005 - How to build a digital second brain

Since you're interested in productivity, I can guarantee you've heard of a second brain.

A second brain is simply an extension to your physical pink mass. It is built on productivity apps to help you unload tasks, ideas, and make projects happen.

The point big point of a second brain, and why people are adopting it more and more is this:

Cognitive overload.

There's simply too much to remember doing, too much to we want to learn, and too much to create.

We can't overload our brains and expect it to function properly. The second brain is an extension because of this: we can overload and retrieve information that we need for any given task instead of having to remember it.

To build a second brain, you need to understand 2 major concepts:

1. A productivity app (Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, etc)

2. Productivity methods (GTD, PARA, Wheel of Life aka WoL)

With that knowledge, you will be equipped to build your second brain or adapt someone's template in order to build your own.

How I build my second brain + timeline of evolution

The second brain I use is my system from SolopreneurOS, but I reserve writing and learning to Obsidian (I love the neurograph).

I've been using Notion for the past 5 years, became an ambassador, affiliate, creator and consultant just to prove to you how much I love it.

When I started using it, I created, probably just how you'd do, a very simple "Personal" and "Work" and "Archive" main pages with subpages that displayed everything else I needed.

This was effective for a very short while — you eventually get tired of clicking around to find things.

Later, I implemented my very own 3RT method, Routines, Reminders, Revisions and Tasks, which led into the creation of PPS.

After 3RT, I baptized Premium Productivity System which is a great start if you're new to this. Less clicking around, stores all the information you will need without having too many extra templates included.

It consists of having a "brain", and all the important information laid out on a Dashboard page for quick viewing and access, and special pages to add as widgets on my phone.

PPS was the precursor for SolopreneurOS, my current system, that has helped me build everything between businesses to muscle.

I see my second brain as a constant, evolving thing. I don't delete the old ones, it's quite fun to look back at how you did things. I simply create a new workspace and move on, instead of fiddling with the old structure.

I feel like every 7 months or so, as I grow and as Notion updates, I get the urge to rebuild it, to match my current energy and state.

Understanding which app is best for you

I'm sick and tired of comparison videos of people going "this is better than that".

No Joe, maybe for someone else it isn't.

It's important that you know what app best fits you. You can start very simple, and then slowly, as you adapt to having a second brain, build in different apps.

You will probably go through the same process I go each year of feeling like you're outgrowing your current digital space (GOOD). Outgrowing is good.

So, if you're a beginner, you'd don't how you'd adapt, simply get:

1. A calendar app

2. A notes app

3. A reminders app

It's honestly all you need.

It's a lot more important that you know what to do than where to apply it. It's all a matter of adapting to a platform then. Learn the frameworks now, and then you learn the app itself to lay the methods on.

Organising your life: how to build your second brain

I can't start to talk about a second brain without mentioning the methods that keep it running. When building a brain, there're 3 methods that I've already mentioned before that will help you structure, maintain, and use your system.

I can't talk about them completely separately, either, because they intersect.

Getting things done GTD — David Allen

The method that is most used by people when it comes to general productivity — for example, at the start of a project — is GTD, which consists of 5 steps.

They steps are all called something different depending on who's writing, but the gist is the same:

1. Capture

2. Organise

3. Categorize

4. Execute

5. Review

These steps are crucial to keeping your second brain organised.

In a second brain, the step 1. "capture" is usually done in an inbox folder or database, much like your email's. Actually, you can use this same idea on your email inbox too, but that's a subject for another time.

Some people like to use post its, or a notes app. Independently, you will need a "folder", a place in your second brain to "throw things in". On Systemphoria #003 I talk about all my capture methods, just to ensure that no idea will go unattended.

The step 2 is to organise, meaning, getting that information in the right folders in order to clean the inbox, as well as delete what doesn't serve anymore.

In most apps, this can be done in a second with a shortcut.

Step 3 should be done immediately, to make sure you find things later. Categorizing means adding tags, statuses, and any other property you can in your files.

For example, in Notion, you can add a myriad of different properties to a file in order to have fine grain control. It isn't for everyone, but if you do like that approach, it might even be fun building your areas —we will talk about PARA and the Wheel of Life next so you can better understand this.

Step 4, execute, is quite straight forward: if you have tasks to do, projects to complete, tackle them! Productivity comes from doing, without doing you're not performing.

Step 5, reviewing, is where it bites people in the butt, and where they sometimes give up the entire process.

You have to choose a day to do some house cleaning. Much like you clean your desk, you need to clean your systems too, specially if you have a business and you're running your team like this as well.

Reviewing has 2 sides: actually reviewing unfinished tasks and projects, reprioritising and preparing the schedule for the next week, as well as looking at what you've done and reflecting.

A lot of people don't realise this, but reflection is a huge part of productivity. Without this exercise, you risk losing clarity and, thus, your focus.

Productivity is about effectiveness and efficiency, if you don't have focus, you won't have clarity on how to be more effective and efficient (better and faster).

PARA - Thiago Forte and the Wheel of Life

The method coined by Thiago Forte helps you with the structure of your second brain directly.

The structure is very simple, and specially for beginners into this world of second brain building.

1. Projects — where you will work in

2. Areas – the parts of your life you will organise

3. Resources —links, pdfs, reading materials, podcasts, etc. Anything that resonates

4. Archives — where you will store outdated information

Before I continue, I have to mention the Wheel of Life, which is a "zoom in"to the "areas" of the PARA method.

The way I particularly build my second brain is structured exactly this way:

1. I have a Personal projects area which categories referring to the Wheel of Life

2. A database called "Wheel of Life" with subsystems to organise everything.

3. A inbox database

4. An archives page

The categories page is shared across all the system. Whether it is personal finances, my book list or my projects. That way, I can build, inside the category page, an overview of each area of my life and have a birds eye view.

The PARA method "asks" you to have pages to store information, resources and your projects, and the Wheel of Life can achieve just that and more when it's well built.

How to build your own second brain

Looking at my system you might think: impossible, I can't build something like that!

But wait, like I said in the start of this text, you only need 3 apps. You can literally do this on your phone's notes if you want to keep it simple. Actually, that's exactly how my personal trainer manages her workout platform with almost 100.000 students!

1. Create the folders for each WoL area in your notes app or even in Google Drive. Feel free to copy from my system.

2. Within each folder, create a subfolder with what you want to systemize. For example, personal development, create "courses", "books", "journal", "goals", "habits".

3. Within the subfolders, add the files you need, or more subfolders. In courses, you could keep "French", "Math", etc and within these create the notes.

4. Repeat the structure in your reminders app. If your app supports creating reminders directly from your note, then skip this step.

And that's all! This the minimum viable structure you need to start building your second brain.

Tips to make your second brain management a breeze

1. Name things clearly.

2. Add dates if you can.

3. Use # hashtags or another supporting system to group files.

4. Use Sundays to do a deep reset of your physical and digital space.

5. Skip the urge to make everything aesthetic, matching, etc. That will only frustrate you if you're a beginner / intermediary.

6. Prefer apps that communicate with each other or that are all in one (like Notion) to reduce app switching.

7. App switching = loss in attention = more distraction = less efficient

Mistakes people make

1. Unclear, complicated names. Your second brain must be easily searchable

2. Confusion between business (if applicable) and personal. Keep them distinct ALWAYS!

3. Separate businesses, separate everything.

4. Stuck with choosing colors, names, images, etc. Gives a false sense of doing something.

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