A system for productivity – So long as you get the GIS&T of it

In outlining the pathways towards critical spatial thinking, I distinguished between “tool making” and “tool using”. These differences are hierarchical in nature when framing them in the context of learning to become a GIScientist (i.e. a tool maker is demonstrating higher thinking capabilities than that of the tool user), but that relationship is reversed when we look at the actual amount of output produced (i.e. the tool user will make more in the same time span, because he is not concerned with the creation or maintenance of said tool). It’s also worth saying that these pros and cons are moot when you enter the armory and start working in a team, as a well paired team should always outproduce an individual. However, to be the most efficient producer I can, we should underlay both of those efforts with a strong foundation in the direction and method of travel we’re aiming at. Knowing what direction to go and how to get there is what I’ll define as “knowledge work” (a term I first stumbled on in Andys working notes). It’s not quite quite tech-evangelizing, which I think of moreso as applying different methods of travel to someone elses desired direction, but at this point I have to wonder how many abstract metaphors are too many metaphors?

So, to bring this back to something more tangible, regardless of your job title or direction of travel, whether you are an academic, a consultant, a practitioner, a knowledge worker, or a media star, it’s all about the content. To reduce the friction between head work and hand work, maintain reproducibility, and help limit the amount of time I spend retreading old paths and reinventing wheels, I’ll walk you through some of the key stops along my workflow.

Note

I don’t use computers the right way, and by that I mean I use counter-productive patterns to ensure computational reproducibility, and I keep a very strange mix of Quarto flavored notes linked through markdown using Zotero and Zettlr. Despite how little it seems to have produced and how terrible I am, I am rather fond of this form and the framing it provides the rest of my workflow/life. If you are only interested in using Zotero the “correct” way, or how to set up Docker, you need only download the apps and follow the instructions on their respective pages. Otherwise, I hope documenting my system makes for a more consistent me, and a more interesting read for you.

My Workflow

Yes, I am painfully aware this is disturbingly close to the PKM bellcurve meme. I am a mouth breather.

Note taking: How to install and cite with Zotero and how I collect and read documents.
Computational execution and reproducibility: Including how to install GIS and other computational environments (docker, python, ect.).
Data Driven Documentation & Digital communication: How to programattically dismantle a problem and then share your work on the web.

A note: I run Windows 10 on a desktop, have admin privileges, own my router, and “back up to the cloud” using Dropbox. Cloud based hosting can be a little jankey, but when in doubt you can always pause sync for the day and let the changes roll across when you’re done processing. I will never regret paying for the off-site backup convenience, and at this point you might as well just consider everything digital as public anyways.

My Workflow

Starting [[20230908085243]] The hellscape that is my day