Notion: Organizing content in a Second Brain (TV, Movies, Podcasts, PDFs, Apps, Books) Database

Summary

In this video, the creator shares insights on how to effectively organize and track consumed content using a database called 'the brain,' a free template from Notion Things. The database categorizes various media such as books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and even PDFs, allowing for a comprehensive overview of one's intellectual diet. The creator demonstrates how to filter, sort, and link content across different platforms, emphasizing the importance of staying organized and easily accessible for future reference.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video introduces a database called 'the brain' used for tracking various types of content the creator consumes, such as books, movies, and podcasts.
• 🔍 The 'the brain' database is part of a larger template from notion.things.com, which the creator finds particularly useful for organizing content.
• 🎬 The creator discusses how they use the database to track movies, including sorting and filtering by year, status, and media platform.
• 📚 The creator has started adding images to their book entries and has integrated their Goodreads list into the database for a comprehensive overview of their reading.
• 📂 The database allows for categorization and linking of content, such as PDFs, which can be organized and then linked to a knowledge vault for easy access.
• 📅 The creator uses the database to keep track of different types of media, including TV shows, apps, YouTube channels, and even CDs and email lists.
• 📝 The database includes properties like publication year, media platform, status, and categories to help in sorting and filtering the content.
• 🔗 The creator mentions the use of relational databases to link content within the 'the brain' for better organization and accessibility.
• 🎥 The video provides a walkthrough of how to use the database, including adding and customizing entries for various types of media.
• 🗂️ The creator emphasizes the importance of organization and the ability to quickly find and reference consumed content when needed.
• 👍 The video concludes with a recommendation of the 'the brain' database as a helpful tool for organizing and tracking consumed media.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the 'the brain' database mentioned in the video?

The 'the brain' database is used for organizing and tracking various types of content that the creator consumes, such as books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and PDFs.

Where did the creator get the 'the brain' database template from?

The creator got the 'the brain' database template from notion.things.com as part of a larger template set.

How does the creator categorize the content in 'the brain' database?

The creator categorizes the content by type, such as apps, websites, TV shows, movies, books, PDFs, and more, and further filters them using different views within the database.

What additional properties did the creator add to the movies section of 'the brain'?

The creator added properties like the year of publication, media platform or channel, type (e.g., movie), status (e.g., watched or to-watch), and tags or categories.

How does the creator handle the organization of books in 'the brain'?

The creator organizes books by current read, finished, paused, and to-read lists, and also includes properties like owning the book, media platform (e.g., Kindle, library, physical), and categories.

What method did the creator use to import their Goodreads books into 'the brain'?

The creator exported their Goodreads books to a CSV file and then imported it into an empty section of 'the brain', from where they copied it over.

How does the creator manage PDFs in 'the brain'?

The creator uploads the PDFs directly into 'the brain', categorizes them, and links them back to the knowledge vault for easy access and organization.

What is the significance of linking the PDFs to the knowledge vault?

Linking the PDFs to the knowledge vault allows the creator to organize the PDFs by category in 'the brain' and have direct access to them from the knowledge vault without duplicating storage.

How does the creator track and organize podcasts in 'the brain'?

The creator tracks and organizes podcasts by episodes and topics, and possibly by status or categories to determine which ones they have listened to or plan to listen to.

What other types of content does the creator mention organizing in 'the brain' besides books and movies?

The creator also organizes TV shows, apps, YouTube channels, CDs, email lists, and games in 'the brain'.

How does the creator plan to keep the 'the brain' database updated?

The creator plans to continually update the database by adding new content as they consume it, such as new movies, books, or podcasts, and by refining existing entries.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Organizing Consumed Content with 'The Brain' Database

The speaker introduces 'The Brain,' a database template from notion.things.com, designed to track various types of consumed content such as books, movies, TV shows, and PDFs. They explain how they use this database to manage and categorize the content they consume, including adding custom properties like publication year and media platform. The Brain is part of their broader system for organizing personal and professional assets, and it helps them keep track of what they are learning and enjoying.

05:03

📚 Advanced Organization with 'The Brain' for Books and PDFs

In this paragraph, the speaker delves deeper into how they use 'The Brain' to organize books and PDFs. They mention importing their Goodreads book list into the database and categorizing them by status, such as currently reading, finished, or to be read. They also discuss how they manage PDFs by uploading them directly into the database and linking them to their knowledge vault for easy access. The speaker highlights the flexibility of the database in organizing different types of content and the ability to filter and sort them according to various criteria.

Keywords

💡Databases

Databases in this context refer to organized collections of information used for various purposes. The video discusses the creator's use of specific databases to track and organize the content they consume. The term is central to the video's theme as it highlights the importance of using databases for personal organization and productivity.

💡Notion

Notion is a productivity tool that allows users to take notes, manage tasks, and organize information. In the script, the creator mentions using a database called 'the brain' which they got from Notion Things, indicating that Notion is the platform where this database is hosted and utilized.

💡Content Consumption

Content consumption refers to the act of engaging with various forms of media such as books, movies, podcasts, etc. The video's main theme revolves around how the creator tracks and organizes the content they consume using databases, emphasizing the role of content in personal development and knowledge acquisition.

💡Templates

Templates are pre-designed formats or structures that can be used as a starting point for various tasks. The creator mentions a 'free template' from Notion Things, which they use to organize different types of content, showing how templates can streamline the process of setting up databases for personal use.

💡Categories

Categories are used to classify items or information into groups. In the script, the creator categorizes content such as movies, books, and PDFs, making it easier to sort and filter through their database. This keyword is integral to the video's message about effective organization.

💡Tags

Tags are labels or keywords used to mark and categorize content, making it easier to search and retrieve. The video mentions using tags to further filter and organize the content within the database, demonstrating a method to enhance the accessibility of organized information.

💡Media Platforms

Media platforms refer to the services or channels through which content is distributed, such as HBO Max or Kindle. The script discusses how the creator records the media platform for each movie or book, showing the importance of knowing the source of the content in their database.

💡Status

Status indicates the current state or progress of an item within a database. The creator uses status to mark whether they have watched a movie, read a book, or are in the process of consuming content, which helps them keep track of their consumption progress.

💡Goodreads

Goodreads is a social platform for book lovers where users can track the books they've read, are currently reading, and plan to read. The video mentions exporting a list from Goodreads into the 'the brain' database, illustrating how different platforms can be integrated for comprehensive organization.

💡Knowledge Vault

A knowledge vault, as mentioned in the script, is a database where the creator stores and organizes information for easy access and reference. It is linked to 'the brain' for related PDFs, showing how databases can be interconnected to form a comprehensive system for knowledge management.

💡Relational Database

A relational database is a type of database that stores data in separate tables which can be linked together. The creator uses a relational database to link the 'the brain' with the knowledge vault, allowing for a more interconnected and dynamic organization of information.

Highlights

Introduction of 'the brain' database for tracking consumed content.

Use of linked databases to filter and organize content.

Inclusion of a variety of content types such as YouTube channels, podcasts, movies, and books.

Customization of the database with additional properties like publication year and media platform.

Demonstration of sorting and filtering capabilities within the database.

Organizing movies by release year and status using table and board views.

Importing and integrating Goodreads data into the 'the brain' database.

Tracking books with properties like current reading status and ownership.

Managing PDFs by uploading them directly into the database for easy access.

Linking PDFs to a knowledge vault for organized reference.

Tracking podcasts and categorizing episodes for future reference.

Organizing TV shows by status, such as watched, current, or paused.

Listing and categorizing apps for personal or professional use.

Using the database to track and manage a collection of CDs.

Managing email subscriptions and evaluating their relevance.

Incorporating games into the database for easy access and organization.

Final thoughts on the utility of 'the brain' for daily, weekly, or monthly content consumption.

Transcripts

so one of the things that i have set

also is pdfs so if you've ever been to a

website where they have a free download

for a pdf you just kind of lose track of

them this is great hey guys welcome back

to my youtube channel today we're going

to be talking about one of my most used

databases

if you watch my youtube channel you'll

see that i actually do

only use a couple of databases and then

i use linked databases to filter them

further so today i'm going to be showing

you guys one called the brain now in my

last video i got a couple comments

asking about how do i track things like

food or how do i track things like books

i read or how do i track things like

pdfs and documents now this board

specifically covers things that i

consume so whether that's

youtube channels podcast episodes

movies tv shows books which is a big one

though that's in this one called the

brain i did not come up with this i

actually got this from notion things.com

it's part of a larger template that i

actually don't really use but i really

like this brain database

when it comes to food and

all the stuff in my house for my pantry

that's a separate database i use because

it's kind of specific

i also have a few other databases that i

plan on making videos on including my

knowledge base and knowledge vault

project database my action items and my

clients i have done videos already on my

content creation i just did one recently

but the brain is one of my biggest

besides my product assets which i just

did a video on

the brain is really focused on content

and specifically content i consume so

there's the content creation one where

it's things i'm making but this one is

really how i'm feeding my brain which is

why it's called the brain so let's just

get into it um this is a free template i

got from notion things i will link it

below make sure to subscribe for more

videos i will be covering all my

databases eventually so make sure to

subscribe so you get updated and turn on

the notification bell okay so i wanted

to show you guys the brain so

basically what this does is it has

everything on here right apps

it has

websites it has tv shows movies

everything that i currently use

so i kind of wanted to show with you how

i use it so it comes with all of these

types already over here you'll see

there's like a ton of them i don't use

even all of them

um some of the things i've added were

the year that it was published and i

used um actually the

select option uh this is helpful for in

my movies one which i'll show you in a

second right here i can see what year

the movie was published and also for

example i can i added things like the

media platform or channel that it's on

what type it is so it's a movie the

status if it's done or not

the tags category etc you know i don't

have everything but this has been really

helpful for me to track the movies that

i want to watch so for example if i

wanted to sort this

i can add the status first and you'll

see that i have my to watch list so i

could even filter that further right now

it's the type is movie but i can even

filter it to see what movies i want to

watch

so basically let me go through some of

the ones that i have used with this so

basically i have sorted things by type

and added things to different lists and

then i filtered each of those with

different views so for each view i

actually picked both

so for this i actually use the table

view and usually a board view so for

movies you'll see this is the list view

or the sorry the table view but i also

do

it as a board view and you can sort it

by

where it's located i've also grouped by

year released so you're published so i

can see how many you know movies were

released in what year

i haven't gotten to the point where i've

added images for each of these i just

feel like there's so many movies

eventually at some point i will add

those but it's been really helpful so if

i click into oh i spelled pinocchio

wrong i think it's spelled like

pinocchio

i don't know how to spell it

anyways

so you can see i have like a ton of

different things in here and some of

these again i don't fill out

so let's just go to like the wizard of

oz so you'll see i actually have this on

dvd so i added that as a media platform

but also hbo max

the status is i've watched or done i've

watched it it's a movie the year

what the action is to do and then the

category i put it as a musical because i

mean there's a lot of songs in there so

a lot of these have to do with

uh books so i'll go to that one next so

one of the things that i like to have is

books so this i have actually started

adding images to so what's cool is i

have set this one up as settings so

right now these are the current books

i'm reading these are the ones i

finished so done the ones i paused or i

started reading and haven't the the next

and then later and then i also have if

you scroll all the way over actually i'm

going to show you where it hides the

empty ones

uh there should be yeah to read

what i did with this which i think is

actually really interesting is i

actually exported some of my goodreads

so if you've ever been on goodreads.com

you can actually export all of your

books and what happened was i have so

many books on goodreads that i couldn't

even like i couldn't even put all of

them in here so i'm probably eventually

going to keep adding more i have like 2

000 books on my to read list so it's

it's crazy but i really put the ones

that it just kind of downloaded into a

csv file so you could import that i

imported it into like an empty one and

then just i just kind of copied it over

to the brain so that was interesting for

me to just see okay these are all the

books i'm reading you can also add

things like do i own this book so you

can see i think i have that as an option

so one of the things that you can add if

you go into properties is

the media platform so one of the things

that i did was i added things like

kindle or a library or physical book and

that way i know where it's located

so that's how i organize books

i really love reading books and so

that's something that i also do

some other things i organize one of my

biggest ones is pdfs so one of the

things that i have set also is pdfs so

if you've ever been to a website where

they have a free download for a pdf you

just kind of lose track of them this is

great because what i do is for each of

them let me find a good one so like for

traction what i did was i set it as a

pdf i put the categories business advice

and then i just uploaded the pdf here

and so if i go back to

my let's see if i go back to my command

center

so if i go to my knowledge vault which

is something i also use i can actually

go into this and then see actually now i

have linked

to the pdf so if i wanted to look up how

not to stock your prospects this was a

pdf i downloaded it's literally also in

the knowledge vault organized by

category but also it just links to the

pdf so the pdf is not stored in the

knowledge vault it is stored in the

brain so

i love this i can organize by category

and then link it back to the knowledge

vault as well with a relational database

i also you know track the podcasts i

listen to so i've got different episodes

different topics you know if i'm ever

like what podcast should i listen to

today

i do this with tiktok accounts which i

mean i literally just kind of started

doing this it's something i need to

organize i follow so many

tv shows this is a big one so i organize

tv shows by

uh you know again the same groupings i

also can do it by status so if i wanted

to group by let's see status

i could see which ones i've watched some

of these are you know done watching

current paused

etc

let me see apps these are apps that i

have or have used um

things that i enjoy doing

let's see

youtube channels this is a big one so

i've organized this one by let's see

yeah this is organized by

category so i have a bunch of different

youtube channels that i enjoy watching

and yeah that's just something that i

really enjoy looking at i recently added

cds as an option because i wanted to

track the cds i own which i don't even

know how many i have anymore so that was

kind of a funny one

and email lists i'm subscribed to so

these are just ones that i just had on

another air table board and i need to

update because i wanted to see okay how

many email lists am i on which ones do i

actually want to keep being subscribed

to i also have one for games so this is

great if i have games and i'm like oh

what's a good game to play

i have these physically in my house

or my friends have them so that's really

how i use the brain

it's a really great database that i got

again from notion things.com and it's

really helpful for organizing again more

of like the things i consume the things

that i use on a weekly or daily or

monthly basis so let me know what you

think of the brain i have the link down

below for this database and i think it's

really helpful i spent a ton of time

going through things like my movies and

my tv shows trying to remember all the

ones i've seen um so if i'm ever like oh

i need a movie tonight this is it so

hope this was helpful and talk to you

guys next week