Lex.Page is google docs on steroids. Will it make note-taking defunct? Read more.

Lex uses GPT3 to generate texts when you hit the “command + enter” or the plus sign (+) three times in a row at the end of a sentence.

Every concept you want to know is available at the click of a button and gets inserted into your document. Not only that it writes text like a human which seems subjective without sounding opinionated.

It uses the last sentence before you hit the AI prompt and the content of the entire document before the sentence to generate text.

The text is good to use and helped me overcome writer’s block.

It has an AI Title generator.

If you don’t resonate with the title of your article, the AI assistant will suggest alternative titles, which is super cool.

A ChatGPT3-like assistant

It also has a command to ask questions, just like ChatGPT3 built inside the document.

Sharing and Collaboration

With Lex Page, you can also share the document without the hassle of complicated permission sharing like google docs. You can enable editing rights if you want to collaborate.

Who made LEX PAGE?

Every.to created Lex Page, which is a media publishing company.

Will this tool make note-taking absolute?

The purpose of note-taking was ultimately to develop your thinking, and thinking is writing in motion. AI-based writing assistants like @lexdotpage will reduce the amount of note-taking needed is what I feel now.

Finally, after gazillion years of waiting for the new hot PKM tool, someone shared an invite with me. I was elated, and tana didn't disappoint from the moment I logged in. 

It hardly feels like a beta app, as the UX is very polished.

What impressed me the most

Somewhere I read that Tana is like the third-generation outliner, the first being workflowly, followed by Roam research with wiki links and backlinks and tana now being an outliner with a database. 

The outlining feature

Immediately I realised this was one of the smoothest outliners I had come across. It felt great using it. 

The supertag feature

The supertag feature is a tag on steroids. Basically, you can create a set of fields associated with the tag. E.g. When you make a tag called a #person. You can customise the fields for that tag, like images, address, URL etc. 

Workspaces

You can have multiple workspaces, so there is no clarity. That is the only hierarchy in tana; all else will get populated below the workspace. 

Multiple Views

You can view your content as a list, table or card. However, it is missing the infamous graph view; I wonder why they didn't include the graph view. 

Automatic Programming of queries

If you want to search for something, the quick access command + K will bring up all the commands you need to execute your query.

Pricing

This page says that currently, tana is free to use as it is still in beta, and they would let all users know at least 45 days in advance (which is an excellent policy, I remember roam research pretty much pulled the plug in a week?).

The pricing is 10 USD per month or 100 USD per year, which feels competitive. If they implement PPP (purchasing power parity) pricing for developing countries like India, I would be rather pleased. 

A word about support

I got coherent answers to all my queries. I am happy with the solutions offered.

Best Resources to Learn Tana

The best place is the tana help centre. But I found the search missing there. 

A thread on @Ixnoteapp - A outlining and mind-mapping tool which actually works. I discovered this fabulous outlining and mind-mapping tool which actually works! Ok, no need to get offended, if you are a hardcore user of other outlining tools and mind-mapping apps.

So What works in ixnote?

All other outlining and mind-mapping tools have failed me when transitioning from mac to iOS. With ixnote, it seems they have built the iPad first and the same UI has beautifully been replicated on the mac.

The iPhone app is a bit different due to the limitations of space, but nevertheless, it works for me.

What kind of notes can you write?

ixnote has a small text window which is perfect to jot down very short ideas.

I use it to write my book notes, brainstorm project ideas and task, record insights about my relationships, write my daily expenses, jot down meeting notes. The founder of ixnote told me that someone was using it to learn a new language which seems like a great idea.

I think it is a refreshing take on outlining and mind-mapping.

Normally in outlining and mind mapping apps, you can infinitely nest your notes but the problem is when the notes become too huge you lose the picture of connections with other notes.

Coming to Import and Export

t supports CSV import and for export, it supports CSV, MD and Freemind .mm format.

You design your product thinking about a particular demographic in mind. So the marketing plan also keeps targeting the same demographic. Everything is fine as long as your ad spends are getting enough leads converted.

But the moment you start realising that your ad budgets are not giving you enough sales. It is when marketing and product development guys need to think with the Jobs to be done(JBTD) framework.

So what is a job to be done framework?

Well, the JBTD theory was born out of the disruption theory by Clayton Christenson (we are not getting into it here). JBTD theory says you need to understand deeply what job the customer is trying to solve when he hires (buys) your product. Blindly trying to copy the competitor is not a good solution. Christenson claims that understanding what job the customer hires your product to do is a more predicitable way to develop innovation.

Here you stop being product-centric (adding more impressive specs) and become customer-centric (solving real customer problems).

Jobs should be stable

Once you have identified what job your product does for the customer you should make sure the demand is stable so you get a good enough chance to attempt to solve the problem with a reasonable market size.

Remember - Jobs + people(you TAM) = market

Relation between JBTD and North Star

JBTD can be social and emotional. FOr eg., Your product meets an emotional or social need of your TAM (Total addressable Market). So all processes need to be aligned to meet this objective. This social and emotional need when translated to a metric becomes the "North star" of your company.

Additional Reading

I made this literature note after reading the following two articles which do a great job of explaining this framework with some real examples.

A 🧵on the wonderful Zettelkasten Note-taking app called "The Archive".

After so much of prancing around, I feel I have come to my resting place as far as a note-taking app is concerned. I am using a #zettelkasten note-taking app called "The Archive".

These are my first impressions as I am just 30 days into my generous 60-day trial. So let me know if I have missed out on any outstanding features.

One of the best features is how lightweight it feels. Obsidian and logseq have started feeling bloated as they have an open API and are more adopted by the mass markets. The various plugins are gimmicks which slow down the apps and make them clumsy as these apps are not native.

It is made in Germany and the two people who I know in the team are Sascha and Christian. While Sascha is social media shy, Christian is available at @ctietze

Twitter thread on Folgezettel - The numbering system for #Zettelkasten

I have often wondered what is the utility of the numbering system used by Niklas Luhmann for his Zettelkasten in the digital age and discovered a bit late how relevant it still is. Here is why

Most modern note-taking apps offer wiki links to connect to other notes and back-links which reflect on the destination notes.

So I have avoided using the #Folgezettel numbering system so far. Until I discovered two problems which are not solved by modern note-taking apps.

They are the following

The modern note-taking apps don't help you organise notes sequentially (There are some exceptions which I name below)

How do you know which note was created on what date and which notes were created after which note? what if you want to insert them in between the earlier set of notes?

This is where the #folgezettel aka german for the numbering system in Zettelkasten note-taking method comes to the rescue.

Most apps like #Obsidian, The Archive and @notenilk will allow you to manually change the numbering of these notes.

If your note-taking app doesn't support sequential numbering I am curious to know how do you solve this problem?

How does the Folgezettel numbering system work?

The time and the date stamp in my note-taking app give me an automatic chronological sequence of notes. I can add “a”, “b”, and “c” after the time stamp if I want to insert a note in between two notes. (Screenshot The Archive)

A thread 🧵 on - Why @BentoMethod 🍱 is another app you need in your todo app stack! I have got many great suggestions from @KeepProductive for apps and have been an avid follower on Twitter and YouTube. So it is great to see @FrancescoD_Alesrelease a todo app.

But I was wondering do I really need another app. Check my current to-do app stack which I use currently to complete my work.

So here are some reasons why you should go for @BentoMethod even though you are already overwhelmed by your current to-do apps.

Bento is more like a focus manager than a task manager. If you have trouble focussing you need the bento method.

Decide the previous day or early in the morning the "three things" you will accomplish. The bento box

can only accommodate three tasks.

The app will ask you to pick a workflow.

a) Eat the frog (L-M-S)

b) Climb the Summit (M-L-S) and

c) Slow Burn (S-M-L)

Where

L means Large Tasks (90mins)

M means Medium Size Tasks (45mins)

and

S is Small Tasks (15 mins).

Now that you have packed your bento box, you start the flow or start performing your task. The app which has exquisite Japanese art will play focused music which you can pause if needed.

The core idea behind the bento method is to match your energy levels to the challenges (tasks) of your work. So that your work is of the highest quality. The philosophy here as per @FrancescoD_Ales "Less is more"

A thread 🧵(or a rant) - Are Note-taking tools innovative enough? Right now the note-taking developers are not innovating but just trying to capture a pie of the market.

A lot is being said about note-taking tools, they are also referred to as tools for thoughts. But do they serve the purpose of making you a better thinker? I am not so sure.

Note-taking tools are cluttered with connections. They might help discover connections. But do they don't teach you how to think?

What frameworks or mental models to apply so you can validate or do you just keep staring at the notes you wrote a few years back and felt what a wasted effort.

A thread 🧵on an idea on how to become a better writer on the internet using the Agile framework.

This is an iteration of @ship30for30 idea.

Note - I am not part of the #ship30for30 cohort yet, but find their core philosophy much akin to Agile.

Agile depends on continuous feedback so your sunk cost is as low as possible and you don't create your product in isolation which no one wants to use.

You gather feedback and make incremental improvements and deliver what users really want.

Imagine writing a novel or an ebook/course for 6 months to a year only to discover that there is no market for it.

A freelance writer cannot withstand such huge sunk costs.

This is how @stephsmithio built a 6 figure sales on her book.

It is better to fail fast and fail small. This way the writer knows what his community's needs are.

What do users really want?

That is the toughest part. But if @writers use the #agile framework they can get real-time feedback if their writing is resonating with the readers.

Where do you get readers' feedback?

The number of threads on Twitter going viral is proof that Twitter is the best place for a writer to get readers' feedback in real-time. Twitter algorithms are always looking out for content to feed its information-hungry users.

There are other platforms like quora (which is a giant search engine and also Reddit). But I haven't explored them.

Your personal newsletter is another good feedback tool.

In case you an in short stories etc, you can try @wattpad

Are you a writer? I am curious to know if you use the same principle to validate your idea?

Bonus -