Have you ever spent hours, sometimes days, trying to find a particular sticky note, piece of paper, or article that you wanted to send a friend after a conversation?
Or perhaps it was an important newspaper article that you wanted to quote later on that week in an office meeting, but it disappeared as you were standing up to go into the meeting room?
Me too.
Which is why I was very intrigued about reading Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte*. This is also why I couldn’t wait to tell you all about what I’m taking away from the book.
Building a Second Brain is a branch that has grown from the Personal Knowledge Management movement that started in the 1990s to help students manage the vast amounts of information that they had access to while attending university. Although many of us keep our notes and information we don’t want to forget in other places – internet history, notebooks, sticky notes – this book insists that there is a better way.
And I have learned – Tiago Forte was right.
Given our ability to carry a small computer in our hands, with all the information the internet has to offer at our fingertips, why not incorporate a commonplace “notebook” into the digital world? By saving all your notes and articles digitally, through one of the many note-taking platforms available, you have a searchable, accessible at your fingertips, easy to share with your colleagues, and easily embedded notebook in your phone. It can even automatically sync to your laptop or browser, depending on the platform you are using.
I have always been a fan of Evernote (no, I am not affiliated with Evernote – I just really like the platform). Before I was even halfway into the book, Building a Second Brain, I had created a brand new, free account with Evernote to give this new digital organization system a try.
It even goes beyond Evernote, as Tiago Forte recommends that you also create a similar folder system in your laptop to manage your files. He made such a great point that I followed instantly – move all files into an Archive folder right away. By clearing up your Folders and Desktop, you increase creativity and can feel a sense of relief as you start from a fresh slate.
Of course, your files are always there behind the Archive folder name. You simply need to move them out if you find you need them later (which surprisingly, was only a handful of files for me). I love how much easier it is to navigate my folders and find my “Areas” vs my “Projects” vs “Resources” – I highly recommend the exercise.
As you can likely tell, I absolutely loved this book, and I only scratched the surface on the fantastic information that is available in it. I have read many “organization” books, and what did I love most about this one?
It’s so easy to try.
There is no major overhaul of files, trying to decide right away which ones to delete or put in the paper shredder. You don’t need to go out and buy a label maker with one hundred file folders. You can start small – start using the method with your favorite note-taking app. The next time you are at your computer, you can create the Archive folder and start fresh.
I still haven’t seen all the benefits I can only imagine from this new and easy system, and I can’t wait to keep discovering new ways that it helps me as I build my business, launch my coaching programs, and start thinking of even more ways I can grow in the future.
I can’t recommend this book enough – go out and get a copy, wherever you like to get books from. If you’d like, you can also use my Amazon Affiliate link (Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte), which will allow me to get a very small percentage if you decide to purchase the book based on this article. However, there are a lot of copies at my library, so I’m sure there will be at yours, too.
I should emphasize here as well – this book could be helpful to you, no matter what field you are in. I have started using it for organizing trips and bucket lists for birthday parties for my kids and family vacations. You can use this system as a stay-at-home parent or a director at a big corporation – there is something in this system that could definitely help you.
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