Improving your intellectual productivity by accepting chaos
One thing I did in 2007 was to ditch my PDA. Instead, I carry a pocket notebook. Almost daily, the best ideas I have jotted down, get organized in document drafts. You must clearly differentiate data and thought gathering from data and thought organization.
| Organization | Purpose | Entry | Retrieval | Type of support |
| None (chaos) | Gathering | Fast | Recent past | Paper, email, wiki |
| Good (clean) | Organization | Slow | Reliable | Word processors, LaTeX, HTML |
This may sound naïve. Nevertheless, I have struggled for years trying to keep organized data that should be ephemeral. More importantly, I felt guilty for how messy my notes were. No longer! Just accept chaos once and for all, just not everywhere.
In my experience, a wiki can accomodate both messy and careful work, even in the same wiki.
Comment by Seb — 14/12/2007 @ 9:57