What if everything was a thing?

I’ve been working with note-taking tools for decades now, from paper to pocket digital, outlines to mind maps, and so many more. Recently I’ve been using an application that has been around for a few years now, but in my estimation isn’t getting near the exposure or credit it deserves.

What if every note you make, every record you keep, every annotation was its own object and could be managed independently?

It sounds simple enough, but once you go down the rabbit hole you find it’s a radical shift from traditional knowledge systems. So much so it requires a change in how we think about our information.

Let’s take something simple. I’m preparing for a trip and I need to put together a packing list.

Now for most systems, this is easy enough. You create a note, a page, or a database record, add check boxes, and enter all the things you need to pack. That’s great… if that is the only time you ever want to deal with that information.

What if it did more?

How about each item on that list being its own object so you know not only that you need it, but what it is, details about it, and all the times you referred to it?

Can’t find an item? Look up its object and find the last time you used it.

Put something in a “safe place” and now you can’t find it? Look up its object and check that note. Or even better, when making your list, connect the object to the list so you can find the item right away.

Need to replace an item on your list? Pull the object that tells you where you got it, what it cost, and has an image of the item so you can find it in the store.

We are so obsessed with process and procedures, workflows and methods, that we forget those are driven by objects that we interact with. If we manage the objects, we can manage their interactions.

Let’s take that object idea a step further. If we turn the packing list into an object itself, we can clone it for future trips, make changes to clones, and add the cloned object to the daily notes for the days we’re traveling.

The tool I’m using automatically creates backlinks between objects, so I can see on a day the objects connected to the day as well as from the object see what days I needed to work with it. Even better, when I create a new object, say I make a purchase at a store, it’s automatically backlinked to the day I created the record.

If you are challenged by ADHD the way I am, having a platform that makes the connections for you automatically, allows you to follow the threads of thinking smoothly, AND doesn’t try to force artificial structures on your mind is a big win. Whether it’s a screenshot of a receipt, a photo of an event flyer, a scan of a document, or a note from a conversation, the “thing” you captured now becomes an asset instead of a burden.

Oh…the tool? Capacities.

Let me know if you’d like me to share more about how to get the “objects” in your world under control.