Keeping a link blog
Like many people who try to be productive, I have tried lots of different methods for keeping notes on what I read. I’ve read How to take smart notes by Sönke Ahrens, and tried to develop my own Zettelkasten system. I’ve tried fancy Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) applications like Obsidian and Logseq. But the thing that I always found difficult was getting into a consistent habit. And of course that is the most important thing. One of the problems has been trying to apply one method to everything — reading books, audiobooks, online articles etc. That’s a mistake I think, or at least it is for me.
One thing I’ve learned is the best way to find out what are good productivity techniques is not to read books or follow people who have an idea to sell, but rather to look at what highly productive people actually do. Simon Willison is a programmer who is incredibly productive. He’s been using a technique that he calls link blogging for over 20 years. The technique is simple — when you read a good article, make notes on it and post those notes online.
I read all the time, and I read various articles and reports every day. I also watch detailed educational videos. But I’ve never tried to make notes on them. Making notes is a really good way to extract the most valuable points from the information you consume, and it helps remember it for the long term. Also I find I get a lot of ideas when making notes about the things I learn, which I should keep. So, I have started to keep a link blog of my own. Click on the link “linking” in the navigation of this site to see it.
Objectives
Why am I doing this?
- To encourage myself to read more high-quality articles and watch more good educational videos, and to avoid stuff that is not useful.
- To keep a record of my take-aways from this content, and any ideas it inspires.
- To be able to remember the content I consume, and to be able to use it for projects.
Relevant links
- Simon Willison: My approach to running a link blog
- Kellan Elliott-McCrea: A Link Blog in the Year 2024
- Justin Miller: How my link blog works
Simon Willison’s approach is the best one I think, because he makes detailed notes and adds his own observations. Some people just highlight their favorite parts, which of course requires less effort but almost certainly isn’t as good when it comes to learning from what you read.