Finding the Right Setup for Peak Productivity, Obsidian Plugins You Should Check Out, and More

March 22, 2024

Here are the things we published this week and last. You can also stay up-to-date by following us on Twitter and RSS.

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A Roundup of the Best Obsidian Plugin in 2024 »

One of the things that makes Obsidian unique is the ability to extend its capabilities with third-party plugins. In this post, we share a bunch of our favorite Obsidian plugins to help you take your personal knowledge management game to the next level.

At one point, it was possible to try each and every new Obsidian plugin that was released. But with 1,566 plugins available in the Community Plugins directory and counting, it’s hard to know where to begin.

So we’ve broken down our recommendations into 3 categories:

Essential plugins for those just coming to Obsidian that want to build a solid foundation for their PKM workflows
Productivity plugins for those who want to take their PKM productivity to the next level
Quality of Life plugins for those looking to add a touch of delight and joy to their Obsidian experience

All of these plugins are available to install directly from the Community Plugin directory. For all plugins, I’ve used Obsidian links so clicking on a plugin link will open the directory listing directly in Obsidian on your device. Just remember you have to 1) install the plugin, then 2) enable it before you can start using it in your own Obsidian vault.

Knowing How You Work Best is a Cheat Code for Better Productivity »

Throughout the years and after countless experiments, I’ve discovered how I work best. This best version doesn’t involve the sexiest setup. It doesn’t involve the nicest mechanical keyboard or the most expensive camera. This version of “work best” is defined more as “more productive” than “more creative” — I’ve discovered “Creative Josh” and “Productive Josh” are two different people, complete with their own needs. In my world, these two people are separated between my work here at The Sweet Setup and my work at the office.

Finding the Right Habits »

We’ve been talking a lot about habits in the past few months.

Habits help us build the future we want for ourselves and accomplish our goals.

“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures”
— F.M. Alexander

In the name of habits, we decided to pull an interview from our Simple Habits course (it’s half off right now btw). We love this article with Justin DiRose because he shares about how habits are helpful when real life happens and the importance of startup/shutdown routines.

Let’s Build Your Habit Tracker Together »

Toward the end of last year, I started a new early morning habit of writing every day.

I used a few “habit building” tricks I’ve learned over the years. And, as a result, I was able to go from a blank page to a strong outline and nearly 40,000 words written.

All in about 6 weeks.

Habits and routines are the underrated superheroes when it comes to accomplishing a goal or hitting a desired outcome of your life.

Choosing the right habit will legitimately change your life. Choosing the wrong habit can be detrimental to your goals.

One of the “habit building tricks” I use is to have a way to track my habits and progress.

When you do this right, you might even find yourself being pulled toward your goals (instead of fighting an uphill battle).

For myself, as I was writing every day, I found myself waking up earlier and earlier. The momentum of my early morning writing routine began to carry me and keep me going.

5 Ways to Show Up Everyday (March Focus Digest) »

Welcome to March!

Our monthly Focus Digest is for folks who want to create a more ideal schedule, get organized, and stay in control of the things that matter.

If you are new to the digest… here’s what to look forward to at the beginning of the month:

A short article on a single concept around focus
A couple quotes that we’ve enjoyed thinking on
Links to interesting or related articles from our corner of the internet
Upcoming events and resource spotlights for our Focus Club members

If this sparks any ideas I’d love to hear from you!

A Few Months with Notion Calendar »

Calendars are in a weird metamorphosis period right now. How we use calendars is changing, this is clear. But where calendars are going is hard to pinpoint — we’ve seen calendar apps with to-do lists, AI integrations, and even full-on email applications built in. I’m not sure I can stand here and define what the winning calendar combination will be.

I do think the modern calendar has to morph though — a standard manual calendar that doesn’t have video conferencing, scheduling, or some sort of productivity feature set is not taking advantage of what modern technology has created.

Notion’s new calendar app is the company’s efforts at morphing a calendar with its increasingly-popular database software. Fervent Cron users will argue Notion Calendar is Cron and nothing more. But Notion Calendar indeed includes some new Notion integrations that Cron never had and brings the cohesion between the apps to a whole new level.

I’ve been using Notion Calendar exclusively from the day it was announced, and I’ve become enamored with it. There are elements in Notion Calendar that have unlocked a new level of productivity for myself and our office, such as lightning-fast scheduling and instant Google Meet calls, or the ability to view a database right in the calendar alongside your events.

Notion Calendar isn’t the leader in any particularly calendaring category, but it’s an impressive first foray for the database app.

Here are three major reasons for why our office is all-in on Notion Calendar right now.

We Updated Our Review of the Best Habit Tracking App for iOS »

The best habit tracking app for iOS (or any platform, for that matter) is Streaks. It offers everything you need to create good habits or break bad ones, features a great design that is very customizable, has some useful widgets, integrates directly with the Apple Health app for automatic tracking, and offers great support for Shortcuts. At only $4.99 on the iOS App Store, it’s also a bargain.

Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »

Design Your Ideal Weekly Schedule

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♥️ Quick Note: You’ll get access to the workshop, plus a few additional bonuses to help you overcome procrastination and deal with distractions so you can spend more time on the important work that matters.