# 188 — Q4 Planning & the PKM Stack

## Metadata
- Author: [[Focused]]
- Full Title: 188 — Q4 Planning & the PKM Stack
- Category: #podcasts
- URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/110f9128-aa17-473b-be83-ab9fa91b0246
## Highlights
- Toxic Productivity and the Importance of Taking Action
Summary:
Toxic productivity manifests when individuals seek external solutions—like trendy books or apps—while neglecting to take meaningful action on their current tasks.
The essential question is whether one is effectively producing results, regardless of the tools used for organization. Relying solely on productivity tools can become a distraction from actual work.
Personal knowledge management (PKM) systems should facilitate knowledge output, requiring a creative act rather than just information collection.
Information can be integrated into PKM systems either from a bottom-up default approach or from a top-down intentional strategy, emphasizing the importance of actionable outcomes in managing knowledge effectively.
Transcript:
Speaker 2
And you're going to be looking for whatever replaces that instead of actually doing the work. That is toxic productivity. I mean, it's reading the next hot book, downloading the next hot app and thinking this is the answer that I've been waiting for my whole life. Look, the answer is already there. You just got to find it. And I like books and I like apps. Don't get me wrong, but when the rubber meets the road, it's on you. And whether using omni focus or a napkin or obsidian or reminders or whatever. Are you shipping? Are you getting the work done? That's the question. This episode of the Focus Podcast is brought to you by CleanMyMac X. Make your Mac as good as new and get 5% off today. Go to macpaw.app.com. You know, one way to lose focus. It's to spend all your time maintaining your computer systems. You shouldn't have to do that yourself. There are tools for that. And my favorite is CleanMyMac X. Junk files, hung processes, and malicious apps can slow down even the latest most powerful Macs. Maintaining your Apple machine, whether older new is essential for smooth macOS performance. CleanMyMac X is an all-in-one Mac maintenance tool that takes care of old junk, faulty apps, and malware, and an efficient, aesthetically pleasing and hassle-free way. Using the app's menu, you can monitor your Mac's health, CPU load, and more. With nearly 30 million downloads and over 15 years of expertise, this app is a must-try for any Mac user. I think I downloaded this thing as soon as they announced it back in the day, and I've been using it every since. You can run CleanMyMac X to gear up your Mac for the update to Sonoma. As Apple continues to pack the Macs with innovative features, CleanMyMac X ensures that your hardware remains healthy and running at peak performance, so you can enjoy the seamless MacOS experience. I've been using this app for as long as I've known about it, and I used to run scripts and do all this stuff myself, but it was a pain in the neck and I was never sure if I was really getting everything. CleanMyMac X does that for you. They've solved the problem. Install the app, push the button, let it do the work for you, get back to your most important work. One of my favorite features is the malware improvements. They've really upped their game with detecting malware on CleanMyMac X, and in today's world, frankly, you need that. Now, all focus listeners will get 5% off. Check out the link in the show notes now or go to macpaw.app.focust. That's macpaw.app.focust or click the link in the show notes, and our thanks to CleanMyMac X for their support of the Focus Podcast and all of RelayFM.
Speaker 1
All right, so in the previous segment, we were talking about the different apps as it pertains to toxic productivity, and that leads into a concept that I have been anxious to talk to You about. That is the PKM stack, and I don't know. Maybe there's someone else who came up with this concept before I did, but just my thought process as I was thinking about this was when you've got a web application, you've got a technology Stack, which is a whole bunch of different things that have to communicate together in order for the software to be delivered. And I started thinking about how that actually applies to our personal knowledge management systems, and we've got all this information that's bouncing around, and what are we doing With it? How is it connecting and moving between the different pieces of our PKM system in a way that allows us to actually make something out of it? You kind of mentioned there has to be an output. You didn't say those exact words, but I agree. There's got to be some sort of, even if you're not a creator, there's got to be some sort of creative act associated with all of this knowledge that we're trying to manage. And I like this idea of the stack with these different levels, because I feel like there's two different ways that information can come here. It can come the default way from the bottom up where it could come the intentional way from the top down. ([Time 0:48:56](https://share.snipd.com/snip/83ffe350-e129-405c-9307-cdbce3c9f8ef))
- Relying on External Solutions and Taking Personal Responsibility
Summary:
Looking outside oneself for solutions often masks the real issue: personal resistance and accountability.
Success in personal management doesn’t hinge on the tools used, but rather on one’s mindset and actions. It's crucial to identify personal intentions and to adopt a mindset focused on progress rather than perfection.
Consistently aligning actions with one’s vision and core values enhances decision-making, reduces overwhelm, and promotes effective use of time and talent.
Taking ownership of one’s circumstances—acknowledging that while not everything is within one’s control, positive change can still be pursued—is vital.
The journey toward a fulfilling life begins with personal initiative rather than dependency on external fixes or solutions.
Transcript:
Speaker 2
That's the thing, right? You said, well, this app will solve all my problems. It won't. The fact that you're looking for that solution outside yourself is the problem. And you can find it up and be happy with it. I've been using the same task manager for 15 years. I could have done it in probably some other task manager, but I'm not looking at the task manager as the source of the problem. I'm looking at the thing between my two years as the source of the problem, the resistance, the fact that some days it's on the list. I have a perfectly capable app of showing me the list and I don't do the list. Well, what is that problem? And it's not the app, guys. It's you.
Speaker 1
You are the problem, but also you are the solution. And that's why the quarterly thinking and figuring out your intentions and ultimately what I'm thinking even bigger about your life and the type of life that you want to live is so important. You're not going to hit it perfectly, but it doesn't matter. Progress, not perfection. You can move even a little bit more in alignment with that future that you're envisioning. That's a win. And you do that consistently enough. And you've made a positive impact in the world. And you can define for yourself what that positive impact is, but it's up to you to do the best you can with what you've got to work with. That kind of gets at my, I mentioned my life theme previously. And I revamped mine a little bit ago. And the way the one that I've landed on is essentially I'm a multiplier is how I condense it. I help people find their way, multiply their time and talent, leave a bigger dent in the universe. And once I've got that now, whenever I'm presented with an opportunity, is it in alignment with that? Is it in alignment with the core values that I've identified that we've got printed and hanging on our living room wall? If it's not, then it's a lot easier to say no to those things. And the more things that you say no to, the better you are at the things that you say yes to, the less overwhelm you feel, the more you feel like you're hitting the mark. I mean, you got to start somewhere, but the minute that you start moving in this direction, I feel like the compound effect kicks in. And the more that you move in alignment with your vision and values, the more momentum you gain and the more exciting life becomes. But you're never going to even start that journey if you're just waiting for somebody else to fix it for you. I hate the term take responsibility, but essentially that's what it is. And maybe ownership is a better way to say it, because there are things that happen to people that aren't their fault. And there's nothing you can do about it. But sitting there and wishing that it was different is not helpful either. And maybe you can't change everything, but change what you can. Figure out what you can control and try to move the needle in that area. ([Time 1:05:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2972282d-0647-4408-8106-27d4df23d308))