Sébastien Dubois
DeveloPassion's Newsletter #180 - Black Friday Week
Edition 180 of my newsletter, discussing Knowledge Management, Knowledge Work, Zen Productivity, Personal Organization, and more!
Welcome
Another week, another newsletter! I hope that you all had a great one 🤩
Hey there! I'm back with another newsletter. I'm changing the format a bit, letting go of the "Business" section for the time being. I feel like only few of you care about the underlying business I'm trying to build. Instead, I'm going to focus on sharing more insights about Knowledge Management and Knowledge Work.
This weekend, I've spent some time in Bruges, one of the most beautiful cities here in Belgium. If you ever come around here, don't miss our "little Venice".
Alright, let's gooooo 🚀
The lab 🧪
This week I focused on the Knowledge Worker Kit, and added a few articles. Some of those are also available on my blog.
I've also added the possibility to sponsor my open source projects in GitHub. For example, for the Dataview Serializer plugin that I've built:
dsebastien
In the coming months/years, I plan on building more tools to support and empower Knowledge Workers.
I've also updated my social media bio and banner:
My goal with this change was to better express what I focus on, and add some credibility to my profile. My articles have now been read more than a million times. It amazes me, but it means that what I create does have value, and real potential to really change lives. So the better I can convey what I have to offer, the more people I'll be able to help ❤️
And you know what? You can help too. Just share the link to my Website or newsletter to your family, friends and co-workers. Help me help them 🙏.
Black Friday Week
Black Friday is just around the corner, and while I'm still not a fan of consumerism, I do see the value of offering knowledge and wisdom at a discount.
My products are not the "quick dopamine-hit" type. They'll push you to reflect deeply about what you want out of life, what matters to you, and will help you get to where you want. That's why I've decided to offer you a deal this week.
You can get 25% off all my products using the "BF2024" discount code:
You can get the best bang for your buck by getting a copy of the Knowledge Worker Kit, which includes all my other Knowledge Management products as free bonuses ($200+ worth of additional value). You can learn more about it here:
🤖 Feeling overwhelmed by the AI revolution? You're not alone. As knowledge workers, we're facing a new challenge: staying relevant in a world where AI can seemingly do it all.
— Sébastien Dubois (@dSebastien) November 19, 2024
Don't worry though, I have a secret weapon for you... 🛡️
In any case, if you haven't dived yet into Knowledge Management, then I strongly recommend at least grabbing a copy of the Obsidian Starter Kit.
For those who don't know about it yet, just know that it's a 1:1 copy of the system I use every single day to organize my work, reflect, track progress, feel grateful, think about the short-term and long-term, etc. It's where I store my so-called "second brain".
The Obsidian Starter Kit is accompanied by a detailed user guide, and there's also an accompanying 2h-long video course to guide you further.
The Obsidian Starter Kit is an opinionated "batteries-included" Obsidian vault that will save you a ton of trial and error. Instead of trying to build a system from scratch, you'll directly benefit from my years of experience managing information at scale.
The discount code will remain valid until December 1st.
The Sky is Blue
I've recently joined the Bluesky social network:
I've been lurking there for a while, and now consider Bluesky to be Twitter 2.0. It feels much friendlier than X. Posts that I sent there get SEEN, contrary to those I send to X, whose algorithm only favors conflict/criticism/etc. X only seems to care about controversy, and I'm not interested in that. I'm not willing to distort the way I express myself just to please an algorithm.
Another nice thing with Bluesky is that you have a lot more control over what you get to see. You can actually "build" your own algorithm. This helps surface much more interesting content.
I'll continue sharing ideas on X, but I now consider Bluesky to be my main social media "home".
New articles
I've published a few pieces recently.
I crafted the first two for the Knowledge Worker Kit, but wanted to make those accessible for all. The first one is about career choices, alignment and cohesion. It's a topic that deserves more attention:
Sebastien Dubois
The second article shares a few pieces of advice about how to define and revisit career goals. Why? To live more fulfilling and happier lives! Career design is something that more people should focus on, instead of blindly following the rails in front of them:
Sebastien Dubois
I've also updated my article about the best Obsidian plugins out there:
Sebastien Dubois
The list now includes a section about AI plugins, which I find particularly valuable and powerful. I've also added a summary table, and a section about the awesome Obsidian Web Clipper browser extension.
Finally, I've published an article focusing on something I'm convinced about: your habits and routines make you:
Sebastien Dubois
Notes of the week
As usual, I've published many notes.
The main one I want to highlight is the collection of quotes I've captured while reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho:
It's no wonder if that book is so popular. It is profound in many many ways, and it should be a mandatory read in all schools. More people ought to believe in themselves and follow their dreams ❤️
When I was young, schools and teachers let me down. They cared about me being present, following their instructions, and memorizing stuff. They did not care about me as a person (apart from very few), nor did they care about what actually interested me. Once they realized I wouldn't make it per the rules of the system, I was considered a failure, not worth their attention or efforts. In reality, the education system was broken. And, to a large extend, it still is. I regret not homeschooling my kids. I realized too late that it was actually an option.
I hoped that the system would have evolved, but it hasn't. And from what I've seen and heard, it's not a local thing. It's everywhere. Schools should be about fostering creativity and exploration, letting minds wander, and making discoveries. It should be about knowledge sharing, and helping each others grow. But it's not. Schools kill creativity and genius. Ain't it sad?
Quotes of the week
- When you really want something, the universe conspires in your favor — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
- People are scared of achieving their dreams because they believe they don't deserve to, or fear not being able to. Their beliefs and fears hold them back — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
- Never give up on your dreams because your heart never will and you will forever feel a void and will regret not pursuing those and regret is far worse than failure — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
- Overthinking is a symptom of keeping too much information in your brain
Thinking and learning
I've recently shared a thread about Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) that I want more people to read:
Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is a mix of processes, habits, and tools that empower individuals to explore, curate, consume, capture, distill, organize, connect, and develop ideas at scale. #PKM
— Sébastien Dubois (@dSebastien) November 14, 2024
Let me share some insights about this! 👇
NotebookLM + Your notes = Magic?
Why not combine Ollama, Obsidian, and the Companion plugin to supercharge your note-taking practice? It's not about letting AI write for you, but about using it to explore more deeply. The nice thing is that it all runs locally on your machine, protecting your privacy:
I summarize the video here:
I'm happy with my ReMarkable 2. But some people seem to enjoy using two of those 😂. But why not?
The Kanban plugin for Obsidian now has new views: LIST and TABLE. Pretty neat for mobile use!
An interesting series of interviews by Sarah Bentley:
Cursor Bridge is a plugin that I'm eager to try in the coming days. It aims to integrate Obsidian and Cursor (Visual Studio Code fork with powerful AI features):
lengff123I could certainly use it to further improve the Obsidian Starter Kit...
TfTHacker has shared more journaling advice:
1/6 Journaling Advice (post #2): Enhance your writing with prompts encouraging reflection. Consider questions like
— TfTHacker (@TfTHacker) August 10, 2024
📝 "What actions would I take if success was guaranteed?".
🗺️ "What obstacles are currently hindering my progress?"#Obsidian #TfT #Journaling pic.twitter.com/ObgaFGpp0V
A video of Bob Doto showing how he uses his Zettelkasten system:
About Sébastien
I am Sébastien Dubois. You can follow me on X 🐦 and on BlueSky 🦋.
I am an author, founder, and coach. I write books and articles about Knowledge Work, Personal Knowledge Management, Note-taking, Lifelong Learning, Personal Organization, and Zen Productivity. I also craft lovely digital products . You can learn more about my projects here.
If you want to follow my work, then become a member.
Ready to get to the next level?
To embark on your Knowledge Management journey, consider investing in resources that will equip you with the tools and strategies you need. Check out the Obsidian Starter Kit and the accompanying video course. It will give you a rock-solid starting point for your note-taking and Knowledge Management efforts.
If you want to take a more holistic approach, then the Knowledge Worker Kit is for you. It covers PKM, but expands into productivity, personal organization, project/task management, and more:
If you are in a hurry, then do not hesitate to book a coaching session with me:
