • Radar - Things that are in front of me for multiple days that need attention multiple times / over an extended period

   • Archived - This is filtered out, but keeps all my notes w/out having to move bases.

3. Topic: This would include things such as Wife, Book, Life, Home, Nerd, Blog, etc. It’s my “Focus Point” of the note.

4. Date Created: Just the date, no time needed.

When it comes to my work, it is the same exact setup, but would be CRM, Notes, Meetings, etc.

I have another base that is my TMS system for tracking work / shipments / etc specific to customers needs.

Other Tools

I have a full list on my blog, but the key items are:

• Notion Calendar (Sync with CRM/TMS so I can quickly reference work vs life)

• Spotify / Apple Music (ALAC)

• Reeder for RSS

• GoodLink for Bookmarking and Read It Later

• DayOne for Journal

• Chrome for Web (I would use Safari, but I have a Google Workspace account for my company, Gemini being backed in it a go-to for now).

Headaches

My only real issue with Notion is that it’s not easy to “quickly make a note” into a base. So, I cannot quickly add a note and be assigned to my “inbox” status. This is why I am having to use Things3 for my quick capture on the go. I generally do not like having to use my phone for anything long form or a lot of data consumption.

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Let me know what you guys think and what you're using / how your system works - I am always looking to improve mine and love to hear about yours!