6th Nov, 2023
Learn about Tiago Forte's second brain concept throughout this beginners guide to building a second brain.
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We have written a beginner's guide to building a second brain so you can unlock your full potential, increase productivity and lead a more fulfilling life.
The Second Brain is a concept created by Tiago Forte for managing all the information that floods our brains every single day, because there is no way our minds can remember and retain every thought, idea or thing we learn, forever. Information is so important, and it's what leads us to live the lives we have today.
So imagine what could happen if you create a way of retaining all the information you ever receive? Instead of worrying about forgetting something you'll want to remember when it's important, store this information in your second brain to keep it safe.
Let's get into it and unpack the true way to build a second brain:
A second brain is a method of digitally organising your thoughts, ideas, notes, recipes, questions and pretty much every piece of information you want to retain.
With a second brain, you can package everything up and make this information easily accessible to your future self who might want to remember what idea you had about something or the old recipe your Mother told you about but you never wrote it down.
The second brain concept essentially increases productivity and creates a more fulfilling, stress-free life. How? Because you no longer need to live on the edge of questioning yourself because everything is there inside your second brain.
You can create a second brain using different tools and apps, we will go into this further along this guide.
There are a few key teachings when it comes to using a second brain. There are also some systems you can put in place to help you build and manage your very own second brain.
Here are a few main teachings/reasons to build a second brain.
The CODE method for using a second brain is a four-step process most people already tend to follow without realising it. It essentially gives you a way to build and manage your second brain easily.
There are a few guidelines for making sure you only capture what you need.
And the next step, organize.
PARA is the method for organising your information inside your second brain. All information can be put into four categories, keeping it simple and easy to navigate.
PARA starts with the most actionable information such as things you can complete or information you will need shortly, to the least actionable, meaning information you will need in the future.
So how do you organise from here? A good place to start would be by moving all notes and information into the archive folder. Once you have done this, spend some time each day thinking about where you can place your notes, which notes you don't need, and which ones you will leave in the archive for now.
Over time you'll have organised your current notes and be able to add new information into the right places.
Another good tip for writing distilled notes is to add to a note each time you use it, this adds value and allows you to organise information better. Maybe you decide this note needs to be moved to Areas or Archive now that you are done with it.
Here are just a few benefits of adopting the second brain system into your life.
You can use anything you would like to store notes and information to create a second brain, some people just use their notes application and have found a good enough method for themselves.
However, there are specific apps available to support building a second brain, we think these three are a good place to start.
Obsidian is a well-known advanced note-taking tool, perfect for connecting notes and thoughts to build a successful second brain system.
With Obsidian, the more notes you take and save the better your knowledge base becomes, like your own personal wiki. You can then search and bring up notes and suggestions to help you express your information in the real world and achieve results.
Evernote is one of the most popular note-taking applications to create a second brain system. Lots of people already use the app to store and organise information including web clippings and read later snippets of info.
Notion is a super customisable space meaning you can build a second brain exactly how you want. Create a space for organising information and retrieving it when you need it.
Not only can notion be used for second brain building, you can use your notes and information directly inside Notion to create, and carry out projects and plans.
You can learn the Second Brain system in full depth with Tiago's new Foundation course, unlocking vital skills, immersing you in a self-paced course for note-taking.
Dozens of apps. One subscription. Only $9.99.
With a single monthly subscription at $9.99, you get 240+ apps for your Mac.
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