One of the most influential yet under-appreciated parts of how large language models work is something most people never see: the system prompt. This is the block of hidden instructions given to the model before it ever receives your input. It establishes the model’s tone, boundaries, and behaviors. You can’t change the system prompt, but…
In the early 1700s, Central Europe faced a crisis: the forests were running out. An explosion in mining, shipbuilding, and early industry had devastated old-growth forests that had stood for many centuries. Meanwhile, the population was exploding as well, creating demands on forests that clearly couldn’t be sustained for long. The kingdoms of Prussia and…
I’m thrilled to share a special guest post by my wife, Lauren Valdez. Lauren approaches productivity in a way that’s refreshingly different from my digital-first philosophy. She’s deeply rooted in the tactile and intentional, favoring physical tools like journals over digital systems. Journaling has been her cornerstone for reflection, decision-making, and creativity. I’m excited for…
I’ve long believed that our choices about which projects to take on are among the most important decisions we make, and now I have evidence to back it up. In an article on the TED blog and a paper called The Methodology of Personal Projects Analysis, research professor Brian R. Little examines how the pursuit…
I recently came across a Substack post by Venkatesh Rao called Oozy Intelligence in Slow Time that was one of the most insightful I’ve ever read for understanding the nature of Artificial Intelligence. We tend to think of Artificial Intelligence as being in an arms race with Human Intelligence. Which one is smarter? When will…
Creativity is often described as an elusive, even magical, phenomenon. In reality, it’s a skill – and there are many ways to prime your brain to be more creative. Surprisingly, one of them is procrastination. We generally think of procrastination as a bad habit, a mental hurdle we need to overcome. But research shows that…
I’m unbelievably proud to announce the inaugural Second Brain Summit, taking place October 3–4, 2024, in Los Angeles, California! We’re gathering the most dedicated experts and practitioners of personal knowledge management in the world’s creative capital with three goals in mind: To meet other like-minded people and see that we’re not alone To celebrate the…
About six months ago, I decided to evaluate a few of the newer generation of Second Brain apps. I’ve been using Evernote for 10 years and wanted to see if any of the up-and-comers could take over as my platform of choice. I tested three of the most promising ones – Obsidian, Tana, and Mem
I couldn’t be more excited and proud to unveil my first new course in 7 years: Pillars of Productivity (which we call POP). I’ve spent the last 7 years dedicated to teaching people how to build their “Second Brain” – a long-term and personalized system for notetaking. With thousands of students taught, two bestselling books…
One of the most common sources of confusion I see in the world of productivity and self-improvement is a failure to distinguish between beginner-level advice and advanced-level advice. In any given pursuit – tennis, chess, jiu-jitsu, painting – there is a hierarchy of skills that you have to acquire one by one to progress. More…
The PARA Method is a simple, intuitive system for organizing all information in your life so you can find them when you need them. The first step to using PARA is to apply it to your notetaking app of choice. This is much easier when you see examples of how it’s done. So, we’ve curated useful YouTube…
If you’ve decided to follow my advice and create your very own personal system of knowledge management – which I call a “Second Brain” – then your first step is to decide which app to build it on. Your notetaking app is the core of your Second Brain, the central place where you store your