Productivity on Nicole van der Hoeven

obsidian-okrs

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

obsidian-okrs is the set of templates I use to set up OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and goals in Obsidian, as described in the video I made about them (and its blog post).

New Year’s resolutions are infamously left undone. Setting OKRs instead, and reviewing them as you go, gives you a better chance of following through, and keeping them in Markdown notes means the goals live right next to the work they describe.

The templates

The templates are organized into five levels, each one feeding the next:

Core Principles: the values everything else hangs off.
Yearly: a Yearly OKRs note, a template for each individual objective, and a Yearly Review.
Monthly: initiatives, in the form of a monthly review.
Weekly: weekly goals and a weekly review.
Daily: a daily note template.

What you need

The templates use Obsidian’s core Templates plugin plus the community plugins Admonition and Templater. QuickAdd, Periodic Notes, Calendar, and the core Daily Notes plugin are optional extras that make creating the periodic notes smoother.

Try it

Copy the templates from the repository into your vault and follow along with the video.

Why Not to Make Resolutions in 2024

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 18:24:10 +0100

I’ve done a lot of thinking about why not to make resolutions in 2024. In 2023, I went a little overboard with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and that just sent me spiralling into overwork and burnout. That’s not something I want to see happen again this year, so instead, I’m doing a yearly theme: a one-word direction for the rest of the year that will act as a North Star rather than a strict set of rules. I’m hoping this will allow me to be productive, but also keep me happy.

Note-taking Templates I Use in Obsidian

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 17:41:03 +0100

Using note taking templates helps me reduce the unnecessary tedium of taking and making notes, and I use them liberally in Obsidian. Why should you use them? Well, in this video I’m sharing some of the actual templates that I use on a daily basis and some recommended practices for working with templates in general.

When Productivity Gets Toxic, with Andy Polaine

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 22:03:46 +0100

We usually see productivity as a positive thing, but what happens when productivity gets toxic? According to my friend Andy Polaine, design leadership coach, burnout can occur when you’ve been doing more than you used to, struggling with the work, and feeling like you can’t say anything to anyone. In this video, Andy shares some tips for setting up boundaries to create mental space and defending your calendar against external pressures.

Check out Andy’s work:

Andy’s website
Reach out about getting coaching from Andy here
Andy’s podcast, Power of Ten
Andy’s newsletter, Doctor’s Note
Andy’s upcoming book, The Design Leadership Dip

Text Expansion in Obsidian With Espanso

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 18:12:41 +0200

I’ve gotten a few questions asking me how I do text expansion in Obsidian, because there are a lot of text expander plugins out there. The truth, though, is that I don’t use any of them. Instead, I use a separate, free, open-source app called Espanso to define text triggers and replace them with certain phrases. One of the best things about Espanso is that it stores all configuration in plain text files.

Use It or Lose It - Linking Your Thinking Conference

Thu, 19 May 2022 14:03:13 +0200

Today I spoke at the Linking Your Thinking conference about what I do with notes I take, and how I manage to use them to actually create stuff.

If you’d like to see the result for yourself, here are the slides!

How Real People Process Notes

Thu, 12 May 2022 17:00:49 +0200

There’s a glaring gap in most productivity systems: time. How do REAL people, with real jobs and obligations, find the time to process notes? Is Inbox Zero an achievable and sustainable goal? I think the answer is no. In this video, I talk about what to do instead, and what is a healthier way to look at productivity.

Actually Getting Things Done With Obsidian - Checklist plugin

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 16:00:31 +0200

The Getting Things Done methodology is showing its age now, but there are still some parts of it that can be updated and used in the digital age. In this video, I talk about how to actually get things done with Obsidian using the Obsidian community plugin called Checklist.

Obsidian task management with Dataviewjs, Templates, Daily Notes

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 17:00:25 +0200

Ever wanted to use Obsidian for managing your tasks? In this video, I demonstrate one way to consolidate tasks from all your notes and show them on the date they’re due, using DataviewJS. Obsidian Dataview is a community plugin that can be used to show a task list.

Obsidian Dataview, building a second brain, and more about me // Q&A Livestream

Sat, 19 Mar 2022 17:42:54 +0100

In celebration of reaching 1000 subscribers on my personal channel, I did a live Q&A where I demonstrated how to use Obsidian Dataview, my personal philosophy about building a second brain, and how I stay organized.

Reclaim.ai Review - Smart calendar blocking for the productive engineer

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 19:56:13 +0100

For the last few months, I’ve been trying out an app called Reclaim that has been changing my mind about the feasibility of calendar blocking for time management in general.

Here’s my (rave) review of the app!