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I joined a cult with my eyes wide open. They said they were a cult. I knew they were a cult - and yet I joined. Why - and why do I stay? Join me as I take the plunge - my first tweetstorm. Thread follows #roamcult
Feb 2020 - I've spent more time since the year began on 'improving my productivity' than on actually being productive
I decide 'enough is enough'. Two pieces in particular resonate in getting me to refocus on my 'why'
1) Ten Principles for Personal Productivity by @JohnPiper - specifically this quote “Give 10% of your focus in life to avoiding obstacles to productivity and 90% of your focus to fastening on to great goals and pursuing them with all your might.” https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/ten-principles-for-personal-productivity
2) 'The most effective readers and thinkers I know don’t take notes when reading' by @andy_matuschak https://notes.andymatuschak.org/%E2%80%9CBetter_note-taking%E2%80%9D_misses_the_point%3B_what_matters_is_%E2%80%9Cbetter_thinking%E2%80%9D?stackedNotes=z6GNVv6RyFDewy11ZgXzce8agWxSLwJ6Ub5Rw
I 'simplify' my goals 1) Create holistic integrated external brain 2) Cultivate joined up thinking. Credit for momentum to this article. One highlight - "In what context will I want to see this again?" to decide what to keep and how to store it @fortelabs https://fortelabs.co/blog/how-to-take-smart-notes/
v1: I try to implement Zettelkasten - from first principles. Oh boy. Levels, germination of new notes, R-levels (don't ask, i seriously over complicated things) ... yah, doesn't go so well. I've come across @RoamResearch, but my exact words are 'waiting for ROAM to mature'
Then I come across 'Roam: Why I Love It and How I Use It' by @nateliason. Let me tell you, that there is a masterclass on how to make a compelling case for something - passion, experience, credibility, communication and above all authenticity https://www.nateliason.com/blog/roam
I decide to go all in. Am I worried? Sure; I ask my self 'How important is it for my system to be platform agnostic? What happens when i try to leave?'? Side note, very important questions to ask if you are considering joining a cult. #roamcult
And you know what? For the first time, I really feel like I have an external nerve center that properly brings all the various parts of my life together, with the potential to connect and intermix and weave them together easily just a double bracket (square or parentheses) away
Now If all i really wanted was an amazing tool for networked thought, honestly I might be switching over to @rem_note or @obsdmd right about now (and @logseq is coming up fast to provide Roam-ish goodness but opensource)
@rem_note very similar to Roam, has a comprehensive free tier, and any missing features basically an extension away; @obsdmd has amazingly talented developers, an engaged community, the promise of inbuilt privacy and portability, and their speed of development is second to none
So why still #roamcult, and more, an out and out believer? It's certainly not cheap - $500 meant a proper budget review. I've had second thoughts multiple times - should i have stayed on the free beta? Was i too rash in committing? Am I a living example of the sunk cost fallacy?
But then I consider all that has happened since I committed to Roam and began following @Conaw on Twitter, and I like who I am becoming and how I am expanding since i started using it
I've discovered folks like @MamanLunettes from whom i'm going to crib so many lessons on inquisitive and engaged child-rearing; @Mappletons who is my doyen for Digital Gardens (doesn't matter that she says she's still figuring it out, do yourself a favor and go visit)
@RobertHaisfield, @calhistorian, @anthilemoon, @AliAbdaal and so many others i'll remember when they surface in my Roam graph when the time is right
I've made connections with Roamers old and new, so many interesting folks trying to live impactful and intentional lives in public - @kwharrison13, @brandontoner, @Lord_Reynadine to name a few
I'm reading folks that are providing so much food for thought - @andy_matuschak, @vgr, @m_ashcroft, and the list goes on (you too @Conaw)
And I'm realizing a long held desire to transition from primarily consuming to creating - e.g. a one hour 1-1 session with a new friend from roam office hours to show him my DB and help him make the 'aha' leap on what Roam could do for him (baby steps)
Could I participate in this community without being a member of the #roamcult? yes, but there is a different quality to participation as an outsider vs participation as an insider. Maybe one day i'll experience what that dynamic looks like ...
Here's the thing - I'm excited about what Roam is trying to do. "... If we can build a tool for helping people write and organize their ideas more effectively, we can help them have better thoughts and solve otherwise intractable problems" @RoamResearch
Just as engaging, I love seeing an explicit commitment and alignment of action to these goals and i'm fascinated to be part of this exploratory journey as @Conaw put it here when talking about the Roam Roadmap https://twitter.com/Conaw/status/1292235154988003328?s=20
@RoamResearch is first and foremost an experiment to answer fundamental questions about using tools to augment human thought, that happens to be a phenomenal way to capture, track and build notes. I think excitement about this is the main reason to sign up for the long haul.
But sometimes, all i really want is just a note taking tool - and that's ok too. We lose some important nuance when we generalize 'this is the way our minds work'. For some, the Structured Chaos that Roam presents as default is not the best way to augments their way of working
Maybe Roam's ambitions one day no longer excite me, or the scope far outweighs my needs, or even that they fail to meet their lofty ambitions. But you know what? That's for future me to decide. Present me loves the pregnant pause - the expectation of what could come next
Why write this? To reconcile for myself some of the dynamics around competing platforms and ideas I encounter, and resolve how I choose to participate. Tribalism matters and can be harmful (exhibit A - 2020). But mindful tribalism can be a force multiplier for positive impact
Being opinionated is likely a good thing for some solutions as a filter early on to get travelers who are most impactful / helpful during the early bumpy rides. Interesting commentary on opinionated software by @SFelixxx here that seeded this for me https://uxdesign.cc/the-era-of-opinionated-productivity-software-superhuman-roam-whats-next-3d454e28312f
Are there things that I wish Roam did better? Honestly, i'm a little iffy about development pace for quality of life improvements (although in the last week or so since i first noted this, the @RoamResearch team seems determined to make me eat my words)
When the API comes, i'm sure that the #roamcult's ability to solve those will grow exponentially, but I must admit there is a little sense of drag over development over the past couple of months.
Also, the mobile experience (iOS) is basically unusable for me, even with the PWA - for any real engagement with my graph, I must go onto my computer
And yet, even as is, Roam serves my current needs and desires especially well on desktop; the opportunity cost of switching is only getting higher as the value i get from using Roam more compounds (v2 of Effortless Output with Roam about to kick up it a notch @nateliason)
Where's this journey going to end? Who knows. I've told myself that i'm not going to be tied down to a tool; if 6 months from now, or a year, or 5 years, Roam's path and mine diverge, the value i've gotten in this period is already worth what i've put in and more
So yes - cults are dangerous. But sometimes, choosing to enter one can be one of the best decisions you'll ever make. #roamcult
Just be clear on why you joined, check in on the world outside once in a while, and be mindful about exactly why you continue to participate - and don't forget to map out your exit strategy 
Thanks for reading 
Thanks for reading
