A system of personal knowledge management, which I call a “Second Brain,” is an indispensable part of any modern professional’s toolkit. Because it is such a personal tool, it’s important to give it a name that evokes the special relationship you have with it. Here is a collection of alternative names for a Second Brain…
We’ve been led to believe that we are at the precipice of an Artificial Intelligence explosion. Yet the progress in our digital assistants and self-driving cars seems to have stalled. Computers choke at even the simplest requests, and most of the digital world continues to be handcrafted by humans. But quietly, hidden in plain sight,…
Introducing Season 2 of the Building a Second Brain podcast! Available on: Spotify, Libsyn, and Apple Podcasts. In this season I talk about 9 of the biggest myths and misconceptions that people have about Second Brains, and what it means to create one for themselves. Based on years of experience teaching, writing, and coaching people on this subject,…
When I created my first online course in 2013, online learning was a lonely affair. Platforms like Skillshare and Udemy were exploding in popularity. But the vast majority of courses at that time were one-way: information flowed only from the instructor to the students. There was no expectation that a student would get to know…
I was recently interviewed on the Superhumans at Work podcast, which is produced by the team at Mindvalley, one of the largest online education platforms in the world with over 300 employees. I spoke with host Jason Marc Campbell and a few hundred live attendees on how to Tap Into The Power Of Your Second Brain, drawing…
I recently discovered a treasure trove of family home videos stretching back almost 40 years. The earliest video was from my parents wedding in 1981 in São Paulo. The footage was grainy and barely in color, and looked like it was taken by a professional crew. Consumer camcorders hadn’t even been invented yet. The more…
To celebrate the launch of the 11th edition of Building a Second Brain, we’re co-hosting the first ever Second Brain Week, a series of free events with 8 top creators and experts. Come join us to learn about digital note-taking, organizing, productivity, knowledge management, and online education, and how creating a system of knowledge management for yourself can…
I recently interviewed Kent Sisco, the creator of a knowledge management app called Speare. It provides a flexible interface for capturing thoughts and ideas as building blocks that you can organize into a “visual thought library.” Here are some of the features we demonstrated and discussed: Find & Replace – Locate words and phrases and replace…
I interviewed Oliver Sauter, the Co-Founder of a knowledge management and online bookmarking platform called Memex. Memex is built by a company called WorldBrain, whose vision is “A well informed and less polarized society where everyone can use their full attention to create knowledge and make sustainable, effective and compassionate decisions.” Their vision is “To…
Cover image “beauty in the brains” by bedelgeuse A student recently asked me, “How do you have the self-discipline to open up your notes app every time you encounter an interesting idea?” Suddenly I realized: I don’t. It’s so critical that note-taking be easy and frictionless, that even opening an app is too much of a…
By Marie-Pier Corbeil, Vice President and Lead Designer at RVE (Recharge Véhicule Électrique), working on solutions for EV charger installation in multi-unit residential buildings To use progressive summarization with PDFs, here’s what I do: 1. I highlight and comment passages in PDF Expert (which is my layer 1): 2. I export my highlights…
By Dr. Roberto A. Leon Ferre, Oncologist, Mayo Clinic Here is a typical (hypothetical) clinical note for a breast cancer patient in a busy oncology clinic such as my own: A 35-year-old premenopausal female with recently diagnosed breast cancer presents today for recommendations regarding treatment. Her oncologic history is as follows: August 15, 2016: patient…