(2023-04-30) Ptpl050 More On The Supremely Awesome Taskpaper Syntax In Obsidian

Ellane W: PTPL 050: More on the Supremely Awesome TaskPaper Syntax in Obsidian. TaskPaper syntax in Obsidian — I love it! The TaskPaper syntax is flexible, and there are enough apps around that can read it, I’ll be sticking with it for the next few months to see how it goes in the heat of battle.

So far I can say that switching from atomising to unifying my tasks (i.e. one task per file, to all tasks on one page) is giving me a better sense of the big picture

Inspiration for the naming of projects comes from todo.txt; each begins with a number that starts with +. Referring loosely to my version of the Johnny Decimal system, I’m using the +200s for Home (personal), and +500s for Work (business).

I’m currently using several apps to interact with my Projects and Tasks 2023.md file. This is to make sure the format I use is broadly compatible with most plain text apps

Mac:
TaskPaper
Obsidian (with a nice set of saved searches)
Sublime Text (+ PlainTask package)

iPad and iPhone:
iA Writer
Taskmator (with extreme caution because of iCloud sync issues)

It’s interesting, where the plain text path is taking me.

At the beginning I was all in on Obsidian; couldn’t get enough of plugins and complexity and endlessly tweaking every part of the system

But things have changed; I’m following a simpler path now. One that steers away from focusing on features unique to single apps, and instead prioritises broad spectrum compatibility on the plain text level.

This article helped to clarify the bigger picture: Areas of Focus: The Foundation Of All Solid Productivity Systems

Even before completing the exercise myself, I can say that identifying and quantifying our values is vital! Without this kind of self-awareness, this sense of where our daily actions are rooted, any tech journey is just a shallow, directionless obsession.