How do you use it? Logos Layouts

I use layouts to set out some key resources on my 'virtual desk'. It is kind of a foundation for studies. I use the resources on my virtual desk as launch points to pull other books off my bookshelf. I almost always open these launch points to resources with shift + click or use the keyboard shortcut command + option + F to float them and pop them out so that I can focus on that resource. Occasionally, I will dock the new resource as a tab if I want to go back to it, but most of the time, after I am done, I will either let it go to the background as a floating window or use the keyboard shortcut command + W to close it. (one must be careful not to use the keyboard shortcut command + Z, next to the W, or this closes Logos completely down! 😜)

I can thumb through many resources like this quickly, scanning for gold. The AI summaries in search panels are another amazing aid to speed up reading and curating my library. (anyone remember when we used to have to go to the card catalogue box in the library, go find the book, then pound your way through a massive stack of books to find what you wanted?!)

This is why I have always advocated for being able to open multiple layouts at once. I like to keep my workspace focused and tight - a launch point or foundation for studies. Cognitively, I do the same with my internet browser. Some of my friends will have Chrome open with so many tabs they have no clue what they have open anymore. For me, with how my brain is wired, it's a distraction from focus. A layout with 50 tabs is useless to me because I don't want to try remember where all my resources are. I don't need to. The software can pull up a resource in a split second using command + option + L (to type in the resource name in) or command + L (to pop out the library window) or even right arrow key to a parallel resource. The best friend to a layout is keyboard commands and I have a personal book that I have built to remind me what they are.

I also arrange resources in an order that creates a cycle of working from left to right, with a few books stacked under if I want to pull something up to the top. Searches can be inline, so that I can stay in the text as much as possible. The goal is for a smooth circular workflow with as little friction as possible, and I think very little about what Logos is doing.

If I hit the constraint of only being able to open one layout, I will use the web version of Logos to have a secondary layout in my workflow. So, I might start with a layout with an exegetical focus, but then, on the web, I might have some launch points to look at church commentary history and application. Attempting to cram all of this into one layout just creates more friction and mental processing of juggling my launch points. Loading and unloading layout is even more disruptive.

Below is my Greek Language Studies Layout. The driver of my workflow is the text. I will often pop out a copy of the text in a floating panel and strip out all formatting, just to engage it on its own. This begins my reading, meditation and prayers with God; and some devotional notes. Then, I might return to the foundation to explore different words and elements of the text, then taking some structured study notes. I would love it if we could have a more modern way of linking notes… maybe one day!

I have a Subject Matter Reading layout as well… a Patristic Studies layout, etc. I am constantly tweaking my workflows as new capabilities come to Logos Bible Software. I love the subscription model because this means I have new ways to explore resources all the time, rather than waiting a couple of years.

Anyhow, each to his / her own! I appreciate this thread started by @Jason Stone (Logos), because I am always curious how people set the software up for their use case and workflows.