#roamresearch — Public Fediverse posts

I find striking how much of a hype there is around concepts like "second brain", "zettelkasten", "networked note-taking", "PARA method", "Johnny Decimal", etc., and around note-taking apps such as Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian, and so on. So I found fascinating Kevin Baker's May 2024 take on them as "sandboxes for infinite varieties of avoidant labor".

Here's the relevant excerpt, shared without further comment:

"Incapacitating" is exactly how I would describe my relationship to computers, especially since the start of the pandemic. "Friction" for me looks like uncertainty, partial knowledge, ambiguity, disorder, or anxiety. The ecosystem of note taking software and influencers that has emerged since 2020 offer a great example of what I am talking about. Writing is a task which forces one to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and one’s own limits directly, so it’s not surprising that a coterie of avoidance entrepreneurs sprung up around it. The goal of note taking systems, almost without exception, is to provide a smooth, frictionless environment for making connections between disparate topics. As your “second brain” develops, the ability—and indeed the desire—to create a dense latticework of connections increases. The problem for me, at least, is that I don’t find the work of making connections to be difficult. If anything, my “first brain” tends to overproduce these kinds of thoughts.

What it does provide, however, is a sandbox for infinite varieties of “avoidant labor.” If your writing anxiety focuses, like mine frequently does, on the possibility of “accidental plagiarism,” well, you can tend to your “zettlekasten,” and ensure that everything you ever highlighted is properly cited and tagged. If you have a more generic form of writing anxiety, why not spend a few hours linking your notes? In both cases, you have an act adjacent to writing, which relieves some of the tension of not writing but actively avoids the task itself.

I find striking how much of a hype there is around concepts like "second brain", "zettelkasten", "networked note-taking", "PARA method", "Johnny Decimal", etc., and around note-taking apps such as Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian, and so on. So I found fascinating Kevin Baker's May 2024 take on them as "sandboxes for infinite varieties of avoidant labor".

Here's the relevant excerpt, shared without further comment:

"Incapacitating" is exactly how I would describe my relationship to computers, especially since the start of the pandemic. "Friction" for me looks like uncertainty, partial knowledge, ambiguity, disorder, or anxiety. The ecosystem of note taking software and influencers that has emerged since 2020 offer a great example of what I am talking about. Writing is a task which forces one to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and one’s own limits directly, so it’s not surprising that a coterie of avoidance entrepreneurs sprung up around it. The goal of note taking systems, almost without exception, is to provide a smooth, frictionless environment for making connections between disparate topics. As your “second brain” develops, the ability—and indeed the desire—to create a dense latticework of connections increases. The problem for me, at least, is that I don’t find the work of making connections to be difficult. If anything, my “first brain” tends to overproduce these kinds of thoughts.

What it does provide, however, is a sandbox for infinite varieties of “avoidant labor.” If your writing anxiety focuses, like mine frequently does, on the possibility of “accidental plagiarism,” well, you can tend to your “zettlekasten,” and ensure that everything you ever highlighted is properly cited and tagged. If you have a more generic form of writing anxiety, why not spend a few hours linking your notes? In both cases, you have an act adjacent to writing, which relieves some of the tension of not writing but actively avoids the task itself.

I find striking how much of a hype there is around concepts like "second brain", "zettelkasten", "networked note-taking", "PARA method", "Johnny Decimal", etc., and around note-taking apps such as Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian, and so on. So I found fascinating Kevin Baker's May 2024 take on them as "sandboxes for infinite varieties of avoidant labor".

Here's the relevant excerpt, shared without further comment:

"Incapacitating" is exactly how I would describe my relationship to computers, especially since the start of the pandemic. "Friction" for me looks like uncertainty, partial knowledge, ambiguity, disorder, or anxiety. The ecosystem of note taking software and influencers that has emerged since 2020 offer a great example of what I am talking about. Writing is a task which forces one to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and one’s own limits directly, so it’s not surprising that a coterie of avoidance entrepreneurs sprung up around it. The goal of note taking systems, almost without exception, is to provide a smooth, frictionless environment for making connections between disparate topics. As your “second brain” develops, the ability—and indeed the desire—to create a dense latticework of connections increases. The problem for me, at least, is that I don’t find the work of making connections to be difficult. If anything, my “first brain” tends to overproduce these kinds of thoughts.

What it does provide, however, is a sandbox for infinite varieties of “avoidant labor.” If your writing anxiety focuses, like mine frequently does, on the possibility of “accidental plagiarism,” well, you can tend to your “zettlekasten,” and ensure that everything you ever highlighted is properly cited and tagged. If you have a more generic form of writing anxiety, why not spend a few hours linking your notes? In both cases, you have an act adjacent to writing, which relieves some of the tension of not writing but actively avoids the task itself.

I find striking how much of a hype there is around concepts like "second brain", "zettelkasten", "networked note-taking", "PARA method", "Johnny Decimal", etc., and around note-taking apps such as Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian, and so on. So I found fascinating Kevin Baker's May 2024 take on them as "sandboxes for infinite varieties of avoidant labor".

Here's the relevant excerpt, shared without further comment:

"Incapacitating" is exactly how I would describe my relationship to computers, especially since the start of the pandemic. "Friction" for me looks like uncertainty, partial knowledge, ambiguity, disorder, or anxiety. The ecosystem of note taking software and influencers that has emerged since 2020 offer a great example of what I am talking about. Writing is a task which forces one to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and one’s own limits directly, so it’s not surprising that a coterie of avoidance entrepreneurs sprung up around it. The goal of note taking systems, almost without exception, is to provide a smooth, frictionless environment for making connections between disparate topics. As your “second brain” develops, the ability—and indeed the desire—to create a dense latticework of connections increases. The problem for me, at least, is that I don’t find the work of making connections to be difficult. If anything, my “first brain” tends to overproduce these kinds of thoughts.

What it does provide, however, is a sandbox for infinite varieties of “avoidant labor.” If your writing anxiety focuses, like mine frequently does, on the possibility of “accidental plagiarism,” well, you can tend to your “zettlekasten,” and ensure that everything you ever highlighted is properly cited and tagged. If you have a more generic form of writing anxiety, why not spend a few hours linking your notes? In both cases, you have an act adjacent to writing, which relieves some of the tension of not writing but actively avoids the task itself.

I find striking how much of a hype there is around concepts like "second brain", "zettelkasten", "networked note-taking", "PARA method", "Johnny Decimal", etc., and around note-taking apps such as Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian, and so on. So I found fascinating Kevin Baker's May 2024 take on them as "sandboxes for infinite varieties of avoidant labor".

Here's the relevant excerpt, shared without further comment:

"Incapacitating" is exactly how I would describe my relationship to computers, especially since the start of the pandemic. "Friction" for me looks like uncertainty, partial knowledge, ambiguity, disorder, or anxiety. The ecosystem of note taking software and influencers that has emerged since 2020 offer a great example of what I am talking about. Writing is a task which forces one to confront ambiguity, uncertainty, and one’s own limits directly, so it’s not surprising that a coterie of avoidance entrepreneurs sprung up around it. The goal of note taking systems, almost without exception, is to provide a smooth, frictionless environment for making connections between disparate topics. As your “second brain” develops, the ability—and indeed the desire—to create a dense latticework of connections increases. The problem for me, at least, is that I don’t find the work of making connections to be difficult. If anything, my “first brain” tends to overproduce these kinds of thoughts.

What it does provide, however, is a sandbox for infinite varieties of “avoidant labor.” If your writing anxiety focuses, like mine frequently does, on the possibility of “accidental plagiarism,” well, you can tend to your “zettlekasten,” and ensure that everything you ever highlighted is properly cited and tagged. If you have a more generic form of writing anxiety, why not spend a few hours linking your notes? In both cases, you have an act adjacent to writing, which relieves some of the tension of not writing but actively avoids the task itself.

Wondering if the #SublimeApp is what #RoamResearch had the ambition to be.

#PKM

Sublime: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sublime-internet/id6449081538

Roam: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/roam-mobile/id1609277273

My 2026 professional techno geek project is to integrate integrate @ia Writer, #RoamResearch, and #LMStudio

#Writing is rewriting.

Writing is the evil twin of #thinking.

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 4-Oct-25 is live

#Obsidian V1.10, Obs October
#Capacities #readwise integration + updates
#tana Live build, coffee meet up
#logseq Background Sync + transcribe
#RoamResearch PDF Annotator
#appflowy V0.10 updates
#Heptabase why AI
#noteey Updates
Why People Struggle with PKM article

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04-fc2700168603

Thank you

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 4-Oct-25 is live

#Obsidian V1.10, Obs October
#Capacities #readwise integration + updates
#tana Live build, coffee meet up
#logseq Background Sync + transcribe
#RoamResearch PDF Annotator
#appflowy V0.10 updates
#Heptabase why AI
#noteey Updates
Why People Struggle with PKM article

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04-fc2700168603

Thank you

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 4-Oct-25 is live

#Obsidian V1.10, Obs October
#Capacities #readwise integration + updates
#tana Live build, coffee meet up
#logseq Background Sync + transcribe
#RoamResearch PDF Annotator
#appflowy V0.10 updates
#Heptabase why AI
#noteey Updates
Why People Struggle with PKM article

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04-fc2700168603

Thank you

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 4-Oct-25 is live

#Obsidian V1.10, Obs October
#Capacities #readwise integration + updates
#tana Live build, coffee meet up
#logseq Background Sync + transcribe
#RoamResearch PDF Annotator
#appflowy V0.10 updates
#Heptabase why AI
#noteey Updates
Why People Struggle with PKM article

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04-fc2700168603

Thank you

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 4-Oct-25 is live

#Obsidian V1.10, Obs October
#Capacities #readwise integration + updates
#tana Live build, coffee meet up
#logseq Background Sync + transcribe
#RoamResearch PDF Annotator
#appflowy V0.10 updates
#Heptabase why AI
#noteey Updates
Why People Struggle with PKM article

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-10-04-fc2700168603

Thank you

Um #RoamResearch ist es in still geworden. Roam konzentriert die Kommunikation auf den #Slack - Kanal. Updates fokussieren wenig sichtbare Aspekte der Anwendung.

Die Konkurrenz legt zu, konkret #Obsidian. Und die Mobile-Version kommt kaum voran. Die Roam-Community ist teilweise verunsichert.

Doch das täuscht nicht darüber hinweg, dass - gerade für die wissenschaftliche Arbeit - Roam meines Erachtens immer noch überzeugt.

#Obsidian, Wissensmanagement #pkm, nutze ich seit Jahren. Mit Sync-Funktion lassen sich Devices einbinden, E2E-verschlüsselt. Viele Community Plugins kostenlos. Auch MOBILE stark. Früher #RoamResearch genutzt

Sync-Angebot des Anbieters: wenig Aufwand, stabil, günstig @obsidian.md

https://www.obsidian.md

Aber ja, poste hier auch zu anderen pkm-Tools

@Daojoan is a fantastic writer!

As a #PKM advocate AND a #RoamResearch user for years, reading this was…a journey.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/i-deleted-my-second-brain

Wow. My Nautilus plugin for #RoamResearch became part of the recommended workflow sent out to users by the creators of the app in the newsletter:)
https://roam-research.kit.com/posts/commentarii-roamani-pages-systems-worth-building

(🌀 You can try Nautilus even without Roam here: https://nautilus-omnibus.web.app)

#PKM #timeblocking

The Fall of Roam

https://every.to/superorganizers/the-fall-of-roam

#HackerNews #TheFallOfRoam #RoamResearch #Superorganizers #TechNews #ProductivityTools

Hi All. #PKMWeekly 18-May-25 is live

#logseq DB updates and workflows
#obsidian layouts and creating things
#tana Export to markdown
#Capacities All in

and much more from OrcaNote, #noteey, #Heptabase, #RoamResearch, #Anytype and #Thymer

- https://www.pkmweekly.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-05-18

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-05-18-06ff938f83a9

Thank you

Hi all. PKM Weekly (19-Apr-25) is live

#obsidian Weekly reviews, lifeOs
#logseq Keyboard, shortcuts
#Capacities objects, research
#tana - Single inbox
Thymer sync
#appflowy, @Anytype, #RoamResearch, #Octarine updates
#AFFiNE Android signup

- https://ednico.substack.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-04-19

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-04-19-88f8729ec519

Thank you and Happy Easter

#pkmweekly

#Tipp #Workflowy #Wissensmanagement #Outliner

Workflowy funktioniert wie #RoamResearch, #Notion, #Remnote usw. als "System von Blöcken". Die Abschnitte werden als Blöcke bezeichnet, sind untereinander verknüpfbar usw., Stichwort Backlinks. (Obsidian hingegen erzeugt ein File System.)

Bei Workflowy können alle Daten aber als eine (!) #Markdown-Datei - in einem Zug - gesichert werden.

Markdown ermöglicht "schlanke" Dateien und Zukunftssicherheit

https://workflowy.com/

Hi all. PKM Weekly (16-Mar-25) is live

#logseq DB Improvements
#Capacities Daily notes template
#Tana App updates
#Obsidian Speed updates, RAG plugin
#Appflowy Web updates
@wcools Thymer release
Orca Notes pricing
#RoamResearch AI Chat

- https://ednico.substack.com/p/pkm-weekly-2025-03-16

- https://ednico.medium.com/pkm-weekly-2025-03-16-a328a7552d9f

Many thanks as always.

#pkmweekly

#TIL #zola can link your notes / pages like a #zettelkasten note taking app. You just have to enable backlinks in config.toml.

bottom_footnotes = true

#obsidian #roamresearch #notetaking #ssg #rust

Is #RoamResearch still a thing?

I'm new to Mastodon. Here's some stuff I like and might post about:

- Theology (I am very Christian)
- Amateur Category Theory (bad)
- Programming in #janetlang
- Philosophy (anti-platonism)
- Note-taking/PKM ( #roamresearch )
- Data Analysis (self-taught, bad)
- Cool Etymologies
- Literary Criticism
- Desktop Automation ( #autohotkey )
- Now Reading/Watching/Listening to/Playing
- Complaining about Microsoft products
- Misc. side projects (I write #vscode extensions)

I'm new to Mastodon. Here's some stuff I like and might post about:

- Theology (I am very Christian)
- Amateur Category Theory (bad)
- Programming in #janetlang
- Philosophy (anti-platonism)
- Note-taking/PKM ( #roamresearch )
- Data Analysis (self-taught, bad)
- Cool Etymologies
- Literary Criticism
- Desktop Automation ( #autohotkey )
- Now Reading/Watching/Listening to/Playing
- Complaining about Microsoft products
- Misc. side projects (I write #vscode extensions)

I'm new to Mastodon. Here's some stuff I like and might post about:

- Theology (I am very Christian)
- Amateur Category Theory (bad)
- Programming in #janetlang
- Philosophy (anti-platonism)
- Note-taking/PKM ( #roamresearch )
- Data Analysis (self-taught, bad)
- Cool Etymologies
- Literary Criticism
- Desktop Automation ( #autohotkey )
- Now Reading/Watching/Listening to/Playing
- Complaining about Microsoft products
- Misc. side projects (I write #vscode extensions)

I'm new to Mastodon. Here's some stuff I like and might post about:

- Theology (I am very Christian)
- Amateur Category Theory (bad)
- Programming in #janetlang
- Philosophy (anti-platonism)
- Note-taking/PKM ( #roamresearch )
- Data Analysis (self-taught, bad)
- Cool Etymologies
- Literary Criticism
- Desktop Automation ( #autohotkey )
- Now Reading/Watching/Listening to/Playing
- Complaining about Microsoft products
- Misc. side projects (I write #vscode extensions)

I'm new to Mastodon. Here's some stuff I like and might post about:

- Theology (I am very Christian)
- Amateur Category Theory (bad)
- Programming in #janetlang
- Philosophy (anti-platonism)
- Note-taking/PKM ( #roamresearch )
- Data Analysis (self-taught, bad)
- Cool Etymologies
- Literary Criticism
- Desktop Automation ( #autohotkey )
- Now Reading/Watching/Listening to/Playing
- Complaining about Microsoft products
- Misc. side projects (I write #vscode extensions)

@billseitz

I’ve been a paying #RoamResearch user for a couple of years now, and TIL:

“The name, incidentally, is a play-on-words joke apparently. As in #Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Considering if it's worth paying for #Tana after watching the Founders AMA. It's amazing, but #RoamResearch and #Notion might already meet my needs. Tana's unique features also create friction. Plus, it's too expensive for those not earning in dollars.

Hi everyone, the latest PKM Weekly post is live. This week, updates from:

#Capacities
#tana
#logseq
#obsidian
#remnote
#Notion
#RoamResearch

⏬

As I absolutely love wasting time, Substack is no longer part of the stack. Instead, using a WP+Convertkit combo.

- https://pkm-weekly.com/pkm-weekly-2024-06-29/

- https://medium.com/@ednico/personal-knowledge-management-pkm-weekly-2024-06-29-f09a7c1ec332

Many thanks as always for reading! 🙏

@coffe @drwho #RoamResearch

I've been spending time replicating what I do in #roamresearch on #tana in order to explore the limitations of both tools in my routine with #pkm tools.

Below, a comparison of yesterday's daily note:

All I want from a digital knowledge assistant are these three simple things:

- ReMarkable 2's hardware
- Everying is an infinte outline.
- Handwritten and typed text are the same thing, and can swapped around with intuitive gestures.

If each of those exists separately, why is no one working on combining them in the one perfect device?

I have left detailed descriptions on my blog: https://preslav.me/2024/01/19/the-perfect-knowledge-assistant-device-that-does-not-exist/

---
#remarkable #supernote #logseq #workflowy #roamresearch #eink

My first extension has just been approved and deployed to the Roam Depot: Nautilus. I am so happy!

It is a time-blocking tool transforming a plain list of tasks into a visual overview of what you can handle today. As time flies, tasks are pushed forward into free slots, and you immediately see what to prioritize.

It is a powerful and yet simple tool which has helped me since the first prototype (June 2023), so I hope it will help many others.

https://github.com/tombarys/roam-depot-nautilus

#roam #roamresearch

I was today years old when I learned that you could set up a Pomodoro Timer inside the #RoamResearch app.

Started using #logseq for notes taking -- and loving it till now. A good replacement for #RoamResearch.

@Thcoudreau @elduvelle
as a fanboi for quirky and utilitarian, I also use #RoamResearch for personal productivity.

The #LinkAndLeverage capabilities is #SystemsThinking dream.

@ctietze Nice, thanks! I would probably try #Obsidan primarily, I use #roamresearch as my daily #pkm at the moment but trying to migrate to local first.

Comparison-wise, Obsidian vs LogSeq, maybe try Roam vs Tana for a larger set of notes too. I'm more messing around than actively researching though

Il y a des gens ici qui se sentent à l'aise avec des outils de prise de note façon Roam Research ? Vous savez ce genre d'apps où tu ajoutes des bullet point sous des bullets points et chaque bullet point est un nouveau point de départ possible.

Je me suis dit que j'allais tester #remnote pour le fun https://www.remnote.com/

#roamresearch #notetaking

My note-making journey, as told in apps, from 2000 forward:

- Handwritten Notes
- #DevonThink
- #Evernote
- #NotationalVelocity
- #Yojimbo
- #KeepIt
- #OneNote
- #SimpleNote
- #Bear
- #GoodNotes
- #AppleNotes
- #RoamResearch
- #Obsidian
- #Tana
- #Obsidian (again)
- #Logseq
- #Obsidian and #Logseq

And those are just the tools I adopted for at least a month at a time.

Question for #OKM, #RoamResearch, #ObsidianMD, #logseq, and #ReflectApp users...

Anyone using no or almost no tags? Anyone using no or almost no folders? What's the biggest friction you have? I use tags mostly to scope search. I.e. search all notes with this tag for this string. But wondering if it's necessary. Also wondering if I even need my status tags. I don't really use them...

/cc @obsidianmd

Question for #PKM, #RoamResearch, #ObsidianMD, #logseq, and #ReflectApp users...

Anyone using no or almost no tags? Anyone using no or almost no folders? What's the biggest friction you have? I use tags mostly to scope search. I.e. search all notes with this tag for this string. But wondering if it's necessary. Also wondering if I even need my status tags. I don't really use them...

/cc @obsidianmd

Question for #PKM, #RoamResearch, #ObsidianMD, #logseq, and #ReflectApp users...

Anyone using no or almost no tags? Anyone using no or almost no folders? What's the biggest friction you have? I use tags mostly to scope search. I.e. search all notes with this tag for this string. But wondering if it's necessary. Also wondering if I even need my status tags. I don't really use them...

/cc @obsidianmd

Question for #PKM, #RoamResearch, #ObsidianMD, #logseq, and #ReflectApp users...

Anyone using no or almost no tags? Anyone using no or almost no folders? What's the biggest friction you have? I use tags mostly to scope search. I.e. search all notes with this tag for this string. But wondering if it's necessary. Also wondering if I even need my status tags. I don't really use them...

/cc @obsidianmd

Question for #OKM, #RoamResearch, #ObsidianMD, #logseq, and #ReflectApp users...

Anyone using no or almost no tags? Anyone using no or almost no folders? What's the biggest friction you have? I use tags mostly to scope search. I.e. search all notes with this tag for this string. But wondering if it's necessary. Also wondering if I even need my status tags. I don't really use them...

/cc @obsidianmd

#AthensResarch is really good!

It's supposed to be a #FOSS alternative to #RoamResearch. While it doesn't have as many tree specific features as #Workflowy it competes pretty well with #Dynalist.

After a few days of use I can say I do like the "networked" idea because it takes out the stress and distraction of having to sort your new sub-tree somewhere.

#AthensResarch is really good!

It's supposed to be a #FOSS alternative to #RoamResearch. While it doesn't have as many tree specific features as #Workflowy it competes pretty well with #Dynalist.

After a few days of use I can say I do like the "networked" idea because it takes out the stress and distraction of having to sort your new sub-tree somewhere.