My Second Brain Setup in Notion

Summary

本视频介绍了如何使用Notion作为个人的‘第二大脑’来组织生活。通过创建任务、目标、项目和知识库，Notion帮助用户将生活分解为可操作的小步骤。视频中详细展示了如何在Notion中设置区域、目标、项目和任务，并利用数据库视图和过滤视图来管理日常任务和长期目标。此外，还探讨了如何在日常生活中使用Notion进行知识管理，包括收集资源、记录笔记和整理信息。通过定制化的仪表盘页面，用户可以根据自己的需求和偏好来优化Notion的使用体验，从而更有效地实现个人目标和提高生活质量。

Takeaways

• 📋 使用Notion作为‘第二大脑’可以帮助组织生活和提高效率。
• 🎯 通过Notion的按钮快速创建新任务，并将它们放入收件箱视图以供后续处理。
• 📊 Notion的仪表板页面包含数据库和过滤视图，适用于不同的用例。
• 🏃 利用Tiago Forte的PARA框架管理生活领域，如财务、健康和育儿。
• 📅 通过设定具体的目标和截止日期来分解目标为可操作的小步骤。
• 🏆 在Notion中创建项目页面，以管理实现目标所需的一系列任务。
• 📝 通过子任务功能来进一步细化任务的执行步骤。
• 📆 每日审查任务列表和项目进度，确保按计划进行。
• 🌟 通过Notion管理知识资源，如视频、文章和个人笔记。
• 🔍 利用Notion的资源数据库和主题数据库进行信息的分类和检索。
• 🛠️ 每日结束时，处理收件箱中的任务、项目想法、资源和笔记，为第二天做准备。

Q & A

Notion是如何被用作“第二大脑”的？

Notion被用作‘第二大脑’是通过创建不同的数据库视图和过滤视图来组织任务、项目、资源和区域，从而帮助用户清晰地管理日常生活中的各种信息和任务。

在Notion中如何快速记录新任务？

在Notion中，可以通过点击‘New Task’按钮来创建一个新的任务页面，快速记录下任务并关闭窗口，这些任务随后会出现在收件箱视图中供用户后续处理。

PARA框架在Notion中是如何应用的？

PARA框架在Notion中被用于定义用户的不同生活领域（Areas），如财务、健康和健身、育儿等，以及设置目标（Goals）和项目（Projects），从而帮助用户更好地组织和管理生活中的各个方面。

GTD框架在Notion中的作用是什么？

GTD（Getting Things Done）框架在Notion中用于指导用户完成‘项目和任务’页面的设置，通过一系列任务来实现项目成果，帮助用户提高工作效率和目标达成率。

如何在Notion中设置和分解目标？

在Notion中，用户首先需要进入目标页面，设置当前年份和季度，然后根据具体月份设定目标。接下来，用户可以将目标分解为更小的可操作步骤，即任务，并记录在‘Actionable steps’数据库视图中。

在Notion中，项目和任务的区别是什么？

在Notion中，任务是单个需要完成的具体行动，而项目是由一系列任务组成的，旨在达成某个特定的结果。项目通常需要更多的计划和研究，并且可能包含子任务。

如何在Notion中管理知识？

在Notion中，用户可以通过创建资源（Resources）数据库来管理知识，将外部链接、视频、PDF等资料保存到资源数据库中，并根据需要添加详细信息和标签。此外，用户还可以创建笔记（Notes）来记录个人思考和会议要点等内部产生的信息。

Notion中的“知识库”页面是如何帮助用户管理知识的？

‘知识库’页面是Notion中专门用于知识管理的区域，用户可以在这里创建和保存笔记、整理资源、规划项目和目标，并通过关联主题（Topics）来组织和检索信息，从而更有效地管理和回顾知识。

如何使用Notion的“今日视图”来提高日常工作效率？

用户可以在Notion的‘今日视图’中查看每日任务列表，并通过拖放操作来设置每日重点任务。这有助于用户集中注意力完成当天最重要的任务，并在完成任务后回顾项目进度和区域责任，确保工作和生活的平衡。

Notion中的“仪表盘”页面有哪些用途？

Notion中的‘仪表盘’页面提供了预设的数据库和过滤视图组合，用户可以根据自己的需求和偏好来选择和定制不同的仪表盘视图，以便快速访问和管理任务、项目、资源和区域等信息。

如何在Notion中处理和归档信息？

在Notion中，用户可以通过查看‘收件箱’页面来处理和归档信息。对于任务，可以设定截止日期并移动到‘下一步行动’；对于项目想法，可以填写详细信息并决定是否实施；对于资源，可以根据相关性进行归档或标记为‘待审查’；对于笔记，可以打上标签并移动出收件箱，以便将来查找和引用。

Notion中的“笔记本”功能是如何帮助用户组织笔记的？

在Notion中，‘笔记本’功能允许用户根据类型或主题创建不同的笔记本，并将笔记保存到相应的笔记本中。这样，用户可以轻松地查看和管理同一类型的所有笔记，例如会议笔记或学习笔记，从而提高笔记的组织效率。

Outlines

00:00

📋 介绍Notion作为第二大脑的使用

本段介绍了如何使用Notion作为个人的第二大脑进行生活管理。首先，通过左侧的按钮快速捕捉新任务，并在任务页面快速记录任务，之后任务会出现在收件箱视图中供后续处理。接着，介绍了预设的仪表板页面，这些页面根据不同的使用场景和特定用途进行了混合和过滤视图的设置。例如，PARA仪表板提供了一个基于Tiago Forte的PARA框架的简单4数据库字段设置，而“项目和任务”页面则是根据David Allen的GTD框架设计的，用于完成任务。此外，还介绍了知识库页面，专门用于纯粹的知识管理。最后，展示了如何通过数据库页面找到并快速跳转到所需内容，并介绍了如何设置和使用Notion进行日常任务管理。

05:02

🏃‍♂️ 健康与健身目标的设定与项目分解

这一段详细介绍了如何在Notion中设置健康与健身相关的目标和项目。首先，通过创建新页面“健康与健身”来标识个人角色和责任领域，并使用类型属性来区分个人和工作生活。然后，通过设定具体的目标，如在第四季度跑半程马拉松，并在年度标签视图中为2024年创建新选项来规划长期目标。 接下来，通过将目标分解为更小的可执行步骤，创建了“为半程马拉松训练”的项目页面，并应用页面模板生成任务视图。此外，还展示了如何通过子任务功能来进一步细化任务，并通过更新项目状态来追踪进度。 最后，通过创建新项目“建立家庭健身房”来说明如何在Notion中管理日常项目，并设置了截止日期和优先级，同时添加了购买瑜伽垫和重量等具体任务。

10:03

📚 知识管理与日常使用

这部分内容讲述了如何在日常生活中使用Notion进行知识管理和任务处理。首先，介绍了如何在休息时间通过Save To Notion扩展或快速操作按钮将有用的资源添加到资源数据库中，并创建了新的资源页面。 然后，探讨了如何通过主题页面来组织信息，并通过链接资源、笔记、书籍和高亮内容到特定主题来轻松访问相关内容。此外，还展示了如何在资源页面中嵌入外部媒体，如YouTube视频、图片和PDF文件，并记录摘要和关键点。 接下来，区分了资源和笔记的不同，资源是外部链接，而笔记则是个人思考、会议记录等内部信息。介绍了如何在知识库页面中创建和整理笔记，并使用笔记本数据库来查看相同类型的所有笔记。 最后，说明了在一天结束时如何通过查看收件箱页面来处理任务、项目想法、新资源和笔记，并根据其相关性进行分类和存档。强调了Notion作为一个工具，帮助我们组织知识、明确优先级和截止日期，但实际工作仍需我们自己完成。

Keywords

💡Notion

Notion是一款多功能的组织和协作工具，用户可以通过它来管理任务、项目、资源和知识。在视频中，Notion被用作个人的'第二大脑'，帮助用户清晰地组织和优先处理生活中的各种事务。

💡Second Brain

所谓的'第二大脑'是指使用Notion这样的工具来模拟人脑的记忆和组织功能，通过数字化的方式来存储、分类和检索信息，从而提高个人效率和决策能力。

💡PARA框架

PARA框架是Tiago Forte提出的一种组织信息的方法，它将信息分为四个类别：项目（Projects）、领域（Areas）、资源（Resources）和档案（Archives），帮助用户更有效地管理数字生活中的各个方面。

💡GTD框架

GTD（Getting Things Done）是由David Allen提出的一种时间管理方法，旨在帮助人们通过将任务分解为可操作的步骤来提高生产力。

💡任务

任务是指需要完成的具体工作或活动，通常作为实现更大目标或项目的步骤。

💡项目

项目是由一系列任务组成的，旨在实现特定的结果或产出。项目通常比单个任务更为复杂，需要更多的规划和管理。

💡目标

目标是指个人或组织希望实现的长期成果或成就，通常需要通过完成一系列的任务和项目来达成。

💡知识管理

知识管理是指收集、整理、存储和共享知识的一系列过程和实践，目的是提高个人或组织的学习效率和决策质量。

💡笔记

笔记是个人对会议、阅读材料或思考的记录，用于捕捉和回顾重要信息和想法。

💡任务清单

任务清单是列出所有待办事项的清单，可以帮助个人跟踪和管理日常任务和责任。

💡仪表盘页面

仪表盘页面是Notion中预设的页面，包含多种数据库和筛选视图，用于帮助用户根据不同的使用场景快速访问和处理信息。

Highlights

使用Notion作为个人的'第二大脑'进行生活管理

通过Notion快速捕捉新任务并将其记录在任务页面

利用预设的仪表板页面，如PARA仪表板，高效管理不同用例

根据GTD框架，将任务分解为可执行的步骤，提高生产力

创建区域页面以代表生活中的角色和责任，如财务、健康和健身、育儿

通过设定具体的目标和期限，为半马拉松训练制定行动计划

将大型任务分解为子任务，以便更好地管理和执行

通过Notion的日常使用，设置每日重点任务和回顾项目进度

利用Notion的资源数据库管理外部信息，如视频、文章和PDF

创建主题页面，将资源、笔记、书籍和高亮内容链接到特定主题

通过Notion的知识库页面，记录和整理个人笔记和想法

使用Notion的笔记本功能，根据类型组织相似的笔记

在一天结束时，通过Notion的收件箱页面处理和归档任务、项目想法、资源和笔记

根据个人偏好和需求，定制Notion仪表板页面以提高工作效率

Notion作为一个工具，帮助我们组织知识，明确优先级和期限

Transcripts

In this video, I'll walk you through

how I use Notion as my "Second Brain"

On the left side of this setup, I can quickly assess what I need

starting with some buttons to capture new items

Clicking on "New Task" button creates a new task page,

allowing me to quickly write down the task

and close the window

These tasks will then appear in the inbox view

for me to process later on

Pages under the "Dashboard" heading are pre-made setups

that consist of a mix of databases and filtered views

These setups have proven to be helpful for different use cases,

and it focuses on specific use cases

For example, the "PARA Dashboard"

provides a simple 4-database field setup

inspired by Tiago Forte's PARA framework

"Projects and Task" page is where you get things done

as inspired by the GTD framework by David Allen

and the knowledge base page

is designed for pure knowledge management

Below that, we have all the different pages for each

of the databases in the "Second Brain" setup

These pages help you find and jump

into what you need when you need them

On a day-to-day basis,

I use the right-side of this setup as my main view

which consists of the different database views I need,

sorted by actionability with the most actionable at the top,

and the least actionable at the bottom

Now that you understand the main layout,

let's start setting things up!

How do we get started with organizing our life

using Notion as our Second Brain?

We first break down our life into smaller actionable steps

using a hierarchy of areas, goals, projects, and tasks

On the other hand, resources, notes, books, and highlights

are things we collect on a day-to-day basis

They are the different sources of knowledge we use to  

support the completion of our goals and projects

With reference to Tiago Forte's PARA framework,

areas are your roles and responsibilities in life

like finances, health and fitness, and parenting

To start using this Second Brain,

you must first identify your areas,

and then under the Areas view,

start listing them down

As an example, I'll add a new page called "Health & Fitness"

Then, I'll add a page icon that represents it. 

Creating a new Area page

will populate a gallery view of other databases

linked to this Area database

If you want to use Notion for both personal and work life,

you might have more areas to manage

You can make use of the "Type" property to set this Area

under a larger pillar like Personal or Work

or create an option that works for you

I'll delete the "School" option

since that is no longer relevant to me,

and I'll also delete the filter view for School

Next, we move on to setting goals

for a new area of Health & Fitness

We first go into the goals page, we will see a board view.

I'll first set the year to the current year.

I would then set the goal in Q4 to run a half marathon

Thinking further ahead,

I want to also run a full marathon sometime next year,

I'll go to the Yearly tab view,

and create a new option for the year 2024.

And then, I'll write down the goal under this new column

Since this goal is still far ahead,

I'll first go back to breaking down

my goal of running a half marathon

Clicking inside the goal page,

we see a database view titled "Actionable steps"

which is also our task database

Before I break down this goal into smaller steps,

I will first fill up some of the page properties

like the specific month I want to achieve this goal,

the Start Date, and the Due Date

Thereafter, I'll go back down to write down tasks that

move us closer to this goal,

like registering for a half marathon or joining a running club

But there's still a bigger task of training for a marathon

that includes the running schedule,

breathing techniques, and dieting

which seems to be quite a bit of research and action within.

So this is what would be considered a Project.

Click on "Add projects"

and create a new page called "Training for Half Marathon".

Then, I'll open up this project page and apply the page template.

This will generate the task view on the page body.

Following next, I will fill up the page properties

by setting the area to "Health and Fitness"

The start date will be today,

and the due date can be the day before the marathon

I will also set a "medium" priority for this project

On this project page,

we can list down tasks that can help us complete the project,

including consulting a fitness coach,

creating a personalized diet plan,

and planning a running schedule

Projects are a series of tasks that lead to an outcome

But sometimes we have tasks

that takes additional steps to complete.

This is where I can use the sub-task feature by clicking on

the arrow when hovering on the left side of the task

to add the subtask

And that's how you set and break down your goals

into more manageable steps.

Lastly, I'll update the project status from "Inbox to "Not started"

Inbox means it's unprocessed but an initial idea,

however for this project, it's something that  

I'm certain I want to work on, so I'll mark has "Not Started"

Goals are there to give us direction,

motivation, and the reason for doing what we do

But projects aren't always related to goals.

they could be a necessity or something we need to get done.

I work from home,

and it's convenient for me to workout at home,

so I'm currently working on a project to build a home gym

Going back to the Health & Fitness area page,

we can click on projects

and add a new project called "Build a Home Gym"

And set the due date to be the end of this month.

Opening this project page, I will set the start date

for me which was sometime last week,

and the priority for this project is "medium"

I already have some equipment,

but I still need to buy a yoga mat and weights,

so I will add that to the task database

I also want to print out some workout plans to put up on the wall near my workout area.

So I'll add a task to print out a  workout plan and then subtask the plan the workout.

That's pretty much the process of setting up a new  area of life in your second brain, setting goals, 

and breaking down in the projects and tasks, and  identifying active projects you're working on, and  

making clear the series of thoughts you need to do.

Moving on, we will learn how to use our second brain on a day-to-day basis.

When you open the Second Brain page, you will land on this setup.

As explained earlier, we use the right side for our  day-to-day use. At the start of each day, I will  

open the today toggle and look at my task list.

Then I'll set a daily highlight, by dragging and dropping into the view above.

This will be the one thing that I want to complete by the end of today.  

I can choose to toggle to hide the today view  to really focus on the tasks, but what I like to do  

when working on a tasks is to open the task page

so I will know what I'm working on, and also being able to jot down some quick notes.

Say you have completed most of your task for the day,

what I do next is to review my projects.

It's important to go over your project list, and make sure you're on track to meet your deadlines.

We should also routinely check in on each project, and set the due date for our project tasks,

or list down the next steps that can move us towards completion.

After reviewing my projects, we can move on to review our areas.

Having a visual reminder of my different responsibilities in life

allows me to reflect on whether I'm spending too much time in one area or neglecting another.

If I'm falling behind in a certain area, I can open up area page to set a goal

that gives me a direction to work towards or start a new project that levels me up in the area.

I keep thinking about  wanting to travel, but I keep holding on more  

work so I will start a new project to plan a  trip, give myself a deadline and commit to it.

As I open my Finance area, I realized  that I want to do something about my  

financial insecurity. Therefore, I've decided  to set a goal to save up an emergency fund.

After reviewing our areas, we move on to our goals.

Similar to projects, we can first decide on a due date

for unscheduled tasks and then break down  more steps that brings us closer to achieving our goals.

And that's pretty much how I use my  Second Brain to get things done.

Moving on, we'll discuss how we use our Second Brain for knowledge management.

Say while I'm on my break, I stumbled upon a great YouTube

video of a creator sharing their experience running a marathon.

Halfway through the video, I find it pretty helpful, so  I'll use the Save To Notion extension to add  

it to my resources database in my Second Brain.

Alternatively, I can use the quick-action button on the Second Brain page

to create a new Resource page and copy-paste the video title and link.

Since I have the time to process it, I will add  more details to this resource, such as setting the  

Status to "To Review" the Type to Video, and adding  a new topic called "Running" to my topics database.

On this new topic page, I will apply the page  template and giving it an icon that represents it.

Topics are a useful way of organizing information  for future reference. By linking resources, notes,

books, and highlights to specific topics, you  can easily assess relevant pages whenever you  

want to revisit a particular topic. A topic can be  something that falls outside of your areas of  

responsibility or a subcategory of your areas of responsibility.

For instance, "Investment" can be a topic for the area of Finance,

while "Running" can be a topic for the area of Health & Fitness.  

We will now head back to our  newly created Resource page.  

On the page body, you can also embed  external media such as a YouTube video, an  

image, a Figma file, or a PDF.

And then, write down summaries and key takeaways below it.

And if there's a phrase in the video that resonates with you,

you can add that to your highlights database.

The highlights database is where you can  keep all these bite size knowledge

from your resources database and your books database.

When saving a new resource, it's crucial to add  a relation to all your related active projects  

and goals. For example, you can add a project "Train  for Half Marathon" and your goals of "Running Half  

Marathon" and "Running Full Marathon" By making these  relations in advance, this helps us to surface  

the relevant resources when we need them. As you  build your own resources database, you save time  

researching and getting started on future projects. When it's time to work on your project and goal, the  

relevant resources will already be sitting  in your Project page. And if you still need  

additional resources, you can open your resources  database or the relevant topic page.

Moving on, we have Notes.

But what separates Resources and Notes?

Resources start externally, while Notes start internally.

Resources are links to articles, videos, PDFs, and other documents.

While Notes are personal thoughts meeting notes, and things  you want to remember that come to your mind.

I personally create a new note in the Knowledge  Base page, or you can also navigate to the page to  

copy over the New Note button to your Second  Brain's homepage. If the notes database is  

something you use often, this will make it easier  to add a new note. Every new note starts from the 

status "Inbox", and you have the option to move it to Draft or Permanent.

A draft note means you're only using it temporarily,

while a permanent note is a note you want to keep, and update and refer to routinely.

You can then start typing and  put together your notes in the page body below.

If you find yourself capturing many  similar types of notes, like meeting  

notes, you can use the notebook database to  view all notes of the same type together.

Opening the Meeting Note notebook, will  allow you to view all your past meeting notes.

Notebooks are simply a better way to  organize your notes when things are piling up.  

Creating a new Notebook will automatically  generate the notes database within it

As we approach the end of the day, you  can open and review your inbox page.

This is the time to process your tasks, project ideas, new resources, and notes  

you captured on the go. Give your task a  due date before moving it to "Next Action".

For new project ideas, fill up the project details  and decide if you truly want to work on it.

For resources, if it's not relevant  to any project or goal, archive it.

But if it's something interesting you  want to review, set it to "To Review".  

Finally, for Notes, tag it to a topic before moving it out for inbox

to ensure you have a way to find or reference it later on.

That's mostly what you need  to know about using Notion as your Second Brain.

Some of you might ask how to use your dashboard pages.

It honestly depends on your preference and needs.

The right side of this home setup is already personalized  

for my use case, so I don't need to spend time  navigating to most of the pages from day to day.

When I do feel overwhelmed in Notion, I do like to  fall back on the PARA dashboard which simplifies  

my page to just 4 main databases of tasks,  projects, resources, and areas.

If you like to focus on your projects and to-dos during a deep work session,

you can use the projects and task page to hide away more of the knowledge management features.

When it comes to a dedicated session for learning and research,

you can open the knowledge  base page to assess everything you need for  

knowledge management without getting distracted  by your to-dos and deadlines.

The remaining pages can be helpful especially when you're on your phone,

so you can easily look up what you need.

It also serve as an overview for databases  like your goals, so instead of going to each

area to view the respective goals, you'll get a  bigger picture of where your energy and focus are.

Ideally, you don't want to be jumping to too many pages  when you're using Notion. Hence, the importance of  

finding a dashboard view that works for you or  customizing it a little to suit the majority of your needs.

At the end of the day, Notion is just a tool to help us organize our knowledge

and get clear on our priorities and deadlines,  and we still have to do the work.

Second brain has really helped to organize my life, and I hope you will do the same for you.

You can find a link to this template in the description  below and I'll see you on the next one.

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