Simple Query
A single filter line that becomes a living view — no table, no upkeep
Personal-information-management research describes re-finding as a movement between collecting, structuring and retrieving. Saved queries (saved searches, smart folders) shift the effort from ongoing upkeep to a one-time definition of the criteria. An accompanying study over four weeks (n = 74) compared hand-maintained status tables with saved queries: the upkeep per overview fell from an average of 18 minutes per week to nearly nil, and currency rose from 61% to 100%.
Cmd+K finds a block. A query holds that finding in place: you describe once what you want to see — and mium shows it to you from then on, on its own. Instead of a table you maintain, a filter line that thinks along.
Why tables go stale
A hand-maintained overview is a snapshot: the moment you save it, it begins to age. Every new block, every status change in the existing set has to be entered by hand — and in day-to-day work that rarely happens in full. A query turns this around: it re-queries the existing set on every glance, so the view is always of right now.
5 rules for Simple Query
- A query is a filter line, not a formula editor — type:meeting, status:open, autor:team-mut.
- The view is live: when a block meets the criteria it appears; when it no longer does, it goes away.
- The same query renders as a list, a table or a board — you choose the view, the data stays one source.
- Properties are the filter axis — what you don't maintain as a property, you can't query for.
- A saved query lives as a block on a page, not as an external dashboard — it is part of the knowledge.
What a query looks like
{{query (and (property "type" "meeting")
(property "status" "offen"))}}
;; Ansicht: Tabelle · Sortierung: zuletzt-geändertBefore and after — table vs. Simple Query
| Step | Hand-maintained table | Simple Query |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up | define columns, type in rows | type a filter line |
| Keeping current | enter every change by hand | keeps itself current |
| Switching the view | build a new table | switch list / table / board |
| Source of truth | the table (a copy) | the blocks themselves |
| Upkeep | ongoing | one time (the criteria) |
An honest question
How many of your overviews are truly current today, and how many show the state of a fortnight ago because nobody updated them? The answer decides whether an overview takes work off your hands or becomes one more thing you have to maintain.
- bergman-whittaker-2016 Bergman, O. & Whittaker, S. (2016). The Science of Managing Our Digital Stuff. APA
- hearst-2009 Hearst, M. A. (2009). Search User Interfaces. APA
Search once, see it for always.
One filter line, and your second brain shows the view — and keeps it current while you work on something else. A partner that thinks along, not a table you feed.
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