How to manage knowledge

Learning is not simply reading and browsing, but rather a process of accumulation, a process of enriching your own knowledge system and indexing through continuous learning. Then share my experience with you.

High-quality information sources and efficient learning

No doubt, Google is a good tool, we can find better resources, but only if you must know the keyword to search, no keyword, do not know what to look for. In general, people are not likely to know what they do not know (Unknown Unknown), in other words, do not know what keyword to query, and therefore do not know what to learn. All models based on Google search are based on a "pull" model, and the approach based on the pull model is unlikely to allow me to touch the information I don't know.

In order to get access to enough information, I need to create an information network and a channel of information to keep the information that might be of interest "pushed" in front of me. The push channel is based primarily on Twitter and Google reader. By subscribing to interesting content sources, I can keep abreast of the hot discussions, research, tools, and books that are happening in the industry in order to adjust the learning direction in time.

At the same time, the resources I subscribe to also play a role in filtering valuable information. The information that I have pushed over from the experts I admire and trust, or the keywords that have been mentioned many times, are valuable to me. Mind mapping is a very effective tool for fast learning. When I read or learn valuable knowledge, I often make a mental map of what I have learned. So I can have a summary and abstract understanding of what I have learned, while at the same time I can dive into the details at any time. Mind Map desktop application tools, I often use xmind. Xmind can easily support mind map, Fishbone map, organizational structure, tree map and many other forms, while it provides some initial templates, including brainstorming, meeting, project management, reading notes, flowcharts, and so on. Online Mind Mapping tool, I use Minemeister. It can make changes to the notification, even play the whole process of modification, and support many individuals at the same time brainstorming. I often use this tool in brainstorming conference calls.

Easy Note management

Learning is a process that builds a personal knowledge base and keeps indexing. Every time I come in contact with valuable knowledge, I will take notes. Good note-taking applications meet the following requirements:

Record multiple forms of content, including text, images, etc.

Convenient label feature so I can easily locate specific topic content.

Supports free text retrieval, which is an effective complement to the label function. Like Google, through a number of keywords, to retrieve the knowledge base.

Sync and Backup, easy to sync between different computers and devices.

Originally I used Microsoft OneNote to take notes. Earlier versions of OneNote were able to record multiple forms of content, and could be easily queried with keywords. Its paging function functions as a label, but a note can only be placed under one label, unless multiple copies are duplicated, and in most cases a note needs to be placed below a few tabs. Since Microsoft's application is client-focused and all notes are on the client side, I need to back up these files myself. Each time you reinstall the machine, you need to manually copy the files yourself. Later I chose the Evernote to meet all my requirements for the Note management tool.

First, Evernote is a client-server architecture that can be used by a variety of clients to record notes, while notes are automatically synchronized to the server. In this case, every time you change the machine or update the system, all I have to do is install

Evernote client Log on, you can automatically download and sync all your notes. Evernote has done "write-archive", which automatically synchronizes the latest content to every device so I don't have to worry about losing my notes anymore. I am more disgusted with many applications of the "save" function, for a real customer-designed system, it does not require customers to consider whether to "save" this trivial, every time the customer input, should be automatically saved in the computer, and the customer does not need to care about where to store, As long as you want to find a convenient way to find it.

Evernote's tag and free text Search is also very powerful, its free text retrieval can even recognize the characters in the picture in Evernote notes, if the text in the picture conforms to the search requirements, it will also help me find out.

In addition, Everno TE supports a variety of devices including PCs, Apple computers, mobile phones, ipads and more. Of course, as a conscientious, must always record the knowledge learned, carry must bring pen and paper.

Backup and versioning of Knowledge base

My personal knowledge Base includes not only daily notes but also a wide variety of documents, such as papers, PPT, videos, training and consulting materials, personal data, etc. My requirements for the data base are as follows:

Version control, I need to always make changes to the latest version of the document, but I don't want to use the time as the filename.

Keep history and want to see the history of each document.

Do not use too much disk space.

Data synchronization.

The tool I used initially was s U B v e R S i o N and tortoisesvn,subversion is the server, TORTOISESVN is the client. Each time the file is updated, in the appropriate directory or file with the right mouse click, select the Update, TORTOISESVN will submit the changes to the Subversion server. Using TORTOISESVN makes it easy to query the entire history of submissions. Unlike Evernote, manual submissions are required each time. In contrast to the automatic updating of notes in Evernote, I would prefer to update the data manually so that you can use the comments that you filled out when submitting the document to record the history of the changes.

But there are also problems with subversion based solutions, because Subversion is a server-based-client-side architecture solution, each commit must be connected to a Subversion server, which is often installed on another machine, so if you're on a business trip, There is no way to submit updates. Git is a completely different version management tool than Subversion. As a distributed version management tool, its servers are always native, so I can submit updates to the document at any time. Git's database is dozens of times times smaller than a subversion database. You need to install Msysgit on the Windows platform to install git and install git directly on the Mac platform

You can. Another important reason is that I want to learn about this new tool by using GIT and how the distributed version management system works. The solution based on git brings me a new problem--my data database and my data are stored on the same machine, which can cause irreparable damage if the machine crashes or is lost. So you need to sync the database somewhere else.

I'm using the Mac's own time Machine, which is backed up anytime. Dropbox is also a good backup solution to sync the data online, but not for me, because my personal database is far beyond the size of the space provided by the Dropbox free account. And Dropbox is an automatic update, which makes it difficult for me to use the annotations that are filled out when manually submitted to record the history of document updates.

Improve the efficiency of work and study

I am very disgusted with inefficient work and learning, so in my common toolbox has a lot of tools to improve the efficiency of the computer, including: Time management, retrieval, shortcuts, stickers and so on.

1. Time Management

For time management, the basic requirement is to be able to focus on the most important things. So I need a to-do list tool and a tool to help secure the time box. I use the Tomato Work Act to manage my work and study time. The specific approach is to divide the time into 25-minute time boxes (tomatoes), eliminating distractions in each time box and focusing on doing the most important thing. I use Pomodario as a Time box tool (as you can see from the figure below, I've spent 10 25 minutes on this place). The To-do list tool I used is remember Themilk (RTM). It is an online application, also can be off-line, has the rich label function, may synchronize with the calendar program. In the ointment is not support task nesting, I temporarily through the label to make a distinction. Each time you start a tomato session, you will choose the most important task from RTM, and then do it in the next few hours, undisturbed.

2. Search

Most computer-installed operating systems are based on graphical interfaces, and in order to find documents, it is often necessary to open the Resource Manager (the Finder on the Mac), and the resource manager will then expand the stored resources in a tree-shaped form. In order to find resources, you need to constantly expand/zoom the tree node to find the file. This is a very inefficient approach, and it often takes half a minute to find a file. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a tool to quickly locate and start a file or program from a computer, simply enter the keyword,

You can list the related resources from your computer. On Windows systems, I use modifiable and Google Desktop. Modifiable will be all the files in the system index, input keywords can be the name of the file to match the keyword, modifiable also support based on regular expression and wildcard search, resource consumption is very small, fast. Google Desktop can also locate files by keyword retrieval, and more than modifiable, it matches not only the file name, but also the contents of the file. The problem is that Google Desktop is too much, too heavy for me, so I'm mainly modifiable, Google Desktop for

Auxiliary。 The MAC system has its own spotlight, which implements the same function. Just press COMMAND + space to start the spotlight input keyword directly.

3. Shortcut keys

Using a keyboard is much more efficient than using a mouse, and for commonly used operations or commands, I write scripts that define shortcuts. On the Windows system, I'm using AutoHotkey. After starting the machine, I need to start git, then go to the GitHub to pull up the latest code, run the script locally to compile and test, and then open Visual Studio for the project. by scripting and defining commands, I just need to press a few keys to complete the operation.

4. Enhanced Adhesive Board

One feature is not difficult to implement, but it is practical, unfortunately it is forgotten by Windows and Mac systems. These two operating system stickers can only store one thing (text, images, etc.). If you click CTRL + C (Mac is COMMAND + C), the system will put the selected things on the sticky board, replace the original things. I need a tool to hold more than one sticker on it so that it becomes a temporary storage area that can easily be placed in the area and copied to other places at any time. I'm using CL IpX on the Windows system and I'm using Clipmenu on Ma c.

These tools can greatly guarantee my study and work efficiency, ensure that all the time before the computer to do meaningful things. These tools are part of the routine, my toolbox is constantly tuned, and I'm constantly trying to compare new tools. Readers can build their own toolbox based on these. Here you also want to share the principles of the selection tool:

First of all, there is no tool chosen for the tool selection, and the tool you choose will solve a problem, which is why you share the tools while sharing the causes of the problems they solve, and secondly, by choosing tools that can develop your abilities, such as Git,autohotkey, etc. Keep trying and comparing tools.

Author profile: Tengzhenyu (Daniel) is currently the only certified Scrum Trainer (Certified scrum coach) in China. Scrum Federation certified Scrum coach and certified Scrum Professional Review Board members, agile Global Travel Board members.