Seamlessly Restart Your Tasks: Building a Reliable Second Brain for Post-Break Productivity
Background
After a break, many of us face the challenge of picking up our work and life tasks right where we left off. Without a well-organized system, it is easy to forget urgent to-dos or lose track of important deadlines. In my case, I rely on Obsidian for building a second brain, keeping a knowledge base, and coordinating projects, tasks, and reminders. This approach allows me to swiftly handle everything from urgent work tasks (such as invoice processing) to important personal matters (like booking train tickets).
Common Post-Holiday Challenges
1. Losing Track of Urgent Tasks
Email overload, invoice processing, and other work items can pile up and become overwhelming.
2. Forgetting Important Plans
Personal tasks, such as making travel arrangements, can slip through the cracks without proper reminders.
3. Uncertain Next Steps for Bigger Projects
Large tasks, such as developing algorithms and writing articles, might seem daunting after a break, especially if critical details are scattered.
Strategies for a Smooth Return
1. Review Calendars and Reminders First
Check your calendars and reminders for any immediate or overdue tasks. This is because we typically assign tasks with a specific date or time attribute to calendars and reminders. Consequently, tasks in these categories are given the highest priority compared to other tasks.
Process the most important and urgent items first. For instance, I recently received two emails regarding invoice processing and spent approximately 20 minutes handling them. Ideally, these types of administrative tasks can be delegated to others to handle, but at a certain stage, we must manage them ourselves.
If there are important personal tasks—like booking travel tickets—address them before they become urgent. I spent roughly 30–40 minutes purchasing train tickets for a return trip, which I had previously flagged as a priority. Delegating such tasks may be challenging due to personal considerations. For instance, we must consider the date, time, and specific train type. These considerations can be complex and may require more communication and administrative effort. Therefore, for tasks that involve numerous personal considerations, it may be more efficient to handle them ourselves rather than assigning them to others.
2. Reorganize and Update Task Dates
If you use a system like Obsidian, ensure that important and urgent tasks are labeled with a due date. Plugins such as Dataview and Tasks can help you easily achieve this. You can also query all those types of tasks in a central location so that you won't miss any important tasks.
After the holiday, review your existing reminders: Mark tasks as completed when finished; Reschedule tasks that still need time or require a new deadline. This way, those tasks wouldn't remain the top priority, so they wouldn't disrupt our currently prioritized tasks.
During task execution, arrange follow-up tasks immediately so that you don't forget them. For example, after booking my train tickets, I arranged additional reminders for contacting friends to catch up with them and set a date to buy a return train ticket.
3. Link Important Tasks to a Kanban Board and Notes
In Obsidian, link key tasks to your Kanban board. This makes it easy to find the next action item. For example, you might create several lists on this Kanban board: one for "Doing," one for "To Do," one for "Waiting," and more. Each list can contain different categories of tasks. If you are working on a task and need to pause it—such as when you are about to take a holiday—you can link it to your "Doing" list on this Kanban board. After the holiday, you can easily return to the task and continue working on it.
Connect tasks to relevant notes. For a big project, link each smaller subtask to supporting notes or research files. This provides immediate context when you start working on the task. Whenever you look at a task, you can see related tasks, nodes, and reference files, so you know exactly what to do and how to complete those tasks. Conversely, if you encounter isolated tasks, it might be difficult to determine what to do and how to approach them.
Maintaining these links ensures you never feel lost, even if your project is paused for weeks. The reason is simple: linking important tasks to an obvious place, like your Kanban board, allows you to continue working on them whenever needed. Providing context for your tasks enables you to know exactly what to do and how to do it.
4. Add “Fuzzy” Reminders for Unfinished Tasks
Sometimes, despite best efforts, a task is left incomplete before a break. You can add a vague or fuzzy reminder pointing you to the relevant note or file, or include a short note about the task, a timeframe, or keywords that will help you pick it up later. For example, in the subtasks of the current task, you might add details like "checking recent notes about topic x. " At the beginning of a note, you can include something like "consider together with the recent notes about topic x ".
When you resume work afterwards, you can quickly return to your notes, see what was left undone, and continue without confusion.
Why These Strategies Work
- Reliability Through Emphasis: Highlighting important tasks in multiple ways—priority labels, deadlines, links, and reminders—ensures they never slip through the cracks.
- Contextual Awareness: Linking tasks to notes or a Kanban board provides context, so you always know what needs to be done and why.
- No Starting from Zero: Even after a long break, your system guides you to the next step. The day you return, you can immediately see which tasks are urgent (like invoice processing) and which are crucial (like completing a report).
Conclusions
A well-maintained second brain helps you seamlessly transition from vacation mode to a fully functional, organized workflow. By reviewing your calendar and reminders, prioritizing urgent tasks, linking tasks to relevant notes, and adding fuzzy remindersfor unfinished items, you create a robust structure that remains reliable through busy periods or extended breaks. Whether you have invoices to process, train tickets to book, or an important article to write, these strategies ensure you never lose momentum—no matter how long your break has been.
I have been exploring the PTKM (Project, Task, and Knowledge Management) system since my doctoral studies, using it to manage various aspects of my work and life for over six years now. PTKM is a system centered around task management, as recording notes, organizing them, and building a knowledge base are all tasks in themselves. After all, everything can be viewed as a task. However, our daily work and life involve more than just building a knowledge base (PKM, second brain); we also need to complete numerous projects and tasks and deliver tangible results. This is why it’s essential to manage projects, tasks, and knowledge systematically and cohesively, and PTKM can help you achieve that.
Feel free to follow me here on Medium and on other platforms to learn more about using PTKM for efficient work and life.
- Website:
https://ptkm.net
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/PTKMInsider
Finally, I invite you to share your thoughts on this article in the comments. If you found it helpful for yourself or others, please like and share it!