Ali Raza Zaidi

A practitioner’s musings on Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations

PKM

How to implement Tiny Experiment in Logseq

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Hello friends,

Recently, I came across a new technique for goal-setting and its implementation — and it’s been a game-changer for me.

I discovered the concept of Tiny Experiments, and it helped me shift from a linear mindset to an experimental mindset. The core of this approach is curiosity — the genuine desire to see what happens if I try something new. It’s no longer about “achieving a goal” but rather asking, what can I learn from this experiment?

This idea may have existed before, but I recently discovered it through Anne-Laure Cunff’s book Tiny Experiments. (Disclaimer: I haven’t read the full book yet, but I picked up the essence from her podcast and various blog posts.)

Here are a few key insights I gathered:

  • Long-term goals are often linear — we set a vision, but over time, we lose interest or life takes us in different directions.
  • Instead of big, rigid goals, Anne suggests setting short-term, curiosity-driven experiments.
  • The magic lies in small iterations and consistent reflection — this helps us either continue with what works or pivot to something new.

Her core formula:

“I will do this action for X number of iterations.”

She herself wrote 100 articles in 100 days, using this method — not to go viral, but to learn what worked and what didn’t.

Here’s the simple yet powerful workflow:

Observation → Question → Hypothesis → Pact → Reflect (Repeat)

Or in even simpler terms: Do and Learn — or as we say in Urdu, “کر کے دیکھو” (Kar ke dekho).

Let’s break it down:

1. Observation

Look at any area of your life: personal finance, health, relationships, career, etc.
Ask yourself: What’s going on?
This is a form of reflection — remember, we don’t learn from experience, we learn by reflecting on experience.

2. Question

Ask yourself:

  • What needs to change?
  • What’s not working right now?
  • What’s possible if I approach this differently?

3. Hypothesis

Make an assumption: If I take a specific action, what result do I expect?
It’s not about being right or wrong — it’s about testing and learning.

4. Pact

Define the experiment:

  • What action will I take?
  • For how long? (e.g., 10 days, 30 iterations, etc.)

5. Reflect

After your experiment, reflect on:

  • What worked?
  • What didn’t?
  • What should I try next?

Example: Health & Fitness

Let’s say you want to feel healthier and look more fit.

Observation

I feel overweight and not in good shape.

Questions

  • Do I need to change my lifestyle?
  • Should I join a gym or just walk daily?
  • Should I change my diet?

Hypothesis

If I walk daily and reduce my food intake, I’ll lose 20 kg in 2 months.

Pact

  • Walk 40 minutes daily for 30 days.
  • Reduce roti intake to 1 per meal or 1 thali of rice, no refills, for the next 30 days.

Reflect (after 30 days)

What worked:

  • I feel better
  • My energy levels have increased
  • I feel more active

What didn’t:

  • My shape hasn’t changed much
  • Weight hasn’t reduced significantly

So now, you can design a new tiny experiment based on this reflection — and repeat the cycle.

Hope you found this helpful!
Try it out with an open mind. Start small, stay curious, and remember:

Don’t chase goals. Run experiments.

You can use logseq tempate and implement this in following ways.

And How we use this template something similar

How to make better linked notes – PKM

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I was facing an issue where many notes were just empty linked pages—basically serving only as references or bridges between other notes.

So, I created a separate folder called [[Linked Pages]] to store these.

For fleeting notes, I made a new folder named [[In Box]].

  • After reviewing and modifying them, I move them to specific folders as permanent notes.

For my daily journal, I created a separate folder called [[Jots]], which is linked to the calendar.

Simple PKM with Obsidian

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Hello friends, welcome to this video!

In this video, I’m sharing a simple Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) System in Obsidian. It consists of three main folders:

1. Inbox

This is where all your notes are initially stored—whether it’s your daily journal, work-related notes, ideas, or anything else you capture throughout the day.

2. MOC (Map of Content)

This folder contains Table of Contents (TOC) notes—a central hub where all notes related to a specific category are linked. Think of it as a gateway to easily access and organize your knowledge.

3. Specific Folders

Once a note is finalized, it gets moved into a relevant category folder. Examples include D365, Excel, and Consulting—but you can create folders based on your own needs.

This is my simple yet effective PKM system in Obsidian. I hope you find it helpful!

How to use Todoist with Roam Research

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Hi all, what if you create your todo in Todoist and those sync to your Roam Research daily post and vice versa.

The step by step walkthrough is mentioned in following video.

In my workflow I create task in Todoist and then these will sync in my daily note.

Obsidian folder settings and PKM Best practices Evergreen Notes

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Hi and hello, everyone.
My personal knowledge management workflow is evolving. I’m a big fan of creating new notes in a predefined folder. These folders focus on specific topics. For instance, I can compose or annotate pre-existing notes on D365 Community or LinkedIn. However, the issue arises when you copy and paste or use a web clipper. And left unfinished or partially modified. These are not completed when you need them.

Best Practices says that you need to convert them into evergreen notes.

You can rewrite Evergeen notes into your own unique ideas or use them as automatic notes on a single topic or concept. You can read more about it at the following link.
https://notes.andymatuschak.org/Evergreen_notes

The Evergreen Note is a finished product. For example, I copied the whole article from LinkedIn. That is from the topic of “Who to User Chain of Command Instead Event Handler.” I copied it into a designated folder. After that, it remained unchanged.
This is not my note. It is a reference note. What should I do? I made changes. Remove unnecessary points from it. Next, I will incorporate my personal experiences into it. Some people suggest that we must modify and rewrite it.
The end product moves into a specific folder.
Copying the entire article for future use is a good practice. Instead of searching the internet, you can find these references in your own note-taking app. You can use these references in your work and share them with your colleagues.
You cannot share or publish these articles on your blog. But the evergreen notes can be.
Remember the simple rule “Document Not Create”? Most of the time, people like me are not capable of creating something new. There is always inspiration.
This past weekend, when I began reviewing each folder, I discovered a significant number of incomplete notes.
So I decided to change my approach. I should move my modifications, rewrites, or final comments into a separate folder. This is the best practice.
I think there are two types of people. One type of person learns from others’ experiences by adhering to best practices or recommendations. The second individual gains knowledge through experience. In Sufi called this Marfat. This refers to the moment when practitioners begin to understand the rationale behind the rule’s creation, also known as best practices.
And third one who never learns.
The two note-taking methodologies, Mike Millo’s ACE framework and Tigo forte’s Para Method, both recommend these best practices.
Now I decided that all my new notes will go in folder “Inbox.”

As Obsidian is my core PKM software, here is a walkthrough to create a separate folder, and all notes go directly in that folder.

Click on Settings in Obsidian.

From setting page select the options select the files and links. following two settings need to update.

You can select Default location for new notes as “In the folder specified below”.
Second you can set your own folder name.

Third option you can set here is default location for new attachment.
In default setting in obsidian, you have to copy paste images from specific folder. and it shows and copied into Obsidian Vault.

Another best practices you can use that you have to built template. as I mentioned in my last post
https://www.tech.alirazazaidi.com/how-to-add-template-in-obsidian-pkm/

You have to use Tags for category to identity your notes in your inbox folder.
You can use Tags for more detail identification for the category for note.

When each note is processed, You can move them into specific folder.

Hope you like this post.

How to add Template in Obsidian -PKM

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In my quest to better PKM ( Personal Knowledge Management), I start using Obsidian as my primary note taking app.
When I copy notes from different websites, blog or some social media site.
I need to record a few extra information as reference.

For example my requirements are simple, on the header section of each note, there will be two place holders

  • Parent: MOC
  • Reference:

For this I used the template feature of Obsidian.
Following is the step by step guide.

First step for storing templates we need to create a separate folder. for this click on folder icon similar to following screenshots.

Second step of all I need to enable the core plugin and this I need to go settings.


from settings, select core plugins and then enable the templates.

After enable the templates and click on setting icon on and open similar screen

Here you can set template folder location. then two option setup of date format and time format.
I just set template folder.
Then add a new node with following name with ShortScript.template.

Inside the this template I define following area

{Note Reference}:
{{date}}
{Tags}:
{Parent MOC}:

Now go in respected folder and create a new notes

For example I want to create a new note in Shorts Scripts folder. Right click add a new node.


left menu select the insert template button and following popup appear in Obsidian

Type or select from drop down, the required template and hit enter to copy contents form templates to note.

Now I update the new notes as per my requirement

Tana Early access finally got

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Ah, my PKM quest leads to me, Tana. Today I got early access to Tana. We can only gain access by invitation.

Tana has a relatively short learning curve. I did not explore Super Tag; that is a game changer.

People consider Tana to have both Notion and Obsidian features. Notion is cloud-based, while Obsidian is file-based. The major feature for Obsidian is Graph View. You can interlink your notes and create a map based on them. While Notion has power of database (not TSQL,PLSQL). With Obsidian, I am limited to accessing and making notes solely from my laptop. There is a Sync feature in Obsidian, but it is less used.

This video represents my first experience with Tana.

How to enable the backlink at the bottom of each note -Obsidian

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I start using Obsidian for my Personal Knowledge Management.
My simple requirement was back links should be appear at the bottom of each note.
So I can quickly navigate through links

For this I have to click at the bottom of obsidian and and goes into settings.

When menu opens, select the Backlinks and open the settings.

Here is option show backlinks at the bottom of notes.
In my case toggle is off. I enabled it.

After enable it I found below section