Seeking calmness in simple systems and tools ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Seeking calmness in simple systems and tools  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Thank you for your patience in my sporadic attempts to put out a weekly newsletter; sometimes life blindsides you and survival takes the reins. Lately I've been leaning into simple systems that work with the simplest of tools.

PTPL 216 · Four plain text and other low-tech goodies

Plain text tasks, pencil notes, digital caveman-ism, and some OBTF love

1+ minute post

Tracking project tasks in plain text, writing notes in pencil, becoming a digital caveman, and a tour of Sara Schlijper's OBTF. Includes the idea of using Sentence case rather than Title Case in article headers. Which do you prefer?

PTPL 217 · Forster lists are keeping me organised during a busy, screen-free time

Record tasks in chronological order, do them when you're truly ready

2+ minute post

Simple task management that taps into your psychological readiness rather than forcing you to follow a pre-determined plan. Forster lists aren't difficult to grasp, but make sure that what you believe you understand about them matches what the system was intended to be.

PTPL 218 · Three short thoughts on slow notes, notebooks, and todos

Forster lists, social etiquette and the root of all text

2+ minute post

The calming simplicity of Forster lists during rough patches of life, times when paper notebooks (plus inked up pens and cute mechanical pencils) are better than devices. Finally, a line or two on the root of text itself.

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This is an approximately weekly email. Following my RSS feed is always your best bet to see posts as soon as they land. Learn about RSS. Join the plain text discussion in the Dark Forest (DFOS) — it's an anti-algorithmic space to nerd out with over 100 curious minds.

My work is written on a computer, not by one.

If links are misbehaving, head over to ellanew.com and search for posts by their PTPL number.

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