Thank you for your response. In terms of note taking I have always exclusively used Obsidian. I don’t know if it is recommended or not, but given its local text files, it should be fine?
I have used veracrypt in the past, but I don’t have any external storage to encrypt. I am contemplating if a NAS would make sense for me, given that I like to own my media (movies, music, etc.)
Separating work / personal devices is high on my list. Sadly, my phone is dual purpose and the work windows machine is still needed for few things my mac can’t do.