Knowledge management is its own discipline. Since my studies, I’ve been confronted with the question of how to collect, structure, and manage knowledge.
Analog or Digital?
For me, it was clear quite quickly: my knowledge management has to be digital. I know many people in my circle who carry around a notebook and take notes in it. For many people, this works. The notebook is not bulky and is therefore always with you and usable at any time.
But I have a problem with that: I can’t find my knowledge anymore. I know it’s in the notebook. But with several notebooks, it becomes difficult. And on which page, in which context did I write that down again? And how do I later connect Note A with Note B? An analog notebook is too rigid for me. Not to mention that sometimes I can’t even read my own handwriting.
Collect and Develop
So digital it is: I always have some device with me. Usually a laptop. Actually, always my smartphone. In the worst case, it’s my watch, on which I can quickly record a voice message. Important for me: I can always immediately write down a thought. Store it. Collect it.
All my thoughts thus end up in one place. In an inbox. And from there, the story of my thoughts continues. I like to add to them in a quiet moment, like to connect the thought with others. Summarize. Organize. Prioritize. Generate new thoughts from them or reformulate them. This is then my living knowledge management, which is in constant flux every day.
There are Apps for That
Digitally, I am completely unbound and free. There are some excellent apps that help you here. I will introduce some of these apps in the following posts:
Each of these apps has a slightly different focus and its advantages and disadvantages. I will try to give an overview of the different applications. And at the very end, I’ll reveal the secret of which apps I’m currently using.
Spoiler alert: I use two of the apps in everyday life, because unfortunately I haven’t found the all-in-one solution yet.
