(2019-02-20) Forte Random Note Building An Idea Generator

Tiago Forte: RandomNote: Building an Idea Generator. What if you could push a button and immediately be given an idea? Not just any idea. A good idea.

I wanted to make randomness a part of my workflow

You can try it by downloading this application, moving it to your Applications folder, and running it (it only works on MacOS and with Evernote)

When I first installed this script, I figured it would become part of my weekly review. An infrequent, only occasionally useful exercise to remember notes I’d previously saved. What I’ve found has been very different. I click the icon probably 20–30 times each day

About half of the time I previously spent on social media is now spent looking at, modifying, and deleting old notes.

By quickly flashing notes in front of me, I’m able to make quick, intuitive, System 1 judgments about how to make them more discoverable or understandable

Third, what this little app has reinforced for me is that it’s much, much more powerful to know that a note exists and what it’s generally about, than to know exactly what it contains. This is what differentiates this practice from spaced repetition (systematically surfacing notes just as you’re about to forget them): I want to remember as little as possible, not as much as possible.

Fourth, there’s something magical about just the right level of relevance and actionability

The sweet spot is combining Project notebooks with Areas and Resources.