void

Problems

This is an attempt to address several cognitive defects.

1. frequently fall out of creative flow
2. day-to-day work lacks coherence
3. failure to integrate learnings into a cohesive perspective
4. execution of tasks lacks focus and motivation
5. unclear how my efforts are impacting goals

Perspectives

• things we measure tend to improve
• we should minimize decisions to prevent fatigue
• we should regularly reevaluate priorities
• flexible cores can be bent to many uses

Implementation

• everything is a tree
• you can collapse subtrees
• you can drill-down the screen focus arbitrarily
• trees of tasks can be marked with #task, all children of marked nodes are implicitly subtasks
• tasks can be prioritized with #prio=<n>, all children implicitly inherit the lowest ancestor's priority
• a task can be chosen automatically, with priorities weighting a random selection. you should delete it or do it, don't get into the habit of drawing again until you see something you like. you chose the priorities, and you should keep them up-to-date.
• completed subtasks for a particular view are plotted on a sparkline at the top of the screen for the past week. this will become dramatically more flexible in the future.
• you can draw arrows between nodes for mind-mapping functionality

install

cargo install voidmap

if you don't have cargo, an easy way to get and manage it is via rustup.

invocation

void [/path/to/savefile]

keys

feature | control | feature | control --- | --- | --- | --- new node | C-n | new node (child of selected) | Tab new node (freeform) | click blank space | new node (sibling of selected) | Enter delete selected node and its children | Delete | move subtree | drag parent to new location arrange nodes in view | C-p | auto-arrange nodes in view from now on | C-z mark selected node complete | C-a | drill-down into selected node | C-w pop up selection | C-q | hide children of selected | C-t open text editor for txt:... node | C-k | prefix-jump with no selection | type a letter prefix-jump with other selected | C-f | hide completed children of node | C-h select arrow start/destination | C-r | erase arrow | select start, C-r, then destination, C-r show debug log | C-l | reparent node | drag node to new parent scroll up | PgUp | scroll down | PgDn select up | Up | select down | Down select subtree to left | Left | select subtree to right | Right de-select node | Esc | save | C-x exit | Esc with nothing selected | exit | C-c jump to weighted next task | C-v

can be customized by setting the KEYFILE env var to the path of a key configuration file

known bugs

doesn't properly handle very long text. if you want to embed an essay, create a node that begins with txt: and hit C-k to open its contents in an external text editor, specifiable by setting the EDITOR env var.

optional configuration

setting the LOGFILE environment variable will allow you to log debugging info to a file.

setting the EDITOR environment variable will allow you to specify which text editor is opened when hitting C-k on a node whose name begins with txt:. defaults to vim.

setting the KEYFILE environment variable to the path of a keyfile allows you to customize the controls

notes

This came about in the midst of an (ongoing) obsessive inquiry into a cluster of topics roughly related to "effectiveness" while stumbling through various mountain ranges and cities in central europe and the american northeast.

• conversations with @matthiasn and being introduced to his wonderful iWasWhere system
• writings of eliezer s. yudkowsky, how to solve it, society of mind
• various subtopics of operations research
• occult mindfulness: [undoing yourself with energized meditation] (http://heruka.altervista.org/X_files/Undoing%20Yourself%20With%20Energized%20Meditation%20And%20Other%20Devices%20-%20Christopher%20S%20Hyatt.pdf), prometheus rising
• military C2 theory, recognition/metacognition, OODA, etc... A Review of Time Critical Decision Making Models and Human Cognitive Processes
• personal productivity literature: pomodoro, GTD, eat that frog, flow

The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy’s cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him. More than anything, you must be thinking of carrying your movement through to cutting him. ...When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. -Miyamoto Musashi