A governance-first approach to managing life with nothing but markdown files.
Every productivity app eventually dies. Plain text doesn't.
- Durable. Markdown files from 2005 still open perfectly today. Can your old app say that?
- Searchable.
grep,ripgrep, or any editor's find-in-files works across your entire life system. - Versionable. Git gives you full history, diffs, and branches for free.
- Portable. Move between editors, operating systems, and devices without migration headaches.
- No lock-in. Your data is yours. No subscriptions, no API changes, no sunset notices.
This system is Obsidian-compatible (folder structure, wikilinks, frontmatter) but not Obsidian-dependent. It works just as well in VS Code, Vim, iA Writer, or any text editor. The files are the system, not the app.
Most plain-text productivity systems fail not because of the format but because of entropy. Files accumulate. Naming drifts. Things get lost.
Life OS solves this with a governance layer -- a small set of rules that keep the system coherent as it grows. Think of it as a constitution for your file system.
The governance rules cover:
- Naming conventions -- Every file follows the same pattern. No ambiguity.
- Index files -- Every folder has one. You can always find what you need.
- Archive protocol -- Nothing gets deleted. Everything gets archived with structure preserved.
- Session handoffs -- Context is captured so you (or an AI assistant) can pick up where you left off.
- Single source of truth -- One rules file. One task list. No conflicting duplicates.
See governance/rules.md for the full rule set.
The system operates on a nested planning rhythm:
| Cadence | Purpose | Key Output |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Pull tasks, set 3 must-dos | Time-blocked day plan |
| Weekly | Review week, plan next, archive done | Weekly plan file |
| Monthly | Patterns across 4 weeks | Monthly review |
| Quarterly | Big picture alignment | Quarterly review |
| Yearly | Full reset and goal-setting | Year review + new goals |
See governance/planning-cadence.md for the full breakdown.
This is where Life OS diverges from most productivity systems.
Traditional systems track urgency and importance. Life OS adds a third axis: fear -- the emotional resistance you feel toward a task.
| Level | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| F0 | No fear | Routine. You'd do it without thinking. |
| F1 | Mild discomfort | Slightly outside comfort zone. Minor friction. |
| F2 | Real avoidance | You keep "forgetting" about this one. |
| F3 | Terror / paralysis | The task you can't even look at directly. |
Why this matters: The most avoided tasks are often the most important ones. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is usually guarded by things you're afraid to do. By making fear visible, you stop it from silently controlling your priorities.
High-fear items get extra visibility, smaller action steps, and built-in accountability. See philosophy/fear-level-tagging.md for the full concept.
- Clone this repo as a starting point.
- Read the rules in
governance/rules.md. These are the constitution. - Copy the templates from
templates/into your working vault. - Create your first weekly plan using
templates/weekly-plan.md. - Tag your tasks with priority (P1-P4) and fear level (F0-F3).
- Follow the cadence. Daily pulls, weekly reviews, monthly patterns.
The system is intentionally minimal. Start with the rules and templates, then adapt as your needs emerge. The governance layer keeps things from falling apart as complexity grows.
life-os-markdown/
governance/
rules.md # The 15 rules that govern the system
naming-conventions.md # File and folder naming standards
archive-philosophy.md # Why and how to archive
planning-cadence.md # Daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly rhythm
templates/
weekly-plan.md # Weekly planning template
monthly-review.md # Monthly review template
project-index.md # Standard project index file
task-entry.md # Task format with P1-P4 and F0-F3 tagging
philosophy/
archive-never-delete.md # The case for archiving over deleting
three-must-dos.md # Why 3 is the magic number
fear-level-tagging.md # Tracking emotional resistance to tasks
rolling-task-protocol.md # Staleness detection for stuck tasks
MIT License. See LICENSE.
productivity markdown task-management life-management obsidian plain-text governance systems-thinking