#second brain

[philosopunk]

Second Brain, twice the insanity.

How are you going to have a second brain when your first one is not at peace?

I ask the internet gurus and I am met with the skeptical rage of thousands yet no challenge to what I am questioning. Such is life. But I truly wonder if this concept of building a second brain, hyper-productivity and excessive journaling of your everyday thoughts will truly help people in the long run.

A mixture of having to store all the information you know, having to write down all your thoughts for the possibility of it being connected to one note you made five years ago, having to wonder what is the connection between you liking cherrypie to your childhood trauma of getting bullied.

Alas, excessively searching for the soul so mechanically that they cannot find it. Taking the words of philosophers to the unhealthiest extremes by people whose life is not dictated by thought -- taking the words of fake prophets on the web that assure that their productivity hours will triple with a second brain. At the end, it is all about making your life a productivity sprint, efficiently thinking all the time. I truly feel for the folks who cannot let a thought go at this point, for the distant promise of enlightenment and for the distant possibility of this one thought that nearly slipped past you being a million dollars worth in pure gold.

What is this obsession with never letting go? I truly wonder and I truly will not know it.

A mind not healed creating another mind. I truly fear for them.

#journal entry #second brain #productivity #studyblr #self improvement #I truly wish you all the best but this is not it #Also very insanely neurotypical as well sometimes #100 days of self discipline #100 days of productivity #If anyone even dares to say that I'm against self improvement will get this doc marten boot down your throat #I am tired of hyper productivity and reducing life to your value as a producer of things. #ugh #note taking #building a second brain #zettelkasten #obsidian md

[b-courageous1010]

Day 4: For the love of Note-taking

I am a person that loves to learn and take notes, but I tend to run into the problem of over-consuming. I’m a big idea type of person so I have many things I want to try but if I don't have a system most ideas are stuck in my head taking up space that can be used for creating.

I need a system that can be used in all parts of life that will help me capture my ideas and build on them. I reintroduced myself to the concept of a second brain. A second brain is essentially a methodology for saving and systematically reminding yourself of ideas, insights, and connections you’ve made through your experiences. It's used to free up your brain space and ensure you are creating valuable things from the information you consume.

It's a pretty simple concept that is achieved through a 4-step process:

CODE

Capture the ideas and insights worth saving

Organize for accountability

Distill down to the essence

Express your unique ideas and experiences

———————————————————————

Capture the ideas and insights you think are work saving 

Keep your notes in a centralized place so you will always know where things are

Make conscious decisions about what you consume

Only keep what resonates, that way everything has a purpose.

Decided that I will use OneNote as my one-stop shop. I also started using a read-later app as a way to save articles for later and it has a tagging feature which is amazing!

——————————————————————-

Organize for accountability

When it comes to note-taking, the simpler and more flexible the organization method the better.  

Pro-tip: Avoid making a perfect hierarchy of folders from the get-go 

PARA Method: Everything in your life can fit into one of the below categories 

Area: Long-term responsibilities  

Projects: Short-term responsibilities  

Resources: Topics or interests that will be useful in the future 

Archives: Information that is inactive 

I adopted the PARA method for my work OneNote, I have the tabs sectioned out for the different categories and I also have a section that I named inbox. The idea here is that everything has a place but try not to overthink it. The more flexibility you give yourself the better.

Pro-tip: Start with a clean slate. Move all existing files into an archive folder with today's date.

This is the main issue I had with the methodology, when I first tried to implement the PARA method I thought I had to use it on existing information. Needless to say, it was overwhelming and I ended up giving up. This time starting fresh took the weight of what to do will all the old information and allows my system to grow with me and helps reshape my method of thinking. It also helps that I didn't delete anything. If I need an old piece of information, its always there.

——————————————————————-

Distill down to the essence 

Create actionable, bite-size summaries and focus on the main points

Summarize progressively, save an excerpt, create a summary, and create a summary of the summary.

I know it sounds a bit redundant BUT this allows you to see the note in different ways and you always want to leave a note better than you found it.

Add value to each note every time you touch it

Highlighting the most important parts

Add a link to reference later

Defining key terms in case you forget

Inserting placeholders when you leave off so you know where to pick up

You always want to enhance your notes and design them for your future self.

——————————————————————-

Express your unique ideas

For me, note-taking is also an art form. It's how I express my interests and thoughts. I love that anything you want to learn is at your fingertips and I love sharing what I find in hopes that it helps someone else.

I also find informational blogging therapeutic. If I have a problem, goal, or task I usually make a post about it which helps me to not only think through my thoughts but also as a way to showcase what I learned. I feel like I found my voice and note-taking helps me not only learn and stay organized but also keeps me sane most days.

I'm excited to perfect my craft and the best part is that there is no finished product, you’re always improving!

——————————————————————-

Music Challenge Day 4: A song by a new artist you just discovered

My Pick: Muni Long is not a new artist but I've fallen in love with her voice and her pen is nice!

My Aunt: Sza is new to her and she loves her.

#soft black girls #black femininity #soft black women #self love #spotify #black wellness #wellness journey #mindfulness #productivity #note taking #second brain #self love journey #blackgirlbloggers #organization #self improvement #positive thoughts #100 days of mindfulness

[takunwilliams]

heart 2024

#heart #organ #chest #body #blood #pump #biology #art #second brain #life #medical art #drawing #anatomy #human organ #organ doner #illustration

[abbiistabbii]

Using Obsidian to organise existing Bullshit

The Alternative title of this entry should be "How the Church of Obsidian saved by dirty heathen soul".

Anyway, I have a (now on Hiatus) youtube channel that I had fucktonnes of notes, scripts and suchlike for that were sat on my overcrowded gDrive unorganised and doing nothing.

I had heard of Obsidian before but it all looked very overcomplicated and I didn't think I would have a use for it from watching all the how to videos where members of the Church of Obsidian showed people their simple (read: complex) note taking system that they had optimised.

However the one thing I will say about Obsidian is that there is no one system and because everyone works differently, everyone will do shit differently. Take ideas from those videos on how you can organise shit, but don't copy their system because their system might not work for you. However, I have been converted to the Church of Obsidian so I'm going to stand here and testify.

Anyway, as I said, I had a big fuck off load of Youtube Shit, and I decided the best way to do that was using Obsidian. Why? Well unlike other note apps, it's all text editor readable .md files. It's a personal wiki system and you can literally change .txt files to .md files by changing the file extension. Yes you heard me. Also, there is no server. If Notion or Evernote's servers got hacked or taken down, you're notes are gone. With obsidian, your notes are on your harddrive (I have my vaults, yes, plural, on a pendrive). You can put them on a cloud server or a home server or just on your PC and you can copy them and fuck around with them all you want, they're yours and if Obsidian decides "Obsidian Sync" (their optional paid web sync service) isn't enough and decide to paywall the app completely, you'll be fine because your notes are literally just a load of files readable on any text editor.

Anyway, how did I adapt all my files on gDrive to Obsidian. Well first I went to drive.google.com and downloaded all the relevant notes, scripts, files and shit relating to my Youtube Channel. They download as .doc files so I had to convert them to text. Most web "doc to txt" services limit you to two files per upload unless you pay, but I found a free (if slightly janky) app called MultiDoc Converter which is free and did the job well.

Next thing I did was mass rename the files from .txt to .md, which you can do with the shell. Yes the shell! It took me a while to figure out but here's how I did it.

Go to the folder where the .txt files are.

shift + right click > Open Powershell

Type ren *.txt *.md

This converted the txt files to markdown files. Yes, it's as simple as changing the friggin file extension. If you do not change the files to .md, you will not be able to Edit them.

Next is to open a new vault in Obsidian (if you don't already have one). In Obsidian, make a folder for all these new files (if you want) and in the file explorer, move all the files from the folder where they were into the folder in your vault.

Congratulations, they're now in Obsidian.

Now what?

Well the files (for me) were unlinked and unorganised. So I took the subjects the videos were on (I had a lot of videos about closed stations) and put relevant hashtags in them to link them all together, then when an article mentioned something else, I would link to the article using that.

This was a history channel, so I made a lot of Ghost notes to link references to years together (some I made into blank MOCs) and gave them the Hashtag #year. You can't make hashtags from numbers I'm afraid.

The Result?

Organised, but searchable and indexable chaos.

I'm now using Obsidian as a note app regularly, albeit on a different vault in a different method.

#obsidian md #pkms #second brain #organisation

[p-m-chiroro]

Things to do during short a study break

Get some water

Scroll through tumblr

Eat a fruit

Imagine yourself giving a speech after winning a prize

Meditate

Stand in the sun

Interact with your pets

Make some coffee

#medical student #studyblr #notion template #onenote #second brain

[irinaeunoia]

Cards I have yet to install in my Zettlekasten

#zettlekasten #analog #old school #note cards #index cards #handwriting #knowledge #information #aesthetic notes #reading #bookish #books and literature #note taking #bookstagram #antinet #niklas luhmann #quotes #second brain

[mrsmarpels]

Here is my Notion Dashboard for inspiration 🙃

I've been using this daily for a little over a year now. I can access all important areas and pages with just a few clicks using the various shortcuts.

Construction:

Get Things Done: Weekly overview of upcoming tasks and appointments

Menu: Important links structured by area

The Brain: Is a quick access to my second brain which I have integrated. I can add new notes using this shortcut or access all content and search for notes using the board view.

Make it Great: Here I summarize everything that is relevant to my personal development. This includes achievements and goals.

Journal: Quick entry for a 5-year journal - One Line A Day

Which areas and functions have you integrated into your Notion dashboard?

#notion #notion dashboard #notion template #journal #get things done #second brain #notion setup #notion inspo #notion ai

[teach-or-trav]

Todays Reading: 📖 I will be finishing up Keith Haring Journals and extracting my highlights and notes from these books by Steven Pressfield

-The Artist’s Journey

-The War of Art

- Do the Work

-Turning Pro

-Nobody Wants to Read your Sh*t

I will be taking my notes and adding them into my second brain 🧠 📖📓📚📲📱🤳💻🖥️💾👨🏾‍💻👾

My paperblanks journals 📓 are the conduit in which the obscure, brilliant, broken, and racing thoughts 💭 of my mind transmutate into physical form.

Once captured, via transferring notes 📝 and highlights in my various books and media, to my paperblanks journals, they will be organized and distilled using Notion. An amazing app and the digital hub or control center of my second brain 🧠.

@paperblanks-functional-art @paperblankcanvas-blog @paperblanks-journals-blog @paperblanksandpens

In his book Building a second brain 🧠, Tiago forte lists the benefits….

THE SUPERPOWERS OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

1. Making our ideas concrete

2. Revealing New Associations between ideas 💡

3. Incubating ideas 💡 over time ⏳⏲️⌛️

4. Sharpening our unique perspectives

#teach_or_trav #musician #soundcloud #rap #booklr #books and reading #music producer #second brain #knowledge #knowledgeable #intelligent #tiago forte #Building a second brain #reading #study aesthetic #studyblr #study blog #hiphop #let him cook #paperblanks #paperblanks journals #paperblanks nocturnelle #Spotify

[musingsofagloomywitch]

🆀🆄🅰🆁🅰🅽🆃🅸🅽🅴 🅸🅽 🅼🆈 🅱🅾🅾🅺🆂🅷🅴🅻🅵 🅰🆃 🅻🅰🆂🆃!

It took me my time to purchase every locked chapter with Wattpad points, but it's worth it!

Now that I have it unlocked, I'm on my way to transfer it to Notion - to have it archived, one never knows when it can be taken down from Wattpad - and read it calmly or listen to it with the 'Reading Mode' app.

#wattpad #paid stories #wattpad coins #download #second brain #notion #share #zombies #wattpad original #Bella_Higgin

[noodledesk]

what i read this last little bit

#books #book recs #book recommendations #essayism #second brain #beowulf #notes #mine

[mitchipedia]

Note-taking has become a nerd trend—building wikipedia-style stores of knowledge designed for yourself. It's a hypertext version of the commonplace books intellectuals kept in past centuries—journals where thinking people kept track of what they learned while reading, and conversing, and thinking. The 21st Century versions are called "zettelkasten" (from a German word) or "personal knowledge management," shortened to PKM.

I studied up on the subject in 2020 and 2021, and finally concluded a lot of it was just entertainment, rather than practical value. That's fine—but not for me, I thought. I've been a journalist for 30 years. I've refined my note-taking technique over that time. And when I do take notes, it's for a purpose—to write an article.

Tiago Forte is a big name in PKM circles, and I was skeptical of the value of his work. But this podcast interview turned me around. I am now a Forte fan.

Forte talks about developing a PKM to manage a severe chronic health problem he developed in his 20s. That makes sense. I can think of a couple of personal projects for myself that might benefit from a PKM.

This blog is a form of PKM for me—but I never consult it once I write to it! I always think I will come back to it, though.

Forte has a book out—"Building a Second Brain." It's on my to-read list.

#second brain #building a second brain #note-taking #PKM #personal knowledge management #zettelkasten #Tiago Forte #Focused #David Sparks #twt

[sagaofkim]

musings on things; an attempt to commodify myself so i could finally fit in with society's standards of productivity

this came to me in a dream... jk my brain went berserk.

it's important to have a second-brain notebook for my random epiphanies, lightbulb moments. my adhd brain cannot handle just trusting my brain to remember it for when i need that info.

besides, it'll help improve retention and recall, combat information overload, and support knowledge sharing.

it apparently takes 30 minutes to get in the "zone". it needs to be uninterrupted. and efficient, productive work can only be good for four to five hours a day, so we have to stretch it. how?

prioritize. categorize (sync or async?)

identify roles per day. what are we today? the maker or the manager?

time box. stick to it. announce for accountability and to be off limits.

weekly resets are important.

rewards are also important. i need to make a list of rewards and play i can look at when i want to take a break. the break shall not involve social media. socializing, yes, but not social media.

planning a task needs a lot of things, at least for my pea-sized brain:

the task, of course.

deadline

dependencies

breakdown -> milestones

how much effort is needed/weight

importance, impact (related to dependencies)

an Eisenhower matrix is helpful

a reflection is like a project status report. it may or may not need the following:

project name (oplan kim's brain needs help. and jesus. jesus' help.)

period

decide when to reflect and then adapt. weekly and monthly maybe. the daily could just be a brain dump instead.

timeline

scope

categories. what parts and aspects of your life this reflection covers. focus!

status

achievements

important metrics

blockers

action items/next steps

praise/shoutouts/gratitude

stakeholders

identify who this is for.

just gonna emphasize the four to five hour timeframe for productivity. practice. protect it.

maybe try pomodoro with larger chunks. once into a state of deep work, ignore the timer. or have a shorter break.

in time blocking, schedule buffers.

track productivity.

when were you creative today? when did you get creative?

try to find a new environment when you're starting to get restless.

for habitats, no failing two days in a row. do it even if half assed.

i think that's it. get out of my brain.

#productivity #learning #knowledge sharing #second brain

[b-courageous1010]

Day 18: Weekly Review Steps

How I’m setting myself up for success using the weekly review checklist from How to Build a Second Brain

Checklist:

Clear your Email

I went through my email box to look at lingering emails from the week before.

Noted action items, saw that I need to schedule a meeting regarding the information I received in an email.

Logged notes in inbox

Check your calendar

Make note of important dates and deadlines.

Looked at past meetings and saw that I need to follow up

I looked at future meetings and saw that next week I have a mentorship meeting and a meeting I need to lead. I also made notes of what needs to be discussed

I noted that I need to reach out to my manager to see if I should ask if anyone else has something they want to put on the agenda.

Another project I was working on was a task that was due last week, and I noted the next steps.

Clear your desktop

Move documents on my desktop to their appropriate folders.

So the email contained a spreadsheet I reviewed and commented on earlier this week. Today I clarified and noted what needs to be done.

I also added a task to schedule a meeting with leadership so I can get my questions answered.

Moved spreadsheet to the project folder.

Clear your inbox

This was the most time-consuming since it was the first time I did it. It was very insightful to see how I jot down notes and areas where I can improve. I was also able to identify redundant information.

First I went through the tasks and moved them to the appropriate tabs on my OneNote.

Created new tabs for ongoing projects

I noted that I need to reflect on a project I just completed.

Choose your actions for the week

Focusing on wrapping up my completed project

Prepare for my meetings.

Wrap up project B.

Complete and publish articles.

Follow up and schedule a few meetings.

Stay positive and grounded through it all

Completing this reflection helped to ease my mind on things I need to accomplish. It also helped me map out what to focus on and allowed me to wrap up the previous week. Doing the steps above also ensures I fully sweep my digital world and account for all my tasks. I have confidence that I captured everything, and I will be starting the week on the right foot.

#soft black girls #leveling up #productivity #self care #100 days of mindfulness #mindfullness #priorities #organization tips #second brain #note taking #planner

[notiofied]

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed by the constant flood of information and ideas that come your way? Do you find it difficult to organize and make sense of all the notes and thoughts that accumulate over time? If so, then you need a Notion Second Brain!

With a Notion Second Brain, you can finally take control of your digital life and harness the power of your own creativity. This powerful tool allows you to capture your ideas, organize your thoughts, and turn them into actionable insights that can transform your life and career.

Imagine being able to quickly and easily access all your notes, ideas, and research in one place. No more digging through endless folders and files, trying to remember where you saved that one piece of information you need. With a Notion Second Brain, you can have all your important data at your fingertips, ready to be used whenever you need it.

And the best part? You don't need to be a tech genius to use it! Notion Second Brain is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for anyone to get started. Plus, it's customizable, so you can tailor it to your specific needs and preferences.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your productivity and creativity to the next level. Order your Notion Second Brain today and start experiencing the benefits of a more organized and efficient digital life!

Get your Notion Second Brain now!

#notion #notion template #second brain #productivity

[pumanupes]

Readwise resurfaced this quote today, Dec 26, 2022.

#creating #book quotes #second brain #impact #positive impact #tiago forte #readwise #read #bookworm

[mustaphaelhajj]

I recently read a book about building a second brain. This is a system for managing information that you can trust. It will give you good ideas when you feel stuck. The second brain is reliable because it is organized by what is actionable instead of by topic or time frame.

Most people take a lot of notes every day. They try to organize their notes so they can find them later. But it's not always easy to do. Sometimes it's hard to remember where you put all your notes. Having your notes in a note-taking application can be helpful because you can find them more straightforward, but how often do you actually go back to these notes and use them for something that gives you progress in what you are doing? How can you get the most out of the notes you are taking and the knowledge and information you consume daily? How do you turn these notes into actions that help you achieve your goals?

The answer to these questions is what Tiago Forte tried to give in his book: "Building a second brain." The main idea behind this book is the PARA principle which stands for projects, areas of improvement, resources, and archives. This principle should help you organize your notes so you can get back to them when you need them without feeling overwhelmed.

When you organize a note by topic, source, or time frame, it becomes harder to find what you're looking for. You might never see that information again. However, when you organize information by actionability, finding the information you need becomes easier when you're ready to work on your goals.

Managing by actionability is like sending valuable information through time to yourself. This way, you can access it when you need it. Start by creating the following four sections of actionability inside your favorite digital note-taking application:

Projects (P)

Areas of improvement (A)

Resources (R)

Archive (A)

This principle is known as the PARA principle, which you can apply to help you organize your work digitally. In more detail, let's review the four parts of the P.A.R.A actionability organization system.

A project is a series of tasks you must do to achieve a goal. The tasks need to be done by a specific deadline. If you have any ideas or information that can help you with the project, put them in a folder for the project. When working on a project, it is helpful to open the folder notebook for that project and scroll through the latest notes. This way, you can see what you have done and start the project. Most people think their best ideas will come to mind when they sit down to work, but this usually does not happen. It is better if you have gradually captured good ideas in your second brain and review those ideas when you sit down to work on a project.

Reviewing what you have already captured is essential when you start a project. This will help you quickly get back into the project and avoid procrastination.

The second brain also has a section called Areas of improvement. It is where you can find digital notebooks on everything you actively try to improve or maintain. If you want to improve a skill or level up in an area of your life, go to the Areas of improvement section in your second brain.

Areas of improvement are long-term and open-ended, while projects are short-term and finite (For example: launching a new product).

The resources section in your second brain is your personal library of references, facts, and inspiration you will use to start future projects and improve an area of your life. If a project is like a meal you are cooking up on the stove and plan to have for dinner in an area of improvement notebook is like a big meal you're cooking in a slow cooker that you intend to consume during the week but don't know when you'll finish. A resource is like a spice or type of pasta in your pantry you can use to make your next meal.

The resources section of your second brain contains examples you have collected, which you can use for inspiration. You can have, for example, a marketing notebook titled "campaign ideas," where you have collected images and texts from advertisements you have seen over the past few months. You can reference this notebook when ready to start your marketing campaign.

The resources section includes helpful insights from the books, videos, and articles you encountered. You might use these when you decide to start a project. For example, suppose you are interested in trying intermittent fasting. In that case, you can capture strategies and guides in a notebook specifically for that project. Once you commit to intermittent fasting, the notebook becomes a project notebook.

Finally, your resources section contains helpful checklists and data from past projects that you can use for future projects.

An archive is where you put information that you don't want to forget but doesn't help with anything else. It includes completed projects, inactive projects, areas of improvement you're no longer interested in, and resources you don't plan on using for a while.

An archive is a place where you can store your old work and projects. It will help you to keep your system clean and organized. You can also find resources there that you might need in the future. It is vital to move completed or inactive notebooks into the archive so that you don't suffocate your second brain with notes you will never need again.

Don't worry if you put something in your archive and can't find it later. You can use keyword searches to find it quickly. Just scroll through your notes, and you'll find it. It is worth mentioning that Thiago Forte (The author of the book Building a second brain) has repeatedly found that people who build a second brain rarely return to their archive.

How to structure your productivity system

Now that the P.A.R.A principle is explained in detail let us look into how you can structure your productivity system using these principles.

Step 1: Determine what meals you are cooking on the stove

In other words, what project notebooks should be in your projects section of your second brain? Ask yourself the following questions:

What did I commit to finishing this year?

What work assignments do I need to complete?

Step 2: Determine what meals you have in the slow cooker

In other words, what areas of improvement notebooks should be in your areas of improvement section of your second brain? Ask yourself the following questions:

What do I need to do to have a successful career?

What do I need to focus on so my business is successful?

What do I need to focus on to be happy in my life?

Step 3: Determine what you want in your pantry

In other words, what resources do you want in your second brain? Ask yourself the following questions:

What do I want to research and understand better?

What examples can I collect to start a project soon?

What general lists do I frequently use and update? For example, a grocery list and a read and watch recommendations list.

After you have built your notebook structure of projects, areas of improvement, and resources that accurately depict who you are and what your priorities are, go through your existing notebook system and move the notes you use most and notes from the past month into your new second brain then put the remaining notes in your archive.

When you capture new notes, put them in a notebook folder at the top of your note-taking system. Then, when you have time, organize the notes in your notebook. You can delete or achieve most things in your notebook. But don't keep notes that don't help you with anything. That would be a waste of time.

Remember, your second brain is supposed to help you put information and ideas into practice. What's the point of knowing something if you don't use it to help others and make things you're proud of?

Conclusion

A second brain is a productivity system that can help you organize your thoughts, ideas, and work. It is based on the PARA principle, which stands for projects, areas of improvement, resources, and archives.

You can use this principle to structure your notes and build a productivity system that works for you. Remember to keep your system clean and organized so that you can easily find the information you need. And don't forget to move old or inactive notes into your archive so you don't suffocate your second brain with unnecessary information.

If you follow these steps, you will be well on your way to building a second brain that will help you be more productive and organized. And who knows, maybe you'll even find that your second brain is better than your first brain!

#second brain #productivity #learning #achieve your goals #growth #para principle