Org-mode after one month

I set out to try org-mode for one month, with the intention of it replacing my paper notebook. On paper I use the bullet journal technique which works fine for taking notes as you go and making sure I don’t forget stuff. But I wasn’t 100% happy with it. It was hard to organize project related notes. The physical limitations of paper where just getting in the way, hence my endeavor into org-mode.

Initially I tried to replicate my exact work-flow on paper inside org-mode. After two weeks of trying it just wouldn’t stick. The bullet journal is great on paper but a disaster digitally (at least for me).

Right now I use org-mode, much more as a wiki. I have an index.org file, which serves as a landing page and it has a bunch of links to other org files that I can follow. It has a list with current projects (a file per project) and a link to a ideas for future projects. It also has a section for (private) journal entries and a section for blog post drafts. Previously I setup Jekyll with support for org-mode files, so I author my blog posts in org-mode in my wiki like environment and once I am happy, I just copy the file to my Jekyll _posts folder and done.

This solves my project based notes problem that initially wanted solved, but I still haven’t found a work-flow that sticks for taking notes on the fly that are one of tasks that don’t belong in a project. I have to spend some more time with org-capture to figure out a work-flow that works for me. I do struggle with bringing my laptop to meetings a bit. I find that people who bring a laptop to meetings are (or at least seem) less invested in the meeting and are easily distracted. For that I might go back to my paper notebook for taking notes during meetings and processing those into my org-mode structure afterwards.

Maybe I will turn around once I have spend more time with org-capture. Stay tuned for more on the topic.