Jekyll2020-12-13T21:31:31+00:00http://www.leonardobighi.com/feed.xmlLeonardo BighiAn amazing website.Leonardo BighiHow I organize my life in plaintext2015-12-12T00:00:00+00:002015-12-12T00:00:00+00:00http://www.leonardobighi.com/how-i-organize-my-life-in-plain-text<p>Yesterday I talked about my dislike for proprietary formats for my notes. Now it’s time to explain how I organize my notes, documents, tasks, etc.</p>
<p>If you didn’t read the previous post, here’s the summary: I use only plain text for my notes and tasks, saved in a Documents directory synchronized by Dropbox.</p>
<p>In my system I store the following information:</p>
<ul>
<li>Notes that I check all the time</li>
<li>References that I may need someday (about my house, my car, etc)</li>
<li>Notes about completed/abandoned projects</li>
<li>Tasks I have yet to do</li>
<li>Tasks I’ve done</li>
<li>My personal and professional journal</li>
<li>Important documents (invoices, contracts, etc)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="how-i-organize-my-notes">How I organize my notes</h2>
<p>I have a lot of notes. I write down every information that I (may) have to remember (even if just for a couple days). My license plate, my phone’s IMEI, ideas for a new book, a TV show suggested by a friend, terminal commands that I learned, how I solved a hard problem. The list goes on.</p>
<p>The most important thing is that all my notes are inside my directory <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">~/Dropbox/Notes</code>.</p>
<h3 id="kinds-of-notes">Kinds of notes</h3>
<p>I classify my notes under two categories: notes and references.</p>
<p>References are information that I save to check someday, but I don’t access regularly. Examples: my license plate number, the IP address of every device in my own network, the measurements of every room in my house, what shoe size my wife wears.</p>
<p>Notes are more general that are not only reference. Notes are the ones I am going to view and edit more frequently, and may not last that long. Examples: lists of ideas, movies recommended to me, my grocery list, books I want to buy.</p>
<h3 id="projects">Projects</h3>
<p>My notes and references can also be related to a specific project that I’m working on.</p>
<p>When I’m writing down information relative to a specific project, there’s no reason to leave it in the middle of my general notes. I have a Projects folder, and inside it I create a folder with the name of the project. This I where I save these notes.</p>
<p>I do that for projects on my day job, but also my personal projects. If a project needs its own notes, that’s where I keep them. I don’t need to see these notes all the time.</p>
<p>When the project is done (or is abandoned) and I don’t need the notes anymore, I don’t delete the folder. I move the entire project folder to my Archive folder.</p>
<p>I will <em>probably</em> never need those notes again, but you never know. This way I can keep them for future reference if needed, while keeping my Projects folder uncluttered.</p>
<p>I am talking about all that organization, but it’s important to make it clear that the <em>majority</em> of my notes is just sitting directly under my documents folder, not inside any project. I have much more general notes than I have project notes.</p>
<h3 id="markdown">Markdown</h3>
<p>There is one thing that is true for all my notes, no matter if Notes or References, general or related to a project. All of them are written in Markdown.</p>
<p>Markdown is not a specific format. We can say it’s a syntax, a <em>style</em> of writing plain text files. If you follow the Markdown syntax, your text can be transformed into a pretty HTML rich-text file when needed.</p>
<p>Markdown is just plain text with some unobstrusive markup, like <em>*double asterisks to bold</em>*, or <em>_underscores_</em> to italicize. There are also markups for headers, links, images, tables, etc.</p>
<p>This is the best of both worlds. You can have a readable and organized plain text file, while also having the option to turn it into HTML or DOC if you need formatting (bold, italics, images, headers, etc).</p>
<h2 id="how-i-organize-my-tasks">How I organize my tasks</h2>
<p>After reading all that, it shouldn’t surprise you that I also keep my task list in plain text.</p>
<p>Similar to Markdown, I use what we could call “rich plain text”, or plain text created in a specific way to allow apps to read it too.</p>
<p>I have a file <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">todo.txt</code>, using a standard that is (surprisingly) also called <a href="http://todotxt.com/">Todo.txt</a>. You can read more about it <a href="http://todotxt.com/">here</a>.</p>
<p>The idea is simple: every line in the text file is a task. Tasks can have a context marked like @context, and they can be assigned to a project by writing +project.</p>
<p>You can also start the line with (A), or (B) or any other letter in the alphabet to define the priority of that task. And that’s mostly it. Simple and easy, readable to humans and machines.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<div class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code>(A) Clean blood stains on the floor @home +body
(B) Hide the body in a bag @home +body
(C) Sell my chainsaw on ebay @computer +body
Look for a new room mate on craigslist +apartment
Buy new lamp @errands
</code></pre></div></div>
<p>Using that simple markup I can read and edit my tasks on any text editor available to me. Or I can use Todo.txt apps that present the information in a more organized manner.</p>
<p>Whatever the case, I can always see what my tasks are, no matter what device I’m using.</p>
<p>This is a great example of how I can use an app to help me do stuff (The Todo.txt compatible apps) while still having control over all my files and its contents.</p>
<p>There are Todo.txt apps for <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/br/app/todo.txt-touch/id491342186?ls=1&mt=8">iOS</a> and <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.todotxt.todotxttouch">Android</a>. Also Windows, Mac and Linux.</p>
<h3 id="done-tasks">Done Tasks</h3>
<p>There is one more nice Todo.txt feature that I use all the time. When a task is done, all you have to do is put an “x” at the beginning of the line. And then apps can move that task to a done.txt file (or you can do it manually if not using an app).</p>
<p>This way your task list stays clean, and you have a history of all the tasks you have done in the past.</p>
<p>If you do weekly or monthly reviews, it helps a lot.</p>
<h2 id="how-i-organize-my-journal">How I organize my journal</h2>
<p>One more thing: my journal is also a plain text file. Shocking!</p>
<p>My journal is a single journal.txt file with all the entries one after the other.</p>
<p>And just like the above examples, this is also handled by an app but in a format that I can read and edit manually if needed. I use a terminal app called <a href="https://github.com/maebert/jrnl">jrnl</a>. It offers a handful of terminal commands to write to my journal, review previous entries, and even find by tags or date.</p>
<p>But in the end it’s a simple plain text file, giving me the peace of mind of knowing I never lose the information I saved in there.</p>
<h2 id="going-paperless">Going paperless</h2>
<p>Last but not least, there is one more thing I save in my Documents folder: scanned versions of paper documents.</p>
<p>I have a scanned copy in PDF of all of my documents. My ID, driver’s license, and the many documents the Brazilian government expect you to carry with you.</p>
<p>I also scan and save purchase receipts, invoices, bank statements, contracts I signed. Every important document that I have on paper I also have on my Documents folder.</p>
<p>And for those files, there’s no way to use plain text. For them, I use a file format that is so supported by so much open source projects that there’s no way it’s going to fall out of the Earth any time soon: PDF.</p>
<p>PDF files allow text and image. I can annotate it, I can highlight text. But the important thing is that it has images and doesn’t take much space.</p>
<p>So all my paper documents are scanned, OCR’d and saved in PDF.</p>
<h2 id="apps-that-i-use">Apps that I use</h2>
<p>On android I use <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appmindlab.nano&hl=pt_BR">Neutrinote</a> to edit my notes, and <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.todotxt.todotxttouch">Todo.txt</a> to manage my tasks.</p>
<p>On Linux, I use <a href="http://www.vim.org/">Vim</a> to edit my notes, and <a href="https://github.com/QTodoTxt/QTodoTxt">QTodoTxt</a> to manage tasks.</p>
<p>On my Mac, I use <a href="http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/">Notational Velocity</a> for most of the notes, <a href="http://marked2app.com/">Marked</a> to read Markdown files in a beautiful format, and the console version of Todo.txt to manage my tasks.</p>
<h2 id="everything-is-a-few-clicks-away">Everything is a few clicks away</h2>
<p>There are some things in commom between all those kinds of documents I keep:</p>
<p>1) All of them are always available to me, no matter if I’m at home or out on the streets.</p>
<p>2) I can access any of those files from any device. A desktop, laptop, phone, tablet, or even someone else’s computer with a web browser.</p>
<p>3) They will be readable for years to come, no matter what companies die, what servers are turned off, what services become too expensive for me to pay.</p>
<p>If the most important characteristic of a notes system is being available when you need (and I think it is), then this is a great system.</p>
<h2 id="keeping-my-notes-for-decades">Keeping my notes for decades</h2>
<p>I’m only going through all this trouble of making my own system because I want to keep all my notes for as long as I can. I want these notes to serve as a history of my life. I wish I started doing this much sooner, so I could look back in time to what kind of information I was recording when I was younger.</p>
<p>But now I know that I can look back, five years from now, and see what tasks I was doing, what I was worried about, what were my dreams and troubles in my own words.</p>
<p>Whatever I want to do with the information, I know it will be there waiting for me.</p>Leonardo BighiYesterday I talked about my dislike for proprietary formats for my notes. Now it’s time to explain how I organize my notes, documents, tasks, etc.Why I prefer plaintext2015-12-11T00:00:00+00:002015-12-11T00:00:00+00:00http://www.leonardobighi.com/why-i-prefer-plaintext<p>I’ve used many different apps to organize my notes and documents. I’ve used <a href="http://simplenote.com/">Simplenote</a>, <a href="http://evernote.com/">Evernote</a>, <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a>, and many others. And every time I end up coming back to the simplest solution of all: plain text files inside a document folder.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter how advanced technology is, sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. You may disagree now, but keep reading while I explain what problem I’m trying to solve and why plain text is the best solution.</p>
<h2 id="the-problem">The problem</h2>
<p>All the apps I mentioned above have one or both of these problems: proprietary formats, and files are not saved on your computer.</p>
<p>The problem with proprietary formats is that it can only be read by one (or a few) specific apps. If the app (or server) stops existing for whatever reason, all the information stored there is gone. Or I may end up having to pay a heavy price to convert it.</p>
<p>I’ve seen posts about people that found old files from years ago and couldn’t read it because it was saved in a dead file format, be it WordStar, an ancient version of Excel or Apple Pages.</p>
<p>One the format is left behind, goodbye. And if that app doesn’t have a mobile version, you won’t be able to get your notes while away from a computer.</p>
<p>And the problem with files that are saved <em>on the cloud</em> instead of your computer is that it’s not under your control. If the service changes to a recurring payment, you’re screwed. If the server shuts down (temporarily or permanently), you’re screwed. If the company goes bankrupt or acquired, you’re screwed.</p>
<p>If you like automating stuff (like I do), not having access to the files is also a big problem.</p>
<h2 id="the-solution-plain-text--dropbox">The solution: plain text + Dropbox</h2>
<p>Plain text files are a decades old technology. And they will still be available for decades to come. There’s no weird code behind them, it’s just unicode text inside a file. And, well… text is going away anytime soon.</p>
<p>Any information that I save in a plain text file I will be able to read as long as I still have the file, even if it’s 40 years from now and I’m in a nursery home using my old man’s holographic iPhone.</p>
<p>I save all my notes inside a Documents directory. To be able to read those notes on any computer, I sync it with <a href="http://dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a>.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter where I am, or what device I’m using, I can always check any information that I’ve saved, or edit any note. Worst case scenario, I go to the Dropbox web site and check the files there.</p>
<p>And even if Dropbox disappears from the world right now, all my files are saved on all my computers, and my phone and I won’t lose a thing.</p>
<p>On my next post I will explain better how I organize all my notes and tasks in plain text, because this post is already too big.</p>Leonardo BighiI’ve used many different apps to organize my notes and documents. I’ve used Simplenote, Evernote, Google Docs, and many others. And every time I end up coming back to the simplest solution of all: plain text files inside a document folder.31st birthday and life goals2015-12-10T00:00:00+00:002015-12-10T00:00:00+00:00http://www.leonardobighi.com/31st-birthday-and-life-goals<p>Yesterday was my 31st birthday. This is weird. I’m not used to thinking about myself as a thirty-something. Instead of celebrating, I stopped to reflect about life, the universe and everything.</p>
<p>But mostly I reflected about all the objectives I had for my life when I was in my early twenties. I did nothing that I planned. I didn’t achieve any of my goals.</p>
<p>I started working on my early twenties. Web developer since my first job. I was a young guy excited about all the possibilities of life crafting code, reading American blogs about startups and entrepreneurship. I used to follow 37signals blog, Unicorn Free, and many others. About people quitting their jobs to live the dream.</p>
<p>I believed I would achieve that for myself.</p>
<p>There was one thing I forgot. One big difference. I live in a shitty country. Brazilian economy took a downturn since my first working years. It kept going down and now the country is in the worst state I’ve seen the economy get since I was old enough to understand.</p>
<p>In my early twenties innocence I believed I could launch a product for the Brazilian market and earn enough to live. I set goals to myself. I would quit my job. I would have my own company before I became 30 years old. I would live a good live of passive income and then I would retire at 45 to enjoy life while I had energy and health enough to fully enjoy it.</p>
<p>But time passed as it always do.</p>
<p>I got to my thirties with a life much different than the one I imagined. The only goal I’ve achieved was marrying to the girl that was my best friend. Maybe my only success so far.</p>
<p>But I got to my thirties still working for someone else’s company. Still waking up early and losing more than 4 hours commuting every single day. Still living paycheck to paycheck.</p>
<p>I’m not that bad, sure. I make extra money out of my job. There’s my income from selling books on Amazon. Income from ads on my blog. But it’s not even close to being able to quit my job. Not what the 20-something Leonardo expected to be at 31.</p>
<p>But life goes on.</p>
<p>I’ve spent my last 2 or 3 years with no desire to try and make things better. I was thinking that nothing would work as I expected. But then I started fighting for what I wanted again. Writing more books, writing more code, reading more.</p>
<p>I am somewhat successful with my board game blog <a href="http://regrasdojogo.com/">Regras do Jogo</a>, written in Portuguese. It’s still new, but growing quick. Already first page on some Google search results. I just don’t think Brazil is enough. I need more. I <em>want</em> more.</p>
<p>So I think it’s time to set a new goal for myself.</p>
<h2 id="my-goals-for-my-35th-birthday">My goals for my 35th birthday</h2>
<p>I should have set those goals when I was 30, but now is too late to regret. One day after becoming 31, my time is shorter. But I’ll try anyway.</p>
<p>I want to get to my 35th birthday making more money on my own projects than I work on my day job</p>
<p>Will I do it? I don’t know. But at least now I have a goal to try and achieve.</p>
<p>I also don’t know <em>exactly</em> how I’m going to make it, but I have many project ideas. And I expect the income of <em>all</em> of them to make me achieve my goal.</p>
<p>Soon I’ll write about what I’m doing <em>right now</em> to get results.</p>
<p>I would also like to know if anyone else out there is on the same journey. Anyone using your skills to escape the cubicle life and live a better life. Leave a message and let’s have a chat.</p>Leonardo BighiYesterday was my 31st birthday. This is weird. I’m not used to thinking about myself as a thirty-something. Instead of celebrating, I stopped to reflect about life, the universe and everything.New Blog2015-12-07T00:00:00+00:002015-12-07T00:00:00+00:00http://www.leonardobighi.com/new-blog<p>New blog. Again.</p>
<p>I have created and abandoned many blogs in the latest years. These days I feel sad for not keeping them (it would be nice to look back to how I used to think years ago). Now I’ve decided to try one more time.</p>
<p>I’ll try a different tactic here: I’m going to post smaller posts, with increased frequency and less self censorship. And the themes are going to be… well, basically anything I want to write about.</p>
<p>These are the themes that motivate me these days:</p>
<ul>
<li>Video games</li>
<li>Quantified Self</li>
<li>Web and mobile development</li>
<li>Automation of stuff</li>
<li>Writing</li>
<li>Brazilian politics</li>
</ul>
<p>This time, instead of abandoning this blog after a few months or a year, I’m going to keep it for years. Many years. This time I want to be able to look back and remember what I was learning, or thinking, or planning, whatever.</p>
<p>If I make 1 or 2 posts a week, I’m satisfied.</p>Leonardo BighiNew blog. Again.