6 Benefits of Building a Second Brain
by Parker · 32 things on NewTwos
- 6 benefits I learned from the note-taking and productivity guru, Tiago Forte's new book, Building a Second Brain.
- Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
- Our fragile brains are overwhelmed by the increasing complexity of our lives
- Our heads aren't meant to store every detail, use a notes app to unload.
- "Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them." - David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
- "Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think." - Albert Einstein
- Information is an asset
- A collection of notes is a business asset.
- Remember details from meetings, why decisions were made, research, and save time communicating.
- One system saves us time/money
- Research from Microsoft shows that the average US employee spends 76 hours per year looking for misplaced notes, items, or files.
- A report from the International Data Corporation found that 26% of a typical knowledge worker’s day is spent looking for and consolidating information spread across a variety of systems.
- You might email yourself a quick note, underline passages in a book, and use a post-it here or there, but that information probably remains disconnected and scattered.
- “There is a gaping opportunity to consolidate our information into one searchable, accessible, easily shared and embedded amongst the digital text we consume.” - Craig Mod
- Things you write down now have significant value later
- Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand.
- Pieces of knowledge can be combined into something much greater—a report, an argument, a proposal, a story.
- Writing things down helps you understand yourself
- One of the most valuable kinds of information to keep is personal information like your own thoughts, reflections, and memories.
- We can use notetaking to document our lives and better understand how we became who we are.
- At the core of building a second brain is cultivating self-awareness and self-knowledge.
- When you encounter an idea that resonates with you, it is because that idea reflects back to you something that is already within you.
- Capturing things you want to remember helps other people
- The purpose of knowledge is to be shared.
- What’s the point of knowing things if you can't share them with other people who will also personally benefit?
- With mere words, you can pay forward some of the immense care that has been poured into you by a lifetime of parents, teachers, and mentors.
- With mere words, you can open doors to unimaginable horizons for the people around you.
- “Your singular perspective may patch some small hole in the vast tattered fabric of humanity.” - Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal Method
- I have been building a second brain for 6+ years in an app and website that I built called "Twos."
- Twos helps you capture and share any *thing* you want to remember.
- Everyone can experience the benefits of writing *things* down.
- Click here to start remembering *things* for free today.