Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential

exact opposite of what you need. In the professional world: It’s not at all clear what you should be taking notes on. No one tells you when or how your notes will be used. The “test” can come at any time and in any form. You’re allowed to reference your notes at any time, provided you took them in the first place. You are expected to take action on

shifting our relationship with information toward the timeless and the private.

the meeting begins, the team sits down to start discussing the project. You are already prepared. You’ve already considered the main problems from several different angles, mapped out a number of possible solutions, and started thinking about the big-picture implications. You’ve even received feedback from some of your colleagues and incorporated i

“There is a gaping opportunity to consolidate our myriad marginaliaIV into an even more robust commonplace book. One searchable, always accessible, easily shared and embedded amongst the digital text we consume.”6

started taking notes on everything I was learning using a notetaking app on my computer. I took notes during meetings, on phone calls, and while doing research online. I wrote down facts gleaned from research papers that could be used in the slides we presented to clients. I wrote down tidbits of insight I came across on social media, to share on o

This digital commonplace book is what I call a Second Brain. Think of it as the combination of a study notebook, a personal journal, and a sketchbook for new ideas. It is a multipurpose tool that can adapt to your changing needs over time. In school or courses you take, it can be used to take notes for studying. At work, it can help you organize yo

A knowledge building block is discrete. It stands on its own and has intrinsic value, but knowledge building blocks can also be combined into something much greater—a report, an argument, a proposal, a story. Like the LEGO blocks you may have played with as a kid, they can be rapidly searched, retrieved, moved around, assembled, and reassembled int

You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and people will say, “How did he do it?

To properly take advantage of the power of a Second Brain, we need a new relationship to information, to technology, and even to ourselves.