Old vs. new IDs

I got myself a snazzy new keyboard this week. They were on sale and my previous, the Microsoft Ergo Sculpt, feels like it's starting to fail.

A photo of the keyboard. Its key feature is that it's a split layout with each side's keys angled outwards; designed for touch-typists. — Figure 22.00.0077A. Keychron K15 Pro (Alice layout). Photo courtesy Keychron; not my desk (but nice pencil).

It comes with a manual which I'd like to save, and while I'm at it I thought I'd download the manual for Lucy's keyboard as well.

There's a place for that

Life admin already has a place! I even remember discussing it with Lucy.

10-19 Life admin
 14 My online life
    14.15 My accessories

And so I make a new note in my JDex and that's it, job done.

Screenshot of Bear showing my note telling myself that the manuals are in my file system. — Figure 0077B. JDex entry 14.15 in Bear.

How I did this previously

I'm really enjoying this shift to a less-granular ID. Designing 'life admin' in to a single area forced us to do it, and I'm thankful for it.

In my previous system this would have been:

10-19 Personal, daily life
 14 Technology
    14.64 Keychron keyboard manuals & receipt

(It just happens that my previous 14 was also technology.)

That is a much more specific ID, but more importantly it would have required me to create it first. This tiny, tiny friction is enough to stop you doing a thing.

Whereas this morning, when I thought to save these manuals, there was no friction. Great idea, I thought. I already know where they go.

Why is the receipt in Bear?

In recording a little YouTube series for Bear (keep an eye on the channel), I wondered to myself why I don't use its feature whereby it lets you attach pretty much anything to a note.

This is probably useful, I thought. So I put my keyboard's receipt in there. I wondered whether it was Spotlight-searchable, which it is; the file is just in a folder buried in your iCloud drive.

In this particular case I think I'll move it back to my main file system folder. Because there's no situation I can envisage where I'll be on the move and need this file on my iPhone.

Contrast with, say, tickets to an art gallery. I think there's a case to be made there that having those available in the Bear note 15.34 The arts is going to be way easier when you get to the gallery.

Both locations are available from my iPhone: they're just files in iCloud. But finding a file in Bear is a nicer experience than doing it in the Files app. (Because what isn't?)