⚡ Personal Productivity

🧠 The Second Brain System

Tools: OneNote + Trello + OneDrive

How It Works:

1. Capture in OneNote: All notes, meeting minutes, ideas, and research go into OneNote notebooks organized by project/area
2. Extract Actions to Trello: When notes contain action items, create Trello cards and link back to the OneNote page
3. Store Files in OneDrive: Reference documents, PDFs, and attachments live in OneDrive; link to them from both OneNote and Trello
4. Weekly Review: Review OneNote notes, update Trello boards, archive completed projects

Why This Works: OneNote for free-form capture, Trello for visual task tracking, OneDrive as single source of truth for files. All sync across devices.

� The Connected Notes System

Tools: Obsidian + Todoist + Dropbox

How It Works:

1. Store vault in Dropbox: Obsidian vault lives in Dropbox folder for automatic sync
2. Daily notes as command center: Each day starts with a daily note linking to active projects and areas
3. Tasks in Todoist: Use Obsidian's Todoist plugin to display today's tasks right in your daily note
4. Link everything: Project notes link to research notes, meeting notes link to project notes, creating a web of knowledge
5. Periodic notes: Weekly/monthly notes for reviews and planning

Why This Works: Obsidian excels at connecting ideas, Todoist handles task management, Dropbox ensures everything syncs. Great for writers, researchers, and knowledge workers.

� The Collaborative Workspace

Tools: Notion + Slack + Google Drive

How It Works:

1. Notion as central hub: Project wikis, roadmaps, meeting notes, and team databases all in Notion
2. Slack for communication: Integrate Notion pages into Slack channels so updates appear automatically
3. Google Drive for deliverables: Final documents, presentations, and shared files in Drive; embed or link in Notion
4. Automations: When Notion task is completed → post to Slack. When new Drive file → add to Notion database
5. Single-click context: From any Slack conversation, jump to the relevant Notion page or Drive file

Why This Works: Notion organizes everything, Slack keeps team connected, Drive handles file collaboration. All tools integrate natively.

� The Visual Project Tracker

Tools: Trello + Microsoft Teams + OneDrive

How It Works:

1. Trello boards as project dashboards: Each project gets a board with lists for stages (Backlog, In Progress, Review, Done)
2. Teams channels per project: Conversations and meetings organized by project; pin relevant Trello board to channel
3. OneDrive for assets: All project files in OneDrive; attach links to Trello cards
4. Power-Ups: Add Calendar Power-Up to Trello for timeline view, sync with Teams calendar
5. Status updates: Use Teams bot to post daily Trello updates to team channel

Why This Works: Trello's visual kanban is intuitive, Teams keeps everything Microsoft-integrated, OneDrive ensures everyone has access to files.

✅ The GTD System

Tools: Todoist + Evernote + Google Calendar

How It Works:

1. Evernote as inbox: Capture everything—emails, web clips, photos, voice notes—into Evernote inbox
2. Process to Todoist: During daily review, create Todoist tasks from Evernote items; link back to note if needed
3. Calendar for time blocks: Schedule important tasks on Google Calendar; sync Todoist tasks with due dates to calendar
4. Projects in both: Reference material in Evernote notebooks, actionable tasks in Todoist projects
5. Weekly review: Clear Evernote inbox, review all Todoist projects, plan next week on calendar

Why This Works: Evernote captures everything with OCR and web clipper, Todoist excels at task organization, Calendar provides time-based view. Classic GTD workflow.

🎯 The Simple System

Tools: Microsoft To Do + OneNote + Outlook

How It Works:

1. Email to tasks: Flag emails in Outlook; they automatically appear in Microsoft To Do
2. OneNote for planning: Use OneNote pages for project planning and reference; link to them from To Do tasks
3. My Day feature: Each morning, pick tasks from lists and add to "My Day" for focused execution
4. Shared lists: Family/team lists in To Do for groceries, errands, shared responsibilities
5. Cross-app sync: Everything syncs automatically since they're all Microsoft ecosystem

Why This Works: If you're already in Microsoft ecosystem, this is frictionless. No learning curve, everything integrated out of the box.

✍️ The Writer's Workflow

Tools: Notion + Google Drive + Trello

How It Works:

1. Notion for research and outlines: Clip articles, take notes, organize research databases, create content outlines
2. Google Docs for drafting: Write drafts in Google Docs for comments, suggestions, and version history
3. Trello for editorial calendar: Cards for each piece of content, lists for stages (Ideas, Research, Drafting, Editing, Published)
4. Links between tools: Trello cards link to Notion research pages and Google Doc drafts
5. Status tracking: Move Trello cards through pipeline, track word counts and deadlines

Why This Works: Notion for organized research, Google Docs for collaborative writing, Trello for pipeline visibility. Separates research, drafting, and project management.

📚 Books on Workflow Design

• "Building a Second Brain" - Tiago Forte
• "Getting Things Done" - David Allen
• "How to Take Smart Notes" - Sönke Ahrens

🎥 YouTube Channels

• Thomas Frank - Notion workflows and productivity
• Keep Productive - Tool reviews and comparisons
• Linking Your Thinking - Obsidian and PKM systems