Welcome to our Power User blog series, where we chat with Horse Browser power users and uncover how they're using Horse to transform their online life and boost their productivity.
This week, we’re chatting with Beth McClelland (formerly known as PKM Beth). We first crossed paths with Beth, when she posted an in-depth review of Horse Browser on her blog. Reading Beth’s thoughts about Horse felt like a pivotal moment for us— not only did she understand what we wanted to achieve with Horse, but she articulated it way better than we ever could! As app developers and visual thinkers, sometimes it’s tough to put our product into words. Beth captured Horse perfectly.
Since that initial review, we've been keen to dive deeper into Beth's digital world. This week, Eleanor (Marketing & Community), finally had the opportunity to sit down with Beth for an extended conversation. We hope you enjoy it!
The Evolution of Personal Knowledge Management
Eleanor: Hi Beth, It's a real pleasure to finally sit down and chat with you. I want to start at the beginning of your digital journey. Can you talk me through how you first learnt about Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)?
Of course! In 2020, Ali Abdaal introduced me to the world of Notion, Roam and connecting my ideas together, and this was probably the best rabbit-hole of my life because it lead me to the PKM community. Back then PKM meant note-taking for my undergraduate dissertation, and organising my life before I graduated and went into the big wide world. It made me so happy so I just kept thinking about it!
That's so awesome that you discovered PKM during that time of your life—it’s honestly such a vital skill for students. And let’s fast-forward to now. How do you relate to PKM these days, and what role does it play in your daily life?
Nowadays, I don't use the term ‘PKM’ as much because it doesn't feel quite right... So the best way I can put it now is it's a life practice to engage in the world around me, and to create systems that help me do that. I need to give myself and my brain room to learn, to be curious, to connect the dots and to understand myself within the world a bit better and that's what my systems are for!
Vibing With The Right Tools
I really love that approach to learning and curiosity. Now, I want to hear more about these systems you’ve created! What is your criteria for choosing new digital tools?
Honestly the first thing is a good vibe, as annoying as that word can be. But essentially any tool needs to look good, feel good and be enjoyable to interact with. If these systems are what support us as humans in the digital age, they need to lift us up, not weigh us down, so it's really important to me to actively want to open an app!
The next thing is that it has to meet a need because that will give me the focus when testing it out, and it's how I'll be able to know if it's for me or not. After that, I'd look to see if the app is actively in development and if the team communicates with users. That gives me confidence that the time I'm willing to spend testing the app will be well spent!
Internet Rabbit Holes: ‘12 Centuries in 12 Months’
On your blog, you’ve talked quite a bit about your historical research project, ‘12 centuries in 12 months’. What’s the story behind ‘12 in 12’?
The idea came from a tweet by Stian Håklev that I saw in January. He said he wanted to learn a very top level overview of 12 centuries of history in 12 months. I'd dropped out of my masters degree a few months previous for many reasons, but one of which was I had no time for my own interests and I missed my own research! So when I quit, I spent months with my own research, but then felt I lost some direction! So I thought 12 in 12 could be a perfect mid-point where I broaden my horizons with some structure too.
It sounds like such a cool concept… And I understand Horse Browser was key in bringing the project to life!
Yes, this was the perfect environment in which to try Horse because there were so many threads (trails) to go down and it was instantly less overwhelming to do it in Horse Browser because of how neat it could leave the threads.
When I'm in my research zone, I have Horse Browser on the left side of my screen and Capacities on the right so I can write my notes down. Other times I just want to read and click around, so I'll open Horse Browser in full screen and close the sidebar and just very happily get lost, knowing my trails are waiting for me when I'm ready!
The Quiet Internet: A Sanctuary for Curiosity
‘12 in 12’ aside, I’m curious how Horse fits into your broader digital life. What part does Horse play in your daily routine?
Horse Browser is my quiet, safe internet where I am free to explore something new. So all research, whether in-depth or a smaller curiosity, starts in Horse Browser. So sometimes I use it every day, in busier weeks it might just be a couple of times a week, but every time I open it, I appreciate the mindset shift and calming effect it has. I use a different browser for my day-to-day life, which is much busier and "louder". That works great for what I need there, but research time is my rest so having a completely separate environment for that is so calming and freeing.
So the second I am interested in something (and I have the time to explore!), I open Horse Browser, do Cmd + 1 (my shortcut for a new trail) and I get browsing. I always use a fresh trail for a fresh topic and I love how they collect in the sidebar.
The Art of Digital Wandering
I love that description of Horse being your ‘quiet, safe internet’. What are your favourite things about Horse?
Without a doubt, it's the combination of the trails neatly organizing my clicks for me, and the shortcuts that make navigating that so easy. Together, I can happily wander down these rabbit holes rather than having to fight my way down them with clunky software getting in the way.
I chose the 'open in subtrail' setting for when I click links, so I love to work with the sidebar closed and just click around and then I'm presented with a beautiful picture of the journey I went on. I like that sort of thing as a visual representation of my interests on a given day. I think to be able to see that so clearly is such a gift.
What you’ve just described is exactly what we wanted to build with Horse. Looking ahead, what features would you most like to see from Horse in the future?
If I could work with the sidebar closed by default I'd be very happy. I think some curated browser extensions such as Reader or Sublime would be great, as they're great companions to this rabbit hole life I've chosen!
PKM Predictions and Faves
Outside Horse Browser, what are some of your other go-to tools right now?
Capacities is where I take all my notes so it's my research companion. It has the same calming effect on me as Horse Browser so the combination is delightful. Also Raycast, it lets me do so many little things faster or easier, which means I get to my research time quicker!
And what productivity system trends are you getting excited by?
Anything to do with time or calendars, and anything that recognises that we humans are so much more than work or productivity. I am seeing a shift towards this compared to what the scene was like in 2020 and that makes me happy!
As someone who enjoys creating systems for ‘chaotic brains’, do you have any words of advice for people starting out on their PKM journey?
Sure thing!
- Treat personal systems like an experiment; whatever systems you come up with will not fit forever because things change, and that's part of the fun
- Read the release notes published by developers so you can try new features
- Stay curious and find apps that foster that somehow
- Make sure you feel happy in the apps you use
Plenty of wise words there, thank you! And, finally, do you have any new projects planned for the remainder of 2024?
I don't have anything specifically coming up at the moment. It's been a big year of change so I'm settling in and enjoying the ride, and making sure to find time for rabbit-holes as much as I can, as that's a great way to fire my brain up. Let's see where that takes me!
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat, Beth. It’s been a super interesting catch-up and I’m really happy to know that you’re a fan of Horse Browser. Catch you on the Trail!
For more posts in our interview series, check out:
Meet Horse Browser’s Power Users: How Podcaster Max Roberts Leverages Horse to Develop New Episode IdeasReady to browse better? Learn more about Horse Browser
