Introduction

This is my attempt at creating my very own digital garden. I hope this also helps me structure my thinking and allows me to extract newer insights.

Why do I need a digital garden

I am an information hoarder. Just like people like to hoard stationery or perhaps notebooks or even books (and I have been guilty of it too), I like to hoard information from the web. This means that I end up clicking on any link, tweet, video, documentary, or book that piques my curiosity in the slightest.

For the longest time, I prided myself on being able to find the most interesting (at least to me) content on the web. Through my rather aimless clicking, I am now subscribed to multiple podcasts, newsletters, and twitter users. However as my cognitive load has grown, so has the need to put some structure on this directionless digital wandering. This website is an attempt to provide this structure.

While many people suggested that I create a personal wiki, I found the idea too structured. Of course, the wiki-like structure is great for information which has been fleshed out into its final form and the links between the various pieces of information have been detailed. Unfortunately, this isn't for me.

After giving it substantial thought, I realized that what I needed most was discipline. Discipline not just to curtail mindless consumption, but also encourage thinking. This is when I stumbled upon the idea of a digital garden. The image of a digital garden really appealed to me and as I came to understand the concept better, I was convinced that this was indeed the path for me.

There are indeed many ways of curating such a digital garden. Or said differently, growing it. Even though many possible paths exist towards creating your own garden, I decided to stick to a simple file/folder structure. The objective is to start the process rather than pre-emptively optimizing for the best possible system from the get-go.