In The Four Pathways of Modern Book Publishing, I described the four main routes to publication for writers in the digital age. After considering all these factors, I’ve chosen to pursue the most traditional publishing route, for six main reasons (from most to least important): Credibility and authority that comes with a big name publisher…
This is a 45-minute video recording of a talk I delivered at a conference recently. It is a condensed version of some of the material from my course Building a Second Brain, with how-to examples of each of the three main parts of the methodology: Remember, Connect, and Create.
I’ve spent the past couple months immersed in the world of nonfiction book publishing, trying to deeply understand the state of the industry. I’ve read dozens of articles and books, spoken to experienced agents and editors, and authors ranging from New York Times bestsellers to self-published writers. I’ve found that the choice between “traditional publishing”…
In my online course Building a Second Brain, I teach people how to create an external repository of their best ideas, knowledge, and experiences, called a “second brain.” But one of the most common questions I receive is, “Why should I?” In this article I’ll summarize the 7 main capabilities that a second brain gives…
“I must admit that after many years of work in this area, the efficacy of randomness for so many algorithmic problems is absolutely mysterious to me. It is efficient, it works; but why and how is absolutely mysterious.” – Michael Rabin, from Algorithms to Live By We recently launched version 3.0 of RandomNote, our free…
I advise everyone I know to create an online course. Everyone has something to say. Everyone has valuable knowledge that others could benefit from. I believe that in 10 years online courses will be like websites today – everyone who works online will have at least one. And without one, you will be all but…
This is a conversation and interview with Toby Sola, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Brightmind, a meditation app that expands the boundaries of human potential through tailored meditation instruction. We discuss topics such as: The intersection and fusion of monastic and entrepreneurial cultures How Toby stays focused and motivated building a technology product designed…
Series Navigation: The Rise of the Full-Stack Freelancer Series<< The Rise of the Full-Stack Freelancer, Part II: The StackOne of the most exciting trends in coming years will be the formation of cooperative working groups made up of independent contractors. Whether they are called networks, guilds, cooperatives, collectives, flocks, or something else, these groups will…
This article outlines the extra features found in the Premium Edition of Building a Second Brain, our online course on personal knowledge management (PKM): 5 live Q&A calls with Tiago Forte during the live cohort (including recordings if you can’t attend live) Q&A library with over 40 short clips of Tiago’s best answers to common…
This is an interview and case study with Addison Shockley, a Phd in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Rhetoric. He has developed a customized workflow to use with his second brain that allows him to precisely track citations for writing academic articles, including multi-colored progressive summarization (red for arguments/debates, blue for external significance, black…
At the end of every year I perform an “annual review.” It includes a series of exercises and questions designed to close out the previous year and help me plan for the new one. I decided to do it differently this year. Under the guidance of my friend Ting, I took on a process of…
One of the clearest predecessors to the modern practice of Personal Knowledge Management are “commonplace books” – centralized, personally curated, and continuously maintained collections of information from various sources that rose to popularity during the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution in Europe. These books helped educated people cope with the “information explosion” unleashed by the printing…
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