The Personal Knowledge Management: How Do You Store and Document Your Knowledge for Further Use?

Have you ever forgotten your password and had to hit the “forgot my password” button multiple times, but hesitated to document it somewhere out of fear it could be lost or hacked?

Or, are you a university student who diligently documents lectures in your notebook, computer notepad, or online drive, only to avoid revisiting it out of laziness?

Or perhaps you’re a busy manager in charge of a functional department (e.g., Marketing in the digital industry), juggling all the information on marketing strategies, personnel, and training processes—but lack the time to organize it all effectively.

What’s Your Approach to This? 

Personally, I used to rely on paper and pen to jot things down and later transfer and organize them into folders on my PC, which remains helpful. However, as the complexity and diversity of my knowledge grew with my responsibilities, I realized the need to adopt more tools and methodologies to manage my knowledge effectively.

My Personal Approach

1. Joining a consulting project 

For example, when I first joined a consulting project, I had to understand the structure and logic of the project’s documents. Here’s how I approached it: 

Step 1: Understand the Flow and Logic
Consulting projects are often organized in phases, such as:

• Assess Current Situation → Methodology → Analysis → Recommendation → Implementation.
  Familiarizing myself with this flow helped me navigate through the data systematically.

Step 2: Read and Understand on the Job
It’s challenging to absorb all the information immediately. However, persistence is key—don’t be lazy about re-opening folders repeatedly. While you might not recall everything at once, applying knowledge on the job strengthens your understanding and retention over time.

Step 3: Share Knowledge with Colleagues
In Vietnam, we say, “Học thầy không tày học bạn” (Learning from friends can be more effective than from teachers). Sharing with colleagues involves active learning and repetition, which solidifies your understanding. To communicate knowledge effectively, you’re compelled to organize your thoughts, further deepening your grasp of the material.

2. Organizing knowledge from miscellaneous daily learnings

To grow professionally, I often read reports, articles, or research papers and watch online videos to learn new skills. Here’s my process:

Step 1: Learn and Document
Always capture key insights, whether from a report, news article, or inspiring quote.

Step 2: Dual Documentation
I maintain two repositories:

• Physical (Paper and Pen): For quick, unstructured notes like ideas, insights, or inspiration.
• Virtual (PC or Online Tools): For structured information, such as course materials with defined learning paths.

Step 3: Organize Regularly
Set aside time (e.g., weekends or leisure periods) to categorize and group folders systematically. This habit prevents data from becoming overwhelming or chaotic.

Step 4: Recall and Utilize Knowledge
Develop criteria for easy access and systematic organization. For instance:

• Important, structured information goes into my PC.
• Smaller, quick-access details remain on my phone or notebook.

This systematic approach not only improves retrieval efficiency but also creates a psychological sense of control and preparedness.

Keynote: I used to only jot down notes on my phone, but once I began structuring and categorizing my information based on criteria (such as ease of access and level of organization), it completely changed my approach. This also has a psychological effect—knowing that you can easily find important, structured information on your PC, while smaller, quicker details are in your notes, brings a sense of clarity and control.

3. This website, somehow is another way of my PKM 🙂 but the difference is that I shared it with all of my friends around the world

Best Practices for Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)

The examples above reflect just two personal contexts in which I document my knowledge. There are countless methods, approaches, and tools available to enhance knowledge management. In the future, I will introduce more about the tools I use and those commonly favored by young people today. However, in this post, I want to focus on introducing the PKM process outlined by a professor at UCLA.

1. Searching/Finding
Efficiently locate reliable resources through search engines, databases, or curated platforms.

2. Categorizing/Classifying
Organize information into relevant categories or folders to avoid clutter.

3. Naming/Making Distinctions
Use clear and descriptive names for files, notes, or tags, ensuring ease of retrieval.

4. Evaluating/Assessing
Periodically review stored information to determine its relevance and discard outdated data.

5. Integrating/Relating
Connect ideas and insights from different domains to form a holistic understanding.

PKM is an evolving journey – find tools and methods that work best for your unique needs and adapt them as you grow!

Reference:

Frand, J. L., & Hixson, C. (1998, October 15). Personal knowledge management: Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? Presented at Educom ’98, Orlando, FL. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and Young Research Library at UCLA.