MindLake

The MindLake Manifesto

Practices for knowledge work

Most of what you learn at work is said once and never written down. What does get written ends up spread across five apps and a folder nobody opens. These are the practices we think hold up for anyone who works with what they know, and the ideas MindLake is built on.

1

Introduction

  1. 1.1Principles and practicesTen beliefs about knowledge work, and twelve habits that follow from them.
2

Organising

  1. 2.1Think fast. File slow.Catch everything in one inbox, sort when the time is right.
  2. 2.2All under one roof.Notes, tasks, meetings and people, get to the things that matter in one place.
  3. 2.3Knowledge needs to be alignedTasks, events, contacts, need connected context.
  4. 2.4Hierarchy kills efficiencyA shallower tree can ensure your time is used efficiently.
3

Knowing

  1. 3.1Join the dots.Every source, task and person leads back to the note you wrote.
  2. 3.2Boil your oceanEverything you find becomes text you can quote, search and sort.
  3. 3.3Loose sources get lostFile each one with the note it backs up.
  4. 3.4Strings attached.Links show which people and ideas your notes have in common.
  5. 3.5Jog your memory.Search by who was there, roughly when, or what it was about.
  6. 3.6Interest on your ideas.Review every week and what you wrote keeps paying off.
4

Owning

  1. 4.1Formats outlive appsKeep notes as plain files and nothing depends on one company.
  2. 4.2For your eyes only.Record, transcribe and search on your own machine.
  3. 4.3No surprises.An assistant that edits your notes should say what it changed and let you undo it.