From 1c5cdb3b975c517655dad52ab7661ef2c3e7a4fa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alex Selimov Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2025 22:09:07 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Post about PPV --- archetypes/posts.md | 5 +++++ content/posts/ppv.md | 52 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 57 insertions(+) create mode 100644 archetypes/posts.md create mode 100644 content/posts/ppv.md diff --git a/archetypes/posts.md b/archetypes/posts.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..205fc90 --- /dev/null +++ b/archetypes/posts.md @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +--- +title: "{{ replace .Name "-" " " | title }}" +date: {{ .Date }} +topics: [] +--- diff --git a/content/posts/ppv.md b/content/posts/ppv.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ab56ac --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/ppv.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "Pillars, Pipelines, and Vaults System by August Bradley" +date: 2025-09-23T21:22:45-04:00 +topics: ["life optimization", "productivity", "self-reflection"] + +--- + +## What motivated me to try it + +I somehow recently accidentally stumbled across the Pillars, Pipelines, and Vaults (PPV) system by August Bradley. +In a nutshell, this system is a way to align your daily efforts to the pursuit of goals that contribute to core areas of your life (the pillars). +As a husband and the father of a toddler and an infant, the free time that I previously had in excess has been scarce. +My routines and schedules were extremely disrupted as I transitioned from my life as a PhD student to working a 9-5 and raising a family (my first child was born exactly one week after my dissertation defense). +These routines never truly recovered. +As a result, when I do come across some free time I find that I often don't know what to do with it. +I also am guilty of jumping from project to project without focus, leaving things half finished or skills incompletely developed. + +## I've tried a few different methods for improving focus and alignment, but nothing ever really stuck. + +I've been learning about the PPV system and have noticed some positive effects already. +Primarily around self-reflection, ensuring daily tasks are aligned to what is important, and ensuring that my effort towards things important to me is getting tracked. +I'm halfway through the [PPV playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAl0gPKnL3V8s7dPXoo07mYnuErhWVk8b) and have started building out my personal PPV system. +So far I recommend it. +I definitely think that it needs per-user customization as I am not August Bradley, and his priorities won't directly translate to me. +But some of the overarching concepts I find extremely useful: + +- You should define a small set of "pillars" that hold up your life (e.g. career, family, learning, personal projects, etc...) +- Ensure that your daily actions and goals are aligned to those pillars +- The action zone concept is fairly genius and has certainly led to improved focus for me. + + +## I, of course, am not actually implementing these systems in Notion directly + +Instead, I found a FOSS alternative called [anytype](https://anytype.io/). +I tried some other FOSS options like AppFlowy and AFFiNE. +AFFiNE struggled from: + +- UI that was cramming in their AI service everywhere, and it couldn't be disabled. +- Some concerns about how their telemetry works, [see this github issue](https://github.com/toeverything/AFFiNE/issues/6920) + +AppFlowy was pretty clean but I wasn't able to get the self-hosted AppFlowy-Cloud setup. +I've yet to self-host a node for anytype. +It uses a P2P protocol to synchronize spaces between devices which seems to make the self-hosting more complex. +I plan to upload an additional guide if I find it difficult to set-up. + +## Conclusion + +If you haven't heard about PPV, definitely check it out [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAl0gPKnL3V8s7dPXoo07mYnuErhWVk8b)! +It isn't for everyone, but I've seen the benefits already in my limited time using it. +I may do a dive into my personal flavor of PPV and how I deviated from the original once it is fully completed. +Hopefully this is helpful to someone! +