My long shortlist for Tools for Thought
Tools for Thought as a new category of knowledge apps
This category — Tools for Thought — has seen incredible growth with the emergence of new apps. At the same time, techniques for knowledge work were rediscovered and adapted. Luhmann’s Zettelkasten approach became mainstream for those who are nerding out about knowledge work. Getting Things Done and the bullet journal were readapted. Workflows and philosophies such as Linking your Thinking and Building a Second Brain keep emerging that are tailored to use the possibilities of these suits of apps.
Possibilities of personal knowledge management (PKM)
Developing a truly personal knowledge management system and cultivating a “digital knowledge garden” is now within reach for people who enjoy critical and creative thinking. From managing your life, your business, your studies and your research, everything seems possible. Of course, most of it was possible before with pen and paper. Consistency and habits matter more than technology. But still, we live in exciting times for knowledge work.
Some tools to bookmark
Here is a list of notable and some yet to be discovered tools that I stumbled upon in the last months.
- Obsidian — https://obsidian.md/
- Notion — https://www.notion.so/
- LogSeq — https://logseq.com/
- Roam Research — https://roamresearch.com/
- Athens — https://www.athensresearch.org/
- Remnote — https://www.remnote.com/
- Supernotes — https://supernotes.app/
- Flowtelic — https://app.flowtelic.com/
- Glean — https://glean.co/
- Coda — https://coda.io/
- Craft — https://www.craft.do/
- Muse — https://museapp.com/
Obviously, this list is not complete — and never will be. Preference was given to open source tools and startups. Naturally, you can do a lot with Evernote, Apple’s Notes, Microsoft’s OneNote, Bear and many other note-taking tools.
