I write almost everything important in my life: thoughts, plans, notes, diaries, correspondence, code, articles, and entire books.
They are my extended memory — my noted self — my organized thoughts. I refer to them often. I search them, update them, and learn from them. I convert them into HTML to make websites, or LaTeX to make books.
My written words are my most precious asset. They are also a history of my life. That’s why I only use plain text files.
PORTABLE Every device, including ones long gone, and ones not invented yet, can read and edit plain text.
UN-COMMERCIAL When you store your writing in one company’s unique format, then you need that program to access it. Then the economy takes a turn, they go out of business, and your work is trapped in an unusable format. You will outlive these companies. Your writing should outlive you. Depending on companies is not an option.
OFFLINE There are places and times when you can’t get online. Don’t depend on any tool that needs an internet connection.
There are great benefits to being intentionally offline and unreachable, to focus.
NO DEPENDENCIES If you rely on Word, Evernote or Notion, for example, then you can’t work unless you have Word, Evernote, or Notion. You are helpless without them. You are dependent.
Plain text files and a basic text editor are enough. This is everything you need for great thinking and writing.
EASIEST TO CONVERT Plain text can be converted into anything else.
HTML, Markdown, JSON, LaTeX, and many other standard formats, are just plain text.
You can make your own personal formats in your plain text files. Maybe in each diary entry, the first two lines are like:
date: 2022-02-28 tags: where-to-live, kids, dog, anxious
NEED HIERARCHY?
Use directories — also known as folders. These are also good for keeping your text together with other files like images and audio.
Documents/ Documents/Diary/ Documents/Diary/2022/ Documents/Diary/2022/2022-02-28.txt Documents/Thoughts/ Documents/Thoughts/WhereToLive/ Documents/Thoughts/WhereToLive/2019-06-30.txt Documents/Thoughts/WhereToLive/2020-01-18.txt Documents/Ideas/ Documents/Ideas/MusicalChairs.txt Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/ Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Design/ Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Design/entryway.jpg Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Design/roof.jpg Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Architect/ Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Architect/JM_Lim.txt Documents/Ideas/NewHouse/Architect/TPS_Inc.txt
I especially enjoy the tranquility of their offline, non-commercial nature. They’re quiet. They’re focused. (As I aim to be.)
- tools that reflect your values? something about shaping your digital environment to mirror the life you want to actually build? If your environment shapes your actions, or something like that, then an offline first, simple way of interacting with your computer will put you in that mind space. You are the average of your environment