My Emacs Journey
This is a follow upwards to my "Master your tools" post. As an representative of i of my tools, I beak nearly my Emacs use.
I guide hold been using Emacs for the terminal xx years. At this point, I don't fifty-fifty know Emacs, my fingers do. If y'all inquire me the shortcut for something, I volition demand to permit my fingers exercise it together with evidence to uncovering what they are doing. And sometimes ---as inwards the storey of the caterpillar who forgets how to walk when asked to demonstrate it--- I forget nearly how to exercise something when I evidence to endeavor it consciously.
It was alone roughly 2008 that I started amongst the writing process for the terminal 10 years. You tin enjoin that it became my out-of-core retentiveness execution primitive.
When I write a weblog post service or an article, I utilization the org-mode outline headers to organize/departmentalize together with text-wrangle the content. I guide hold a JUNK header where I deed extra text, this helps me overcome my kill-your-darlings syndrome. I guide hold an INSERT header for noting downwards what I similar to insert. I view these afterward to create upwards one's take away heed what is the best house inwards the article to insert them, or whether I should deed them to the junk header.
So this does piece of job similar my out-of-core retentiveness module. At whatsoever fourth dimension I alone continue a modest number of things inwards my mind, together with utilization the headers every bit my swap memory. I acquire forrad amongst i decision/issue at a fourth dimension without overwhelming myself. This is how I evidence to scale my attending inwards my offline thinking mode. I don't guide hold a large working retentiveness (I also suspect y'all don't either) together with this helps immensely. Text wrangling for the win!
I also utilization the org-export-to-beamer trend for speedily preparing presentations inwards Beamer. This helped me last teaching. Preparing powerpoint presentations takes a lot of fourth dimension together with is painful. On the other hand, due to its integration to my thinking/writing procedure together with due to the COMMENTing/evolving benefits I mentioned above, exporting the org document to Beamer makes things easy/frictionless for me.
Another hack I utilization is to keep a notes.org file inwards whatsoever folder to continue rails of that project. I utilization this every bit a lab-notebook to tape everything nearly the project, together with meta-thoughts, concerns, etc. I also add together timestamps to my entries amongst my Emacs shortcut (Wed, fourteen Nov eighteen - - - 21:07) cntrl-c-t. Of course of report I had to evidence this amongst my fingers source to larn the ascendence I use.
I utilization This post service from iii years ago describes the pomodoro workflow I had then, which is obsolete now.
When I am working on large documents inwards org-mode, I utilization hot links (radio-targets) for definitions, thence that when I write the give-and-take at a afterward holler for inwards the file, Emacs automatically inserts the link to where it is defined first.
I also utilization predefined hi-lock for "!!" together with "??" to easily highlight some interesting findings together with questions inwards the text. And I sometimes utilization impromptu M-x highlight-phrase or M-x highlight-regexp to highlight other things.
I utilization <f3> together with <f4> to define together with utilization keyboard macros for advert hoc custom editing needs.
I wrote a fleck nearly how I gear upwards my Emacs setup here.
I don't reckon myself a ability Emacs user. I am far from it. I don't acquire shortcut crazy. I don't evidence to automate everything. And if some novel Emacs tricks/shortkeys don't stick amongst me, I guide hold it that I don't actually demand them. As a counterpoint to this though, I couldn't acquire the org-agenda to stick for a long time, together with right away that I utilization it I realize how much I needed it. So where should I force the business nearly how much to force to learn/adopt novel things?
2. Benefits of drawing/sketching versus typing
As much every bit I dearest Emacs, it is linear together with text. Although org-mode helps for making things non-linear amongst its headers, it doesn't give the same visual thinking benefits from drawing/sketching. I mean value I volition evidence to contain to a greater extent than doodling/sketching drawing to my workflow inwards the coming months. Let me know if y'all guide hold skillful suggestions for this.
I guide hold been using Emacs for the terminal xx years. At this point, I don't fifty-fifty know Emacs, my fingers do. If y'all inquire me the shortcut for something, I volition demand to permit my fingers exercise it together with evidence to uncovering what they are doing. And sometimes ---as inwards the storey of the caterpillar who forgets how to walk when asked to demonstrate it--- I forget nearly how to exercise something when I evidence to endeavor it consciously.
Four stages of competence:— Colby Serpađź’ˇ (@ColbySerpa) November 6, 2018
4. Unconscious Competence (Right Intuition)
3. Conscious Competence (Right Analysis)
2. Conscious Incompetence (Wrong Analysis)
1. Unconscious Incompetence (Wrong Intuition)https://t.co/peAEUtkMZV pic.twitter.com/OxZ3WqreVa
From text-editing to text-wrangling
I guide hold been learning Emacs at a glacial pace, only I mean value that worked for me better. I figured I tin internalize thence much at a time, thence I didn't rush things. I initially used Emacs to a greater extent than oft than non for ability editing LaTeX files.It was alone roughly 2008 that I started amongst the writing process for the terminal 10 years. You tin enjoin that it became my out-of-core retentiveness execution primitive.
When I write a weblog post service or an article, I utilization the org-mode outline headers to organize/departmentalize together with text-wrangle the content. I guide hold a JUNK header where I deed extra text, this helps me overcome my kill-your-darlings syndrome. I guide hold an INSERT header for noting downwards what I similar to insert. I view these afterward to create upwards one's take away heed what is the best house inwards the article to insert them, or whether I should deed them to the junk header.
So this does piece of job similar my out-of-core retentiveness module. At whatsoever fourth dimension I alone continue a modest number of things inwards my mind, together with utilization the headers every bit my swap memory. I acquire forrad amongst i decision/issue at a fourth dimension without overwhelming myself. This is how I evidence to scale my attending inwards my offline thinking mode. I don't guide hold a large working retentiveness (I also suspect y'all don't either) together with this helps immensely. Text wrangling for the win!
Getting things done amongst org-mode
As for using org-mode (org-agenda) for TODO lists together with I wrote nearly this a piddling here.Before integrating the emacs org-agenda to my life, I ever had opened upwards loop tasks that caused me worries, together with eating upwards cycles inwards my brain: "Oh, I should holler upwards doing this", "Woe to me, I am procrastinating on this", etc. After successfully adopting emacs org-mode every bit my to-do listing together with agenda director (which, took a twain years, together with several aborted tries), the exercise goodness I got out was the clarity of mind, together with the free of all that background anxiety.
Other assorted Emacs tricks I use
I dearest the org-export-to-latex functionality of org-mode. This agency I tin acquire a pdf file shareable amongst others anytime, spell even thence staying inwards org-mode where I exercise my thinking. In my org-file I would guide hold COMMENTed out the JUNK header, INSERT header, together with the META header (for questions/connections) to capture my thinking together with render a snapshot of my brain. The exported LaTeX article hides all of those, only I even thence demand those every bit my documentation of my idea process together with to evolve my piece of job further. Frankly I don't acquire how Word/Pages/etc users bargain amongst non having COMMENT sections inwards their documents.I also utilization the org-export-to-beamer trend for speedily preparing presentations inwards Beamer. This helped me last teaching. Preparing powerpoint presentations takes a lot of fourth dimension together with is painful. On the other hand, due to its integration to my thinking/writing procedure together with due to the COMMENTing/evolving benefits I mentioned above, exporting the org document to Beamer makes things easy/frictionless for me.
Another hack I utilization is to keep a notes.org file inwards whatsoever folder to continue rails of that project. I utilization this every bit a lab-notebook to tape everything nearly the project, together with meta-thoughts, concerns, etc. I also add together timestamps to my entries amongst my Emacs shortcut (Wed, fourteen Nov eighteen - - - 21:07) cntrl-c-t. Of course of report I had to evidence this amongst my fingers source to larn the ascendence I use.
I utilization This post service from iii years ago describes the pomodoro workflow I had then, which is obsolete now.
When I am working on large documents inwards org-mode, I utilization hot links (radio-targets) for definitions, thence that when I write the give-and-take at a afterward holler for inwards the file, Emacs automatically inserts the link to where it is defined first.
I also utilization predefined hi-lock for "!!" together with "??" to easily highlight some interesting findings together with questions inwards the text. And I sometimes utilization impromptu M-x highlight-phrase or M-x highlight-regexp to highlight other things.
I utilization <f3> together with <f4> to define together with utilization keyboard macros for advert hoc custom editing needs.
I wrote a fleck nearly how I gear upwards my Emacs setup here.
MAD questions
1. What should my Emacs learning/mastering footstep be?I don't reckon myself a ability Emacs user. I am far from it. I don't acquire shortcut crazy. I don't evidence to automate everything. And if some novel Emacs tricks/shortkeys don't stick amongst me, I guide hold it that I don't actually demand them. As a counterpoint to this though, I couldn't acquire the org-agenda to stick for a long time, together with right away that I utilization it I realize how much I needed it. So where should I force the business nearly how much to force to learn/adopt novel things?
2. Benefits of drawing/sketching versus typing
As much every bit I dearest Emacs, it is linear together with text. Although org-mode helps for making things non-linear amongst its headers, it doesn't give the same visual thinking benefits from drawing/sketching. I mean value I volition evidence to contain to a greater extent than doodling/sketching drawing to my workflow inwards the coming months. Let me know if y'all guide hold skillful suggestions for this.
0 Response to "My Emacs Journey"
Post a Comment