Building a second brain - Neuroscience PhD student
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the concept of building a 'second brain' as a tool for enhancing creativity and managing information overload. The main idea is to create a curated library of information that resonates with you, which can be captured through various means like notebooks or apps like Notion or Evernote. The process involves four steps: Capture (recording information that resonates), Organize (structuring your notes), Distill (making notes comprehensive for future use), and Express (using the gathered information to create new ideas or projects). The speaker emphasizes the importance of starting with what you already have, rather than seeking new information, and working in focused 90-minute blocks. The benefits include incremental value creation, becoming a curator of information, and gaining new perspectives that can inspire future projects. The video also features a sponsored segment on language learning with Linguda, highlighting the importance of practicing with native speakers.
Takeaways
- 📚 Building a second brain involves creating a curated library of information that resonates with you, which can later be used for creative inspiration.
- 💡 The main idea behind the second brain is the 'CODE' method: Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express.
- 🔍 Capture what resonates with you to become a curator of information, rather than a passive observer.
- 📝 When capturing information, focus on what is new and surprising to avoid redundancy and fill your library with novel ideas.
- 🎨 Capture various forms of information, including text, images, and audio clips, to enrich your second brain visually and information-wise.
- 📈 Over time, capturing resonant moments adds value to your personal library, even without an active plan.
- 🌐 The second brain can be a physical notebook or a digital tool like Notion or Evernote, but the key is having a dedicated place for information storage.
- 📋 Organize your notes into dedicated places, but keep it simple to avoid spending too much time on organization rather than creation.
- ✍️ When distilling notes, aim to make them comprehensive for future use, rewriting key messages in your own words where possible.
- 🚫 Be cautious about removing original text, as it may contain valuable information that could be useful later on.
- 🎭 Expressing is where most of the creative work happens; use the gathered information to create new projects, blog posts, or research papers.
- ⏳ Work in focused 90-minute blocks during the express phase, combining old information to generate new ideas without seeking new data.
- 🌟 The benefits of a second brain include incremental value creation over time and the development of a curatorial perspective on information consumption.
- 🤝 Collaborate with others by sharing your second brain, which can lead to new insights and creative ideas.
- 📈 Use the second brain to shift from a consumer to a creator, valuing and utilizing the information you already have.
Q & A
What is the concept of a 'second brain' as described in the transcript?
-The 'second brain' is a system or place where you capture and store different types of information that you encounter throughout your day. It is a tool for organizing and re-encountering information to create your own creative ideas, and it could be a physical notebook or a digital application like Notion or Evernote.
What are the four steps of the 'CODE' method for building a second brain?
-The 'CODE' method stands for Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express. It involves capturing information that resonates with you, organizing your notes into dedicated places, distilling your notes to make them comprehensive for future use, and expressing by creating new content with the gathered information.
How does capturing what resonates with you help in building a second brain?
-Capturing what resonates allows you to become a curator of information rather than a passive observer. It helps in leaving behind information that you already know and fills your 'second brain' with new and novel ideas that can spark creativity and innovation.
What is the significance of capturing visual content like pictures or clips in addition to text?
-Capturing visual content along with text makes your projects more interesting both visually and information-wise. It can provide a different perspective and can be particularly insightful when you are starting a new course or learning something new, as it captures your initial reactions and thoughts.
How does the use of a language learning platform like Linguda benefit someone trying to learn a new language?
-Linguda provides native speaker teachers to help practice pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. It allows for flexibility to fit into a busy schedule, offers the choice of topics of interest for focused practice, and enables frequent practice sessions to gradually improve language skills.
What is the recommended approach to organizing notes in the second brain?
-The recommended approach is to keep it as simple as possible. Over-organizing can lead to spending too much time on categorization rather than creation. Using a few apps for different purposes, like Notion for ideas, a to-do list manager for tasks, and a basic notebook for journaling, can help maintain simplicity.
Why is it important to distill notes to make them comprehensive for future use?
-Distilling notes helps in extracting the key message from the information you've captured. Rewriting notes in your own words makes it easier to use the information later in your projects without having to reinterpret or re-understand the original source material.
How does the 'Express' step of the CODE method contribute to the creation of new ideas?
-The 'Express' step involves creating new content using the information gathered in your second brain. It encourages starting from a place of abundance by leveraging existing information rather than starting afresh each time, which can lead to more efficient and inspired creative processes.
What are the benefits of building and focusing on a second brain?
-Building a second brain allows for incremental value creation over time, provides a curatorial perspective on information consumption, and can spark new inspiration by re-encountering past notes. It also promotes a shift from consuming to creating, and emphasizes the importance of using what you already know.
How does working in 90-minute blocks during the 'Express' phase of the CODE method help with idea generation?
-Working in 90-minute blocks helps maintain focus on one aspect of creation at a time without the distraction of looking up new information. This concentrated effort can lead to surprising new ideas by combining existing information in novel ways.
What advice does the transcript provide for someone who is just starting to build their second brain?
-The transcript advises starting by capturing what resonates with you, keeping the organization of your notes simple, and being cautious about removing original text notes. It also encourages capturing a variety of information sources, including visual content, and recommends using the second brain to spark new ideas by re-encountering past notes.
Outlines
📚 Building a Second Brain for Creativity and Information Management
The first paragraph introduces the concept of a 'second brain' as a method to capture and store information, which can later be used to generate creative ideas. The second brain is a curated collection of information from various sources that one has consumed, such as books, movies, and music. The author has been influenced by Thiago Forte's book, 'Building a Second Brain,' and aims to share how this concept can be implemented in one's life. The paragraph also outlines the 'CODE' method: Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express, which is central to building a second brain. The focus is on capturing what resonates with the individual, which transforms them into a curator of information rather than a passive observer.
🗂️ Organizing and Simplifying Your Second Brain
The second paragraph delves into the 'organize' step of the CODE method, emphasizing the importance of a simple organizational system. The author suggests that spending too much time organizing can be counterproductive and recommends using a few key apps for different aspects of information management. Notion is used for broader ideas and projects, Todoist for task management, and a basic notebook for journaling and jotting down thoughts. The 'distill' step is also covered, where the goal is to make notes comprehensive and valuable for future reference, suggesting rewriting notes in one's own words for better integration and use.
🎨 Expressing Creativity and the Benefits of a Second Brain
The third paragraph discusses the 'express' step, which is about creating new work from the gathered information. It encourages starting with an abundance mindset, utilizing the information already gathered in one's second brain rather than conducting new searches. The author also recommends working in focused 90-minute blocks without seeking new information to foster creativity. The benefits of building a second brain are highlighted, such as the incremental value creation over time and the shift from passive consumption to active curation of information. The paragraph concludes with a quote from Thiago Forte that encapsulates the philosophy behind the second brain concept.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Creativity
💡Second Brain
💡Capture
💡Organize
💡Distill
💡Express
💡Curating Information
💡Lingoda
💡Information Overload
💡Notion
💡Value Creation
Highlights
Creativity is a collaboration between you and the books, movies, and music you have consumed.
The concept of a 'second brain' is a curated library of your experiences and knowledge.
Building a second brain involves capturing and storing information encountered throughout the day.
The 'CODE' method stands for Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express.
Capturing what resonates with you turns you into a curator of information.
Capturing information passively over time adds value to your personal library.
Lingudao is a language learning platform that connects you with native speakers for practice.
Organizing your notes should be kept simple to avoid wasting time.
The 'Distill' step involves making notes comprehensive for future use.
Expressing is where most of the time should be spent, focusing on creating with the gathered information.
Starting projects from the idea of abundance by using existing information can be more effective than starting from scratch.
Building a second brain allows for incremental value creation over time.
Curating the type of information you let into your second brain can lead to more valuable insights.
Thiago Forte's quote emphasizes using what you know, creating more, and valuing what you have.
The benefits of a second brain include sparking new inspiration from re-encountered information.
Creating a second brain can shift your perspective from consuming to creating.
Working in 90-minute blocks during the 'Express' phase can lead to surprising new ideas.
Transcripts
so your ability to make and create
creative ideas will be what sets you
apart from the crowd creativity is a
collaboration between you and other
books movies and music you have consumed
before you what would it be like if
everything you encountered is stored
memorized and distilled neatly into one
place like a library especially curated
for you we need a creative environment
that we can explore and wander around in
when we are lost in our own ideas so one
solution to our current information
overload that we get from our
environment is building a second brain
an I have encountered the idea of
building a second brain by the book from
Thiago Forte called building your second
brain and I have really loved this book
I think it has changed a little bit the
way I look at information and the way I
interact with information and I hope to
today share the main ideas behind this
book and how I implement it in my life
to create my own second brain but first
of all what is a second brain so Thiago
Fortis says that the second brain is a
place where you capture and store
different types of of information that
you encounter throughout your day and I
think most of you probably already have
a version of a so-called second brain so
this could be for example a notebook
that you have that you capture little
notes in during the day or it could be a
dedicated app on your computer like
notion or Evernote but in general I
think the type of program or the type of
notebook you use is not the most
important behind this building a second
brain method the main idea is that you
have a place where you can store this
information and then re-encounter it and
recreate it into your own creative idea
so I will show you in this video the
different steps of the building a second
brain method such that you can start
building your own second brain so the
biggest idea behind the building a
second brain method is this so-called
code step plan so code stands for
capture organize the steel and express
let's first start with capture so I
think most of us know how to capture
things so that's just whenever you
encounter new information you put it
into a certain notebook or a dedicated
place but the thing is sometimes we're a
little bit unsure of what to capture I
think most people fall into two camps or
they capture way too much they literally
highlight entire paragraphs of a book or
they capture way too little so they
don't know down anything at all when
they're reading something or
encountering new information and I think
one really big tip that I got from the
book is to capture what resonates and I
think if you capture what resonates you
kind of see you kind of become a curator
of information instead of just a passive
Observer and also by only capturing what
resonates or what you find surprising
you will see that you can kind of leave
behind information that you already know
and I think by doing this in the end you
get a notebook filled with really new
novel ideas or quotes that you got from
other information sources and one really
big benefit that I have found from doing
this is that if you slowly capture
throughout your life everything that
resonates you are slowly adding value to
your own Library without having any
active plans or anything active that you
have to do at that moment so for example
I capture passive moments that really
resonate with me during meetings when
reading a book when listening to a song
even movies and I think one thing I
would want to recommend to you is to
also capture for example pictures or
capture parts of Clips because I think
most of us capture parts of text but we
don't really capture thoughts movies and
or pictures whereas I think if you
capture all of these your projects will
become a lot more interesting both
visually as well as information wise and
I think especially when you just start
taking a new course this can be really
insightful later because what you
capture as a novice is quite different
from what you capture as an expert and
sometimes it's really hard to get back
into this novice mindset and one thing
if I look back that I wish I did was
when I was learning different languages
that I had captured my thoughts or
feelings or what I found really
surprising in that language because
right now I'm a little bit more advanced
in some languages and it's sometimes
quite a shame that I don't remember
First Learning these languages so that
also brings me to today's sponsor
linguda so linguda has kindly teamed up
with me to talk to you a little bit
about language learning so throughout my
life I've learned a few languages but
right now I'm really focusing on French
again because I have a good friend in
France and I kind of want to keep my
language skill up but one of the main
issues at least that I face living here
in the Netherlands is that there are not
that many French speakers around me so
and I find it personally really
important to practice with native
speakers so that's one thing I really
like about lingo there that's they
always have a native speaker as a
teacher that can help you really
practice your pronunciation as well as
grammar and vocab so with linguda I am
able to fit it into my super busy
schedule and language classes really
allow me to slowly increase my speaking
abilities also something that I really
like is that you can choose the topic
that you are interested in and you can
practice as often as you want so for
example if you have a job interview in a
certain language you can really zoom in
to this topic and book only classes that
have job interview as their main topic
so during the holidays and the weekend
I'm slowly trying to make it a habit to
have one French class a week I'm not
there yet but I really hope to keep this
habit up such that I can also speak with
my friends abroad in French so linguda
now has offered my subscribers this
amazing deal for Black Friday and that's
50 of your first trial and the discount
code is charlotte50 or you can just
click the link down in the description
below and if you're learning a language
at the moment I would be really curious
what language you are learning and what
kind of Trials you're facing because I
think we could perhaps help each other
but let's get back to the video so the
second part of the code method is
organize and that's where you organize
your notes into their dedicated places
and Thiago for the head has this whole
schema of how to do this but I
personally try to just keep it as simple
as possible I think most people spend
too much time on organizing their notes
and I do think having a nice organized
place for all your ideas is really good
but in the end if you spend 90 of your
time organizing your different notes and
ideas you're perhaps wasting a little
bit of your time so I think keep it as
simple as possible that's my only tip so
I just use three apps I have notion
which I talked about before in this
video and there I just literally put
everything I sometimes put it into
different projects folders or I create a
specific Pages for different projects
but in general I just put all my ideas
there then the second app I use is to do
this and this is just a really easy to
do list manager I think the way I use it
every time I think of something small I
have to do or an earns I have to run I
put it in there and finally I just have
a basic notebook I do journaling in
there I make to-do lists I write
different thoughts things I have on my
mind I'm the third part of the code
method is the steel so the steel is
where you try to make your notes as
comprehensive as possible for your
future self so you really try to get the
key message from the little notes you
make so for example if you highlighted a
passage from a book try to find a key
sentence and I especially like to
rewrite it in my own words because if I
rewrite it already in my own words I can
literally just copy paste to use it
later in a piece I'm writing or a video
I'm creating but sometimes I am a little
bit lazy and then I just highlight the
main message or the main words that I
see in the text and I do have to say
with this part I would be a bit careful
removing the original text because I
think sometimes when we're really
involved in the information we are
sometimes the least qualified person to
really judge the information we have
collected and that's because we're too
involved in it so I think sometimes
leaving the original note with the
Rewritten Passage under it is better
than removing the original note because
maybe in a later part in your life you
want to use the original note as well
and the last part of the code method is
Express and I personally think Express
is actually where 90 of your time has to
be focused on because expressing is
creating and making the information you
have gathered in a new way such that it
can become a project for example or a
blog post or a paper you're writing for
your research and the main message in
the book for this part is to start from
the idea of abundance so I know I have
the tendency when I start on a new
project to not look at all the
information I have already created but
to start almost afresh with a fresh
search on the internet and trying to
find new information that I can put in
my projects but usually actually when I
look at all the information I have
gathered of my life in my notion and
notebooks I already have 50 of the
project done because a lot of projects
that I nowadays start already things
that I have fun about for a long time
during my research during my Masters or
even during my bachelor's am I looking
what you already have in your second
brain and reassembling these information
pieces you can sometimes get a lot
further than starting from scratch every
time you start a new project and one of
the main messages also in this part is
to then work in these 90 minute blocks
so I think if once you're in the express
part of the code method it's good to
work in these 90 minute blocks and focus
on one thing you try to create with your
already gathered information so during
those 90 minutes you're not allowed to
look up any new information and I think
you sometimes will surprise yourself the
new ideas you come up with by combining
old information together instead of
starting a project from scratch again so
then the last thing I want to talk a
little bit about are the benefits of
building a second brain so one of the
things that I've really noticed by
creating a second brain and focusing in
on it every day is that I am creating
value slowly in increments over time so
every time I read a book even if it's
for pleasure I usually highlight
different passages that I really like
and even if I don't immediately use
those passages in a project I sometimes
re-encounter those passages a year later
two years later and then it really
Sparks new inspiration for a project
that I'm currently working on or a
project that I want to start also a big
benefit I think is that you kind of
create this perspective of a curator so
instead of passively observing
information and passively interacting
with information you actually become
pretty specific about the type of
information you let into your second
brain and also the type of information
that could be valuable because before
I've really noticed that I started to
focus a lot on Neuroscience which is my
study and I would only consume
information on Neuroscience but now I
noticed that actually going to a museum
going to an R art show and sometimes for
me give a lot more new information or
new ideas for Neuroscience projects than
just learning about Neuroscience itself
and also I want to leave you with one
final quote from Thiago Forte that I
really like and that's this only when we
put it to use we get confidence in what
we know shift from consuming to creating
more is not better and with and what we
have needs to be valued and I hope that
with this quote I will leave you and I
hope you enjoyed this video if you're
also working on creating your second
brain please leave me some tips for how
you're doing it and otherwise see you
next week bye
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