Building a Second Brain in 2024
to Elevate Your Thought Levels with a Digital Upgrade.
Information becomes knowledge—personal, embodied, verified— only when we put it to use. — Tiago Forte
What is a second brain?
Second Brain is a famous technique and system developed by Tiago Forte to help you organize all your thoughts, ideas, and highlights in one place.
Today's world is full of information. So information overload is definitely a problem.
But the second brain gives you a structured approach to organizing all our material, notes, and ideas in one place. So that you can use it whenever you want and create something valuable.
Who is this for?
Are you a programmer? Then wouldn't it be nice to store all your resources in one place?
Are you a reader? Then wouldn't it be nice to store all your book suggestions, notes, and highlights in one place?
Are you a student? Then wouldn't it be nice to store all your study material in one place?
Yes, it is helpful, right?
It doesn't matter from which field you are. As long as you love to collect information. You can implement a second brain in your life.
The CODE Technique
It is a technique shared in the book to help us make optimum use of our second brain.
It stands for capture, organize, distill, and express.
1. Capture
You haven’t lost your touch or run out of creative juice. It just means you don’t yet have enough raw material to work with.
It says to capture everything that comes to your mind.
There are various tools on the market to help you capture ideas effectively.
Like Notion, Evernote, Obsidian, Keep Notes on Android, Apple Notes on iOS, etc.
You can use any tool you love from these options.
I use Keep Notes for quick capture.
This is how it looks.
Previously, I used to capture my notes in Notion with its in-built quick capture widget for mobile.
But recently, I shifted to Keep Notes because I found it a bit convenient and it also matches my purpose.
2. Organize
Your professional success and quality of life depend directly on your ability to manage information effectively.
Now it’s time to organize everything in one place.
To organize your digital space, you should definitely ask yourself this one important question:
Where can I use this information in my upcoming projects?
Once you have the answer, it is time to rearrange your digital space.
The author suggests the PARA technique in his book to organize our resources effectively.
PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives.
- Projects: The Projects section contains all your short-term goals for the upcoming year. Example: I want to lose 10 kg in 3 months, etc.
- Areas: Areas are the categories that contain all your short-term and long-term goals.
Example: Category: Career, Long-term goal: I want to get a software developer job at that MNC in the upcoming year. Short-term goal: I should complete data structures by June.
- Resources: It basically contains all the things you need for your upcoming projects. Examples: all the links, resources, tools, etc.
- Archives: It contains all the outdated and inactive items that you no longer want to work on.
Once you have clarity about the PARA technique, it becomes far easier to organize everything.
3. Distill
It starts with realizing that in any piece of content, the value is not evenly distributed.
Now that you have tons of information in your bank, it's time to figure out what's important and what's not.
Distilling helps you eliminate unwanted clutter and helps you focus on more important things.
I have a “distilled” section in my Gmail where I save the most important emails.
I basically created this section to come back to these emails again and again because the knowledge they share is valuable.
Similarly, you can use various apps like Notion and Obsidian to create a personalized space for yourself.
Easlo is one of the top creators on Notion, so you can check out his "Second Brain" template to get started.
You just have to make a purchase, duplicate his template, setup everything, and you're good to go.
4. Express
Unused knowledge is like a treasure hidden away; it benefits no one.
Now that you have plenty of knowledge in your bank, it's time to put it to use.
The word express simply means taking action.
It doesn't matter which medium you're using; just get started.
In my case, I create content for my writing clients and occasionally write on Medium.
Similarly, different people serve different purposes.
So you've got to prioritize this knowledge according to your interests and then make progress.
How Building a Second Brain Changed My Life?
It changed my life, but that doesn't mean I got rich or something.
Instead, it made me more calm and focused toward my goal, and I think that is also a part of success.
Earlier, I used to consume anything and everything from the internet.
So I was a constant victim of information overload.
But with my second brain, I have limited my sources of information.
I quit YouTube, limited my use of social media, stopped following toxic news, etc.
So this helped me focus on things that are really important.
I also have a detailed article on my complete setup for the second brain; save it for later.
So that’s it for today. Thank you for reading.
Share your thoughts in the comments if you too are a fan of the second brain.
P.S: If you genuinely find the story helpful, then follow me for more. Join 100+ readers to never miss an update on my upcoming stories.
