Today as I was spending time in my personal knowledge management (PKM) system, that collection of notes, resources, and references that I’m cultivating for future use and was reminded just how personal it is.
It’s something that is often overlooked as we all strive to find that “perfect” system for knowledge management, productivity system, or even the best way to organize our closet. We read articles, watch videos, talk to friends, pick up a book, and then copy the system we’ve just learned about. Then in the not too distant future we do the same search over again as the system we’ve been following stops working for us.
The reason why it stops working is that we haven’t made the system our own. We didn’t take the time to look at all of the information and pick and choose what works for us. We see someone who has walked the walk, wrote the book, and now has this massive following, so their system must be the right one. It might be for them, that doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
It’s okay to not implement a system verbatim, it’s also okay to take a piece from several different systems and make it your own.
So the next time you get ready to scrap everything, give some thought to what you’re trowing out, maybe some parts of the system work. Maybe you like the way projects are setup in one task management system, but really prefer the way tasks are prioritized in another – maybe you can use both.
The point is that every system out there is just one person’s version of a working system, we each need to find what works for us and then iterate on that. There’s no one system that’s perfect for everyone, but there is a perfect system for you, you just need to take the time to find it.