No, not everything belongs in your slip-box — It wasn’t until I read How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens that I realized almost everything I’d assumed about the Zettelkasten or “slip-box” note-taking method was WRONG. This method gets a lot of attention for the results it gave German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. He used index cards and…

I’ll show you how it works in practice, using the text editor Obsidian — Heard of the Zettelkasten note-taking method and always wanted to give it a shot? Me too. The Zettelkasten or “slip-box” method emphasizes connection and inspired the bidirectional linking of programs like Obsidian and Roam Research. If you’ve heard of this method, attributed to German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, you might think…

A much-needed PSA for creatives and overachievers — “Wasted time” likely has a different meaning for each of us. You might be thinking about a Netflix and chill session during which you binged too many episodes of Bridgerton (no judgment here). But I’m not writing about downtime. That’s an article for another day. No, this is for us…

Go back to basics with the questions that rule every piece of written content — A returning client reached out to me recently with a new project. And, despite my willingness, excitement, and the knowledge that my client believes I do good work, I was still nervous about jumping on the phone to discuss the project. Yes, client phone calls still stress me out. In…

5 creative ways to cultivate stronger relationships — Funny story: this time last year, I set an “intention statement” for 2020 vowing that it would be the “year of relationships.” Ha! Ha ha ha. As a perfect example of life throwing curveballs and things not always going according to plan… the pandemic made it difficult to cultivate relationships…

Obsidian is a writer’s text editor based on markdown files for longevity and easy accessibility — I was the kid who always carried a pen and paper with me wherever I went. As a writer, I needed to be prepared for inspiration to strike, and I hoarded notebooks like a squirrel in winter. Even now, I have a thousand Word files, shared Google Docs, and iPhone…

Why you need a shutdown ritual to maintain work-life balance and maximize productivity — One of the challenges I’ve faced as a freelancer is a perpetual feeling of guilt… I often feel guilty when I’m working (hey, I’ve got a flexible schedule now, right?) and guilty when I’m not (“I should be working! I don’t get enough done!”). I’ll come to the end of…

Why you should keep a time-tracking spreadsheet even when you have software like Quickbooks — As a freelancer, time is your inventory. If you’re not tracking your time, you’re missing out on valuable data about your productivity, your workload, and your profitability. When I started freelancing, I often gave clients more of my time than they’d paid for. The problem wasn’t necessarily that I’d logged…

5 truths about the creative process I’ve learned from comedians like Steve Martin and Jerry Seinfeld — Writers and comedians have a lot in common. At first glance, comedians are merely performers — funny people who have the confidence to stand up in front of live audiences and make them laugh. Us writers, on the other hand, are such solitary creatures. Our words take the spotlight. Comedians…