What Most People Get Dangerously Wrong About Building a Second Brain
And how to fix it.
Knowledge management expert Tiago Forte writes:
“Your professional success and quality of life directly depend on your ability to manage the information around you. […] Now, it’s time to acknowledge that we can’t ‘use our head’ to store everything we need to know and outsource the job of remembering to technology.”
Tiago is partly right.
Note-taking systems can improve your life. A well-organized knowledge base can give you clarity of mind and save you time. RoamResearch, for example, reduced the time it takes me to write an article by 50 per cent.
And yet, Tiago is also dangerously wrong.
With the following insights from neuroscience and cognitive research, you’ll understand why the belief to outsource your memory to technology is terribly wrong and how your brain indeed can store everything you need to know.
How Your Brain Actually Works
You likely know your two memory types: short-term and long-term. The key difference? Duration and capacity.
Your short-term memory can only store about four to seven items for a very short time (15–30 seconds). It’s what helps you remember a…
