Every once in a while on Slack, in a topic channel or a DM, someone will say they just got into note-taking or journaling. Maybe they’re trying out this new app called Obsidian and want some tips. Some pointers. How to start.
“Amazing,” I say (and I mean it). I think everyone should try this stuff. At least once. To see if it helps.
I share that I’ve been at it for a while. Long enough to have tried a hundred tricks and abandoned ninety-nine. And the best advice I can give? Just start writing. Forget the acronyms, the file structure debates, the backlink this-and-thats. None of that matters until you have words on a page.
Even if you fill dozens of pages, most of the second-brain / PKM gospel may not stick for you anyway.
So instead of worrying about what to name a folder or where to put it, take that same energy and spend it actually writing something down. Let the chaos in now. Organize later.
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Sidenote: I did write a post on naming files and folders. That might help. But seriously — back to the post.
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Signpost
When we’re starting out, it’s natural to want a path. A trail to follow so you don’t feel lost in the sauce. So you don’t feel like you’re doing something catastrophically wrong. So you don’t make a mess before you ever make meaning.
But here’s the thing: the simpler the task, the more “right” ways there are. An absurd volume of them.
Example! You could probably lose an entire week researching “the best way to drink water.”
Same with journaling. Same with note-taking. Same with design, with code, and everything else.
It’s rare — incredibly rare — for something to have only one right way. (Honestly, I can’t think of a single example.)
Because we’re all different. Different backgrounds, preferences, abilities. And those differences shape the way we do things, even if the outcomes look the same on the outside.
So when I think about “way,” I break it into three:
- The way — the collective, mythical, capital-T Truth method. The one people argue about. The supposed best practice.
- A way — one of many. Something you read online, a coworker’s suggestion, a friend’s hack. Valid, useful, but not the only option.
- Your way — the remix. The application of all you’ve tried, filtered through your quirks, your tools, your energy.
And for me, I do my best to discover and develop my way of doing things. To understand the situation. To understand myself. To understand the task. To understand the goal. And then to structure it all as efficiently as possible — for me — mentally, emotionally, and physically, to actually do the thing.
Be Water
Bruce Lee was one of those larger-than-life heroes I had growing up. I was really into martial arts movies (still am). And Bruce, in my opinion, was by far the best. My heroes’ hero. The grandmaster that the masters — Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, and more — all looked up to.
But things changed for me when I wrote that report. In writing it, I learned that Bruce was not just a master of martial arts but also of philosophy. A Little Dragon who fought not only the world around him but also the limits inside himself. How he ultimately discovered — and became — undeniably himself.
By…
“Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation.”
(One of Bruce's many famous quotes.)
A lot of these ideas (thankfully) was captured on this interview Bruce did in 1971 on the Pierre Burton show.
(It's a bit long, 25 minutes, but worth watching if you have the time)
That line burrowed deep into me. And for twenty years I’ve been trying to understand it. To embody it. To practice it.
The way I design. The way I prototype. The way I code. The way I take notes. The way I solve problems. The way I work with others. My way of doing all of those things, and more.
I don’t think it’s something you can package into a nice, clean framework for someone else to copy exactly 1:1. (I’ve definitely been asked to.) Because behind all those ways of working are the relentless reps I put in every day. And it’s those reps — not the framework — that give me the precision my technique demands.
Reps over recipe.
It’s not about denying structure. It’s about moving through it. Learning it, breaking it, re-forming it into something that fits your hands.
Express Yourself
But here’s the thing: reps and technique don’t live in a vacuum. We’re never working in isolation. In a team, what matters is the collective outcome. We’re building the same product, solving the same problem. But the everyday minutiae — the way we each take notes, structure tasks, process ideas — those are shaped by the individual.
On the surface it looks like we’re all doing the same thing. Underneath, it’s a dozen different ways, stacked together, that make the shared work possible.
So if you want to get better at taking notes (or anything else), don’t wait for the way.
Start writing. Keep writing. Do the thing. Pay attention. Notice how you do it. Notice what you like, what you don’t. What keeps you moving. What works with your rhythm, with your hands, with your head. What sparks inspiration — even if it’s just one sentence a day.
Watch how others do it. Steal their best ideas. Throw away the ones that don’t fit. And in that process you’ll find the truth:
There is no “the way.” What matters is your way.
And the work is figuring it out. One page at a time.