Building a Second Brain, page 23
telling a bigger story with, 165–66
where to save individual, 101–3
notetaking assessing proficiency of, 240
author’s experience, 10–14
quantum, 116–18
rethinking, 22–25
three most common novice mistakes, 137–41
notetaking apps browsing features, 160–61
choosing, 38–40, 239
clearing notes in, 214
content not suited for, 60–61
exporting and importing features, 40n
four powerful characteristics of, 39
search function in, 159–60
noticing habits, 200, 217–20
Notion, 39
O
obligation-to-service shift, 231–32
official kickoff, 206–7
online articles, 129–30
open-ended questions, 64, 66, 239
Organize (CODE step), 42, 43, 81–111, 238 actionability and (see actionability)
Capture step separated from, 101–2, 117
Cathedral Effect and, 84–86
divergence and, 180
explained, 45–46
move quickly, touch lightly approach, 108–11
PARA in (see PARA)
where to save individual notes, 101–3
outlines, 184–85, 203, 205
outtakes, 153
P
PARA, 87–111, 160, 163, 165, 204, 214, 238. See also Archives; Areas; Projects; Resources creative execution and, 194
getting set up with, 239
how it works, 90–95
illustrations of, 96–101
kitchen organization analogy, 103–5
versatility of, 87, 89
Weekly Reviews and, 212
Parable of the Sower, The (Butler), 147–48
Paramount Pictures, 113
Paul, Annie Murphy, 17, 30n
Pauling, Linus, 34
Peace Corps, 12–13
Perell, David, 235n
perfectionism, 40, 89
personal information, 69
personal knowledge management (PKM), 2–3, 2n, 4, 224 joining the community, 240–41
three stages of, 41–42
perspectives, sharpening, 37–38
physical products, 34–35, 58n
Picasso, Pablo, 134–36
Picasso’s Bull (drawing), 134–36, 137
pillow books, 20n
PKM. See personal knowledge management
podcast player apps, 75
podcasts, 130–32
Polanyi, Michael “Polanyi’s Paradox,” 233
postmortem questions, 210
poverty of attention, 18, 18n
premortem questions, 206, 206n
Princeton University, 37
productivity, 48, 48n creativity and, 197
mise-en-place process and, 198–200
Progressive Summarization, 120–34, 137–43, 153, 163, 184, 204, 205, 238 defined, 120
examples of, 128–34
four layers of, 120–26, 120n
knowledge map navigation with, 126–27
practicing, 240
three common novice mistakes, 137–41
project checklists, 200, 201–11
Project Completion Checklist, 207–11
Project Kickoff Checklist, 202–7
project lists, reviewing and updating, 216
Projects (PARA category), 87, 89 adding a current status note to inactive, 208, 210
completed as oxygen of Second Brain, 105–8
defined, 90
80 percent done rule, 166n
examples of, 91
explained, 90–92
illustrations of folders, 96–97, 100–101
kitchen organization analogy, 104, 105
marking as complete, 207, 208
officially closing and celebrating, 211
ordering by actionability, 102, 103
stress-free completion of, 166–67
prompt books, 114–16, 178
Psychology Today article, 121, 123, 124, 125
Q
Quantified Self community, 11n
quantum notetaking, 116–18
questions open-ended, 64, 66, 239
postmortem, 210
premortem, 206, 206n
“Twelve Favorite Problems” exercise, 61–66, 239
quotes, 58
R
reactivity loop, 77–78
read later apps, 73, 74, 75, 239
recency bias, 36–37
reflections, 59
Reisberg, Daniel, 35, 77n
remember (Express stage), 164–65
remembering (PKM stage), 41, 42
remodeling project example, 97, 132–34, 191–94
resonance, 44–45, 70–72
Resources (PARA category), 87, 89 defined, 90
explained, 94–95
illustration of folder, 98–99
kitchen organization analogy, 104, 105
ordering by actionability, 102, 103
retrieval exactly when needed, 164–65
methods, 158–64
S
Savage, Adam, 169
scarcity-to-abundance shift, 229–30
search for ease of retrieval, 159–60
of outlines, 185
for related terms across all folders, 203, 204–5
Second Brain. See also Building a Second Brain system biological brain changed by, 227
comparison of life with and without, 25–29
completed projects as oxygen of, 105–8
defined, 4
engineering luck with, 217–20
information stream filtered by, 53–54
shifts in mindset and, 229–34
superpowers of, 34–38
synonyms for, 4, 4n
twelve steps to starting, 238–41
Seinfeld, Jerry, 56
selection, 185
self-expression, 223–41 the courage to share and, 236–37
fundamental need for, 234–36
mindset over toolset in, 224–25
a new job for the biological brain, 227–29
shifts in mindset and, 229–34
self-ignorance, 233
sensitive information, 60–61
sequencing, 185
serendipity, 162–64
Shannon, Claude, 69
sharing, 231–32 courage for, 236–37
discovering the power of, 14–15
serendipity and, 163–64
“She’s Got a Way” (song), 83
Simon, Herbert, 18n
slow burn approach, 37
social media apps, 73, 74
songwriting, 54–56, 57
sources, citing, 154, 169
space, designing for ideas. See Cathedral Effect
spatial thinking, 160n
stakeholders, communicating with, 206, 211
standardization, 177
Stanford Design School, 178n
stigmergy, 139n
stories, 59
success criteria defining, 206
evaluating, 211
Swift, Taylor, 54, 178
swipe files, 57
T
Tacit Dimension, The (Polanyi), 233n
tacit knowledge, 233
tagging, 88, 88n creating a system that works, 243
for ease of retrieval, 161–62
reviewing tags for relevant notes, 203, 204
takeaways, 59
task manager, 207, 208
tasks choosing for the week, 214–15
reprioritizing, 217
reviewing someday/maybe, 216–17
Telpner, Meghan, 131–32
Tharp, Twyla, 81–84, 114, 178
thinking abstract, 160n
benefits of externalizing thoughts, 76–78
emotions’ effect on, 71
spatial, 160n
technology as a tool for, 3, 30–31, 41
technology-induced changes in, 19
Toyota, 15
Tversky, Barbara, 160n
“Twelve Favorite Problems” exercise, 61–66, 239
V
Vico, Giambattista, 145, 170
voice memos, 59, 75
W
Watson, James, 34–35
Wayback Machine, 72n
Wayne Lacson Forte: On My Way To Me (documentary), 176n
web clipper apps, 73, 74
Weekly Reviews, 102, 200, 212–15, 240
Why Information Grows (Hidalgo), 58n
Wikipedia, 118n, 128–29
Wilkins, Maurice, 34
Woolf, Virginia, 19
work-in-process, 153, 154
Write of Passage (online school), 235n
writing in public, 235–36
writing things down, 2. See also notetaking discovering the power of, 10–14
multiple benefits of, 76–78
Y
YouTube videos, capturing parts of, 76
Z
Zettelkasten, 4n
zuihitsu, 20n
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Forte, Tiago, author.
Title: Building a second brain : a proven method to organize your digital life and unlock your creative potential / Tiago Forte.
Description: First Atria Books hardcover edition. | New York : Atria Books, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021057378 (print) | LCCN 2021057379 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982167387 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982167394 (paperback) | ISBN 9781982167400 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Creative ability. | Thought and thinking.
Classification: LCC BF408 .F67 2022 (print) | LCC BF408 (ebook) | DDC 153.3/5—dc23/eng/20211208
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021057378
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021057379
ISBN 978-1-9821-6738-7
ISBN 978-1-9821-6740-0 (ebook)
Tiago Forte, Building a Second Brain
