PKM Toolkit: Using Readwise to Spark Creativity
Personal Knowledge Management, or PKM, feels like it has hit its stride in the digital world. Task management, mind mapping, project management, and knowledge management apps like Roam, Obsidian, and Craft offer various options for collecting, organizing, and managing our data. These tools aren’t just popular with users; investors are taking notice too.
What is PKM?
Great question. The productivity nerds reading this probably already know, but for those new to the idea, Wikipedia does a great job of summing it up:
Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a process of collecting information that a person uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve and share knowledge in their daily activities (Grundspenkis 2007) and the way in which these processes support work activities (Wright 2005). It is a response to the idea that knowledge workers need to be responsible for their own growth and learning (Smedley 2009). It is a bottom-up approach to knowledge management (KM) (Pollard 2008).
Mike Schmitz from The Focused Podcast wrote an excellent primer on PKM over at The Sweet Setup that goes deeper into the concept. I encoruage you to read it.
My PKM journey has changed a lot in the last six months. After a shift in my professional trajectory, I’ve become more engaged and focused on being creative and developing new ideas here. I’m working on some other projects as well, so with several irons in the fire and the responsibilities of a stay-at-home Dad (my biggest promotion to date!), I saw an opportunity to assess and, in some cases, add or change the tools I use to find, catalog, review, and act upon my information.
With this closer look, I’m starting a new 24 Letters series called PKM Toolkit, where I’ll share my results, the apps, workflows, tools, systems, and ideas that I use to get organized, keep focused, and create.
First up in this series is Readwise.
What is Readwise?
Readwise is an app that helps me manage and organize highlights from ebooks, articles, and email newsletters.
I’ve always enjoyed highlighting or writing marginalia in my books. Sometimes, I even keep a notecard in books to add notes or reference certain pages for future review. When I found out about Readwise, I was excited to try it out because it sounded like the digital version of what I’ve been doing for years.
A few weeks into the 30-day free trial, I subscribed, and It has become an essential part of the workflow that I use daily.
How I Use it
My favorite part of Readwise is the highlights emailed to me every morning at 7 am. It’s a great way to start the day because It can help set the tone and spark inspiration and creativity.
The email also encourages taking a deeper look at each quote and provides options to process it further and decide if I want to favorite it, share it, tag it, or even discard it. The same opportunities for review are available on the Readwise app and site via the Highlights Feed. There is also an option to browse the entire library on the site that I use regularly.
Readers of 24 Letters will note the weekly quote that I share. I always pull them from my highlight feed. Kindle is set up to sync into Readwise, and the bulk of my highlights are from books that I have read on that platform, although some are from newsletters and websites.
I can export my data in various formats and styles, including CSV, Markdown, and the graphical format I frequently use here, perfect for the web or Instagram. The data remains accessible, and that’s important to me.
There are several syncing options, currently in beta, for many of the aforementioned knowledge management apps like Notion and Roam. My preferred app, Craft, is not included at this time. I’m hopeful that Craft X will help build a bridge.
There is a robust search feature where I can use author names, titles, keywords, or tags to find what I need. Search can be narrowed to specific books or the entire collection. I use tags to track what’s been shared here before. I want to explore creating tagged collections based on the content or theme for personal and shared use.
How it Fits in
Readwise is a vital tool in my workflow. It’s the beginning of many things. In addition to the weekly quote I publish, sometimes a highlight gets imported into Craft and becomes the inspiration for a new idea or helps feed an existing project. Other times, it gets moved to my commonplace book for further consideration. It also helps me remember and reflect on what I’ve read in the past and sparks creativity and curiosity. That’s why it’s a daily use app for me and why I recommend it to anyone looking for a tool of this kind.
The read-it-later app that Readwise has in development looks exciting too, and could prove useful for the gathering stages of the PKM process. I’ve requested early access via beta, and look forward to trying it out and sharing my thoughts when I can.
Are you a Readwise fan, or perhaps you have another productivity app that you think I should look at? Email me and let me know. Your feedback about this series and 24 Letters is welcome, too.