Hello everyone!

I have been using the Brainiac intensively over the last months and made some changes to the configuration along the way. Get your update here.

Improvements: – Added journal.org to the list of refile targets. – Reduced the width of comment, source, etc. boxes in brainiac.css. – The attached items are now visibly listed in the drawer of the headline. – Minor changes in the configuration, e.g. increase of idle time etc.

New things: – Added org-crypt to the config, so that sensitive information can be encrypted if storing files on public servers. – To integrate Brainiac into your system menu, I propose the following: copy brainiac.desktop to ~/.local/share/applications and brainiac.svg to ~/.local/share/icons. – I added basic AI support by using a customized ollama-buddy-mini and running models locally with ollama. Although I previously stated that Brainiac would not have AI, the chosen combination presents a nice compromise between functionality and privacy. – I also introduced the abbrev-mode as a template storage for some useful org templates and as a mechanism for storing AI prompts for future usage. – In order to consolidate important functions and keystrokes, I configured a menu which can be reached by pressing C-c b using transient.

Have any thoughts or comments?

I often read about people „living“ in their ToDo list, meaning everything that comes to mind, is seen on the net, needs to be done someday (maybe), … gets jotted down in the ToDo list or processed thru their productivity toolchain. The purpose of this is to not forget anything and to live a quantified but relaxed life, because everything is recorded and nothing is forgotten.

Although I can relate to the „nothing gets forgotten“ part, because I need this to ease my mind, having everything I need to do in a day, week, … added to my ToDo list, makes me feel like a machine and I actually feel psychological pressure to „get those tasks done“. I do not like it.

Every once in a while I fall down that rabbit hole and start filling my main.org with everything possible. But then at some point the list gets too long and I start feeling that pressure of still having „so many open tasks“ when the day is done. The only thing that helps then is to radically go thru the list and delete all the junk that is not 100% a real task, that has to get done, or a note which has value and shall be kept.

Have any thoughts or comments?

#emacs #orgmode #brainiac #gtd #productivity

Brainiac is a minimal, distraction-free Emacs configuration designed for GTD workflows, notes, and task management using Org-mode. This v1.1 update focuses on stability and workflow refinements — keeping the setup lightweight while improving daily use.

If you're new to Brainiac, check out the original introduction to learn about the philosophy behind this configuration.

For the past four months, Brainiac has been my daily Emacs setup for managing work projects, personal tasks, notes, and planning. I’m genuinely impressed by how little needed to change — proof that a simple Emacs workflow can stay effective without constant tweaking.

✅ What’s New in v1.1

• Default search now uses rgrep instead of find-grep-dired
• Added ultra-scroll for smoother scrolling over large images
• Removed DONE tasks from agenda to reduce clutter

• New focused Day Agenda:

  • Scheduled tasks, deadlines, and priority backlog ([#A])

• New Week Agenda:

  • Full week view + entire backlog to support weekly review flow

• Statistic cookies auto-update on save (accurate project status always)

• Improved print CSS to prevent long lines from overflowing

Along with the update, you’ll now find a picture of Brainiac — a friendly organization-loving robot — in the config folder. Enjoy the company!

Get your update from here.

Have any thoughts or comments?

My interests include #health, #parenting, #productivity, #leadership, #privacy, #selfhosting, #goodmusic with guitars, #fishing, #jogging ... and I hack on my #emacs configuration pretty regularly.

I read the nice book from Tiago Forte “Building a Second Brain” and in order to understand the concepts better, I created this small Mindmap as a summary.
For this I used PlantUML and generated the Mindmap using Org-mode.

Processing in Second Brain

Have any thoughts or comments?