I have been struggling with managing my thoughts in a place for the longest time. How many times has it ever happened to you that you have an idea in your mind and left it there thinking that you will write it down later? And when that 'later' comes, the idea is gone.
Then I started researching it and came across this article by Tiago Forte. He described it as -
How many brilliant ideas have you had and forgotten? How many insights have you failed to take action on? How much useful advice have you slowly forgotten as the years have passed?
We feel a constant pressure to be learning, improving ourselves, and making progress. We spend countless hours every year reading, listening, and watching informational content. And yet, where has all that valuable knowledge gone? Where is it when we need it? Our brain can only store a few thoughts at any one time. Our brain is for having ideas, not storing them.
Building A Second Brain is a methodology for saving and systematically reminding us of the ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections we’ve gained through our experience. It expands our memory and our intellect using the modern tools of technology and networks.
When I read this article, it blew my mind. And that is how I got introduced to the idea of having a 'Second Brain'.
Think for a moment and recall all of the content you have consumed today. Articles, videos, Whatsapp messages, TV series, podcasts, and what not!
From the time I have come across this idea, I have shifted all my writing and note-taking to Notion and it is working so well for me.
Notion can be used on android, Windows, Mac, everywhere.
I have a page named 'Inbox' on my Notion workspace. If an idea pops into my head, I just take out my phone, open Notion, and write it down there. And once or twice every week, I sit down and organize my second brain. I segregate the content that makes sense and put them into their relevant categories.
And the best part is that these random ideas then become full blog posts on my website. How cool is that!!
Initially, I used to sit down with a blank screen open on my computer when I need to write a blog post. And my most productive time used to get wasted in figuring out the topic of the article. Now I just go through my 'inbox' and I am able to find some really cool blog post ideas.
I’m still very new to this Second Brain stuff but it’s already made my content consumption far more intentional, and changed the way I organize my life and my projects. I’ll definitely share more as I expand my own system and use-cases, but if this sounds up your street, I’d recommend giving it a go - hopefully we can explore this new territory together.