Rishi's Homepage

Note Organization Strategy

Forte recommends the P.A.R.A. (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) approach, a set of four (yes!) folders to capture everything,

Note Taking App

Why Obsidian

While there are multiple options in Note Taking Apps - Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep, Roam, Obsidian meet my criterias:

Challenges with Obsidian

While Obsidian is meeting my use cases, it is not free from issues. Some of the challenges I’ve faced and how I’ve worked around it:

Folder Structure

Following the PARA Approach, my folder structure in Obsidian is


0 Inbox
  ├── Quick Notes
  ├── Unsorted Ideas
  ├── Meeting Notes
  └── Temporary Tasks

1 Projects
  ├── [Active Project Name 1]
  │     ├── Notes
  │     └── Meeting Summaries
  ├── [Active Project Name 2]
  │     ├── Research
  │     └── Deliverables
  └── [Active Project Name 3]
        ├── Objectives
        └── Timeline

2 Areas
  ├── LifeMap
  │     ├── Daily Journal
  │     │     ├── 2025
  │     │     │     ├── 01 (January)
  │     │     │     ├── 02 (February)
  │     │     │     └── … (Other months)
  │     ├── Weekly Planning
  │     │     └── 2025 (Year-based subfolders if needed)
  │     └── Annual Planning
  │           ├── 2024
  │           │     ├── Annual Review
  │           │     ├── Key Goals
  │           │     └── Milestones
  │           └── 2025
  │                 ├── Annual Review
  │                 ├── Key Goals
  │                 └── Milestones
  ├── Health
  │     ├── Fitness Goals
  │     └── Meal Planning
  ├── Career
  │     ├── Projects
  │     └── Development Goals
  ├── Relationships
  │     ├── Family
  │     └── Friends
  ├── Finance
  │     ├── Budget
  │     └── Investments
  └── Travel
        ├── Destinations
        └── Packing Lists

3 Resources
  ├── Notes
  │     ├── Books
  │     ├── Articles
  │     └── Tutorials
  ├── Templates
  │     ├── Journals
  │     └── Meeting Notes
  └── Ideas
        ├── Writing Prompts
        └── Side Projects

4 Archives
  ├── Completed Projects
  │     └── [Project Name]
  │           ├── Final Report
  │           └── Retrospective
  └── Old Resources
        └── Obsolete Documents

Templates

Few Templates I use

Daily Journal Template

### 🗓️ 2024-12-28 06:41 pm - Daily Journal

### 🌟 Morning Section

**Thoughts in my mind**
* 

**🌞 Gratitude**
1. I am grateful for...
2. I am grateful for...
3. I am grateful for...


🎯 **Intentions for Today**
- **Main Focus:** 
- Secondary Goals:
  - [ ] Task 1
  - [ ] Task 2
  - [ ] Task 3

🌈 Affirmation
- *Write an empowering affirmation for the day.*


📌 Midday Check-In
- How am I feeling right now?  
- Am I on track with my goals?  
- Adjustments needed for the rest of the day:

---

##+ 🌙 Evening Section

🎉 Wins & Highlights

- What went well today?
  - Highlight 1:
  - Highlight 2:

 🕵️‍♂️ Reflections

- How could I improve tomorrow?
- Did I stay true to my intentions?

Weekly Plan Template

## 🗓️  Weekly Plan (W52)
Date: 2024-12-28 Saturday (06:41 pm)

## STEP ONE : HOUSEKEEPING / CATCHING UP

**Cleaning up**

- [ ] Clean Wallet
- [ ] Clean Desk

**Get Current - Clean Digital Workspace**

- [ ] Review Calendar
  - Scan the calendar two weeks into the past to look for any items that need follow up actions.
  - Look ahead 2 weeks and see what needs to be planned for
  - If an action is discovered, add it to task manager

- [ ] Review Email
  - Scan email. Decide next action. Put in todo manager. Archive the email. 
  - If action is "reading the email", forward it to Omnivore (or whichever read-it-later app I am using)

- [ ] Review Desktop and Download folder. Goal is to clear it. If any action, put it on Todo

- [ ] Review Notes App
  - Open App and clear inbox. If any Project is done, move it to Archive
  - Add any action item to the task manager

- [ ] Prioritize Work in Todo App
  - [ ] Upcoming Task : Check if Credit card bill to be paid, schedule it.
  - [ ] Upcoming Task : Check if any birthday coming, add to reminder
  - [ ] Scan whatsapp and pending phone call. Schedule in Todo App



**Time: 5-10 min.**

## STEP TWO : CONNECT AND VISUALIZE THE BIG PICTURE

*“The future you see is the future you get.” – Robert G. Allen*

• Take a few minutes to connect to the deeper WHY behind what you are doing each day.
• Write down 3-5 things you appreciate about your current work.
• If there is something that is not in alignment, write down what you would like to see in the future. It's helpful to think about what you DO want versus what you DON'T, and do so with space for opportunities. i.e. I would like to work from home. I want to do something that allows me to be outdoors. Our current frame of reference sometimes only sees a limited amount of opportunities so don't let the 'what' or 'how' stop you. Simply state what you do want.
- Check Annual and Quarterly plan. 

**Time: 2-5 min.**

- [ ] Big Picture Visualization done

## STEP THREE : CELEBRATE LAST WEEK

*“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” ~ Oprah Winfrey*

Write down everything from the past week that you’re proud of. List at least 10 things, and many more if you want. Big or small, anything goes.

**Time: 5-10 min.**
**Good from last week:**

- [wellness]
- [learning]
- ...

## STEP FOUR: ANALYZE WHAT DIDN’T HAPPEN

*“In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” – Lewis Carroll*

• Be honest with yourself
• List the big things that didn’t happen

• Notice why and measure and adjust to see what you can improve for next time.

**Time: 2-5 min.**

**What didn’t Happen: **

* 

## STEP FIVE : CLARIFY AND COMMIT TO YOUR BIGGEST OUTCOMES

*“Focus is the key to the world.” ~ William Dinsmore III*

• Decide on a minimum of 3, maximum of 6-7 outcomes you want to accomplish related to the various areas in your life.
* You want to end each week feeling successful rather than a failure, so pick only a few things that you know you can and will get done… wait for it… that will actually move the needle forward on your area of focus.*
• This could be creating a personal budget, cooking a healthy meal or having a great meeting with a mentor. You get to decide. Just be sure they get you closer to your yearly goals. That’s the key. So “checking Facebook” would not count.
• Keep in mind that the majority of your time should be spent on activities that are in line with your values and that you feel inspired by! If you are enjoying it, and it gets you closer to your goals, it’s a win-win!

**Time: 5-10 min.**

**Top Outcomes:**

- [wellness]

## STEP SIX : SCHEDULE EVERYTHING

*“If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.”  ? Anthony Robbins*

Every task takes time and therefore needs a place on your calendar.

• Look at your 6-7 weekly outcomes and decide what core tasks will need to happen to accomplish these.
• Now spread these out throughout the week.
*Most people can’t accomplish more than 1-3 meaningful things in a day, so that’s your limit.** *

• Pick 1-3 “most important tasks” (MIT’s) related to your outcomes, and schedule them throughout the week:

**Time: 5-15 min.**



## Note to Self : IMPORTANT THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

1.    **Everything takes longer than we think.**  If you think it’s going   to take an hour to write an article, then schedule an hour and a half. Your worst case scenario is ending up having free time.
2.    **Leave windows of “buffer time”.**  Do not fill in every second of every day. Unexpected things will always come up. Don’t let them snowplough your week. Give yourself time to take care of last-minute stuff that matters, and to be spontaneous with things.
3.    **Know you won’t get it all done.**  Even with great planning, it seems like we tend to be over ambitious. Be okay with leaving something for next week. It gives you something to look forward to anyway.
4.    **Schedule the most important things early in the day and early in the week. **Given the above, front-weight your most important tasks so that no matter what comes up, at least a few of them will get done.

![](_resources/4420542f06fedc6d53f92ee5387dbbed.jpg)





### Updates to Weekly Plan template

* Dec-2024 : Added in section 1 https://twitter.com/dltnio/status/1290026877487181824 / https://fortelabs.com/blog/the-one-touch-guide-to-doing-a-weekly-review/

Book Review Template

---
layout: post
title: "Book Review: [Book Title]"
date: <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>
categories: [Book Reviews]
tags: [Books, Reviews, Genre] # Replace 'Genre' with appropriate tags like Fiction, Non-Fiction, etc.

---

# Book Review: *[Book Title]*

<div style="display: flex; align-items: flex-start; gap: 20px;">
  <div style="flex: 0 0 auto; width: 100px; height: auto;">
    <img src="path-to-book-cover.jpg" alt="[Book Title] Cover" style="width: 100px; height: auto; border: 1px solid #ddd; box-shadow: 2px 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);">
  </div>
  <div style="flex: 1;">
    <ul>
      <li><strong>Date Read:</strong> <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %> </li>
      <li><strong>Rating:</strong> 7/10</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

## Summary
*[Provide a brief summary of the book without spoilers. Mention the central theme or plot points to give readers a sense of what the book is about.]*

## My Notes
- *[Highlight the main themes, messages, or lessons you took away from the book.]*

## Favorite Quotes
> "[Insert a favorite quote from the book here.]"
> "[Insert another quote if applicable.]"

## Links
- [Purchase the Book](link-to-buy)
- [Author's Website](link-to-author-website)

Pending Templates

This site is open source. Improve this page.