I first discovered the concept of a second brain in the late spring, as I was in the middle of organizing my life. I was dealing with files, tasks, events, and projects that I was thinking about starting. To be honest I wasn’t that disorganized beforehand, but what I was looking for was a structure to follow when new projects or ideas come up. I found that when a new idea would pop in my head, I scrambled to find the best place to at least record that idea.

Before detailing out the system I use every day, first let me tell you a few of my requirements.

  1. Platform agnostic

    Truly I am an Apple product fan, but I am also a proponent of using tools, not being dependent on them. My provided work laptop is also a windows machine, therefore I don’t want to be tied to a specific ecosystem just to accomplish something.

  2. Shareable

    If you are the one who is super interested into this type of content, you might relate with your family not being as into your productivity system as you are. Thus, I want the system to be easily shareable and accessible for someone who is not into the nuts and bolts of being productive. For my family, I want them to have access to important files, or information if they were to ever need it and I am not available.

  3. Easy to input

    Lastly, don’t want to struggle just to access my productivity system. It the hurdle to input something is too high, I will either lose the idea before it gets written down, or will give up adding it entirely.

Now let us dive into the following version of my second brain. In no way am I claiming that this is the perfect system, or that it is complete. It is just what I use to organize my thoughts, ideas, and life events.

Table of Contents

Inputs

I define the inputs as anyway that information can enter the system. This is what varies the most, as it depends on what I am doing on how I am taking on information. It is important to identify how information is taken in to better understand how to quickly categorize and process that information.

  1. Email

    What I have found the most useful about email, is spending as least amount of time that I can inside of whatever email client I am using. The best way I have found that is implementing the Inbox Zero method outlined by Tiago Forte. I first discovered the idea of inbox zero from Jeff Su (another productivity You-Tuber), but I find that Tiago’s method is even simpler leaving you with almost no time spent inside email throughout the day.

    The Tools I Use

    • Spark Email App

      I discovered spark when I first got an Apple laptop, and was not satisfied with the default email client. It was developed around the idea of inbox zero, and with the ability to use shortcuts to quickly process emails, it is the best tool I have found that can go through emails the fastest. Besides enjoying the simplicity of the design, I enjoy having a combined inbox, but I can also switch to a single account if I truly need to make sure I am only looking at work email for instance.

    • Web Clients

      Because Spark is Apple only (for now), I needed a solution for my work computer. What I have found works the best is having a tab group containing the 3 inboxes I maintain, along with my calendar (but more on that later). This is actually how I started when I began my productivity system, and considering I have other tabs open almost all of the time for work, it removes one more app from being on my taskbar.

      I have developed the habit of starting up the tab group every time I open the first browser. The reason I don’t have it as a default for a new window, is I did not like having multiple instances of my email open.

      Side Note: I am a virtual desktop user, and I like to keep all of my communication on one virtual desktop, and another with actual working items. This is a step I take to help me obtain and maintain the flow state.

  2. My First Brain

    My first, only, and real brain is actually the main input source for my system. Whether I am setting reminders for myself, scheduling dinner with some friends, or writing down ideas I had in the shower, I tend to take in most my information from myself or conversations I am having. The need for an inbox actually stemmed from needing a way to quickly jot an idea down that I had in my head, because I was on the move and did not have time to even enter it into a notes app. In that case, I actually just voice texted myself a message, so that when I got back to my phone I would have an unread message to process. It doesn’t always have to be pretty!

  3. Entertainment

    The last input that I can currently identify is any form of entertainment. The ones that typically actually generate information are articles, books, podcasts, and blogs, but at times certain videos will produce some great thoughts. The toughest part about written material is finding the time to actually read and digest the information, and that is not often the same time that I found the article or blog post. For this I use a read it later app called Instapaper. All this does is consolidate all of the reading material that I was to “read later” and strips it from adds, and even images in most cases to streamline the intake of information.

    The second piece of this that I am currently trialing is exporting highlights not only from Instapaper, but book reading apps like iBooks or Kindle directly into my note taking system using an application called Readwise. I haven’t fully decided if the juice is worth the squeeze here, but I do enjoy the autonomy.

Storage

Storage is the heart of a productivity system, and the part that most geek out about. I myself have done my fair share of geeking out, and finally settled onto what I am using now. Like I have said before, there is no perfect system for everyone, but definitely an ideal system for yourself in that moment. At the crux of my productivity systems storage is a spin on Tiago Forte’s PARA Method called PARIA.

The PARIA Method

The PARIA Method is an extension of a method written by Taigo Forte. I will only go into detail about my modifications, and have only provided brief explanations of what Tiago has layed out on his website fortelabs.com

  1. Project - A series of tasks linked to a goal with a deadline

  2. Area - A sphere of activity with a standard to be maintained over time

  3. Resource - A topic or theme of ongoing interest

  4. Inbox - An item that has yet to be categorized into one of the first three categories.

    This is my addition to his method, and one that is critical to how I function. Having an inbox is important to provide a place to quickly jot down ideas without having to think about where they need to go in your system. You’ll notice that in each of my locations where I store information, I have an inbox or sandbox alike that allows me to quickly write down thoughts without needed to think about what type of information I am adding.

  5. Archive - Inactive items from the first 3 categories

Storage Locations

  1. Notes

    When people think of a productivity system their first thought typically leads them to a notes app. This is where I started, and I went through 3 or more applications, even trying a few twice, and simultaneously before finally settling on Notion as my main knowledge hub of Notes. I found that it provides the ability to add as much structure as I can think of, but with the addition of an inbox on the homepage, I can dump notes there before I decide the proper place they should go.

    I do also use handwritten notes every now and then. I find that sometimes I like to draw out my ideas, rather than figure out a way to translate them into text or tables for a digital note taking app. I could get an iPad with an Apple pencil, but that solution feels too far away from traditional pen and paper than I would like. What I have landed on is a tool called Rocketbook. I actually have been using this far longer than any other of the items here, so my familiarity with it probably played a role in me keeping it around. I like the Rocketbook for drawing, and then embedding the pdf or images inside of Notion pages if I need to, but also I feel a little bit better about bringing a notebook to meetings where loudly typing on a computer might be a bit distracting. Regardless, the combination of these two has proven to be quite successful of the past few months, each filling their own specific need.

  2. Tasks

    A Task manager was a piece that I resisted for the longest time. I felt that if I had too much going on to where I couldn’t remember all of the things I had to do, then I had other problems. However, my mind was changed when I realized that small little items kept getting delayed because they weren’t big enough priority in my brain to remember, but ended up becoming high priority after it was too late. I discovered Todoist early on in the process of my search, and what I liked the best about it was how easy it was to add tasks. Much like Notion, there is an inbox for quickly throwing tasks, but if I want to categorize them as I enter them, tags and labels are easily applicable through intellisense which helps the most when assigning due dates, more than categories. The other great thing about Todoist is that there is an application for almost every platform (Windows included). If for some reason there isn’t an app, their web app is almost as good.

  3. Files

    I havn’t gotten too creative when it comes to file storage, and honestly it has been the same for the last 5+ years. Google Drive seems to be like ole faithful, simple and easy to use. I have debated switching to other products, but what keeps me with Drive is the price. I still have yet to come close to the 15GB, considering all I store there are excel sheets and pdfs. Eventually I’m sure I’ll need to upgrade, but for now free is a selling point for me.

  4. Events

    Similar to my file storage, my calendar choice is also pretty basic. You can’t go wrong with Google Calendar, everything under the sun syncs with it, their web app is great, and if I need to share an event with my family, it doesn’t come in a weird format. The only spin I have on this is that for my mobile device and laptop I use the client app called Fantastical. There is a paid version, but I find that for me the free version works great. Similar to Todoist fantastical provides intellisense to place events on the calendar. In one line of text you can give it an event name, location, and time. With some keyboard shortcuts on my laptop this is even easier, and allows me to quickly schedule an event without taking my hands off of the keyboard.

  5. Bookmarks/Passwords

    This last one is not something that is typically included in other productivity systems, but I would argue that it is just as important as any of the others. For both bookmarks and passwords I use iCloud, but this is only because their chrome plugins are actually pretty nice. I tried some other options for passwords, but having them sync quickly with my laptop and phone won me over to use the native iCloud system. Besides passwords, something that I find I am starting to use more and more is two-factor authentication. More and more accounts are requiring codes along with your password. The only cross platform application that is simple and actually works that I have found is called Authy by Twilio.

    As far as bookmarks go, this was something I stumbled upon when I was experimenting with using my phone as a productivity hub (versus a laptop). I would bookmark sites using my work laptop, but had no seamless way to access that quickly on my phone. I didn’t come up with a fancy solution, all I have done is create some quick folders.

    • Tools
      • This group is dedicated for my work, and contains various links and subfolders of things I need quick access to throughout the day. Included in this is the startup group that I mentioned in the email section.
    • Brain
      • Inside the brain folder is quick links to the main web applications for my productivity system.
    • Personal
      • My personal folder is structured similar to my notion workspace, and uses the PARIA method to categorize my many bookmarks. (Except the Archive lies elsewhere)
    • Projects
      • Similar to the Tools folder, the projects folder is just for active projects at work.

    I do also have an Archive folder but this doesn’t live in the bookmarks bar or favorites, but just inside of the general bookmarks folder.

Other Tools

The only other tool that I use that hasn’t been mentioned is Alfred. Unfortunately, it is MacOS only, but the best windows alternative is PowerToys. PT doesn’t offer quite the amount of features that Alfred does, but just the ability to search for applications without using the start menu is more than I can ask for.

Alfred however has been great for my productivity on my personal laptop. In general it is a faster spotlight, but has some other great features that you can read more about on their website.

Between Alfred and PowerToys I find that using applications that keep my hands on the keyboard and off of the trackpad or mouse help me stay moving forward in productivity.

Output

As much as I enjoy creating the system itself, it is only as good as what comes out of it. My thoughts can be optimally accessible and organized, but what does it matter if they are never utilized. Currently I have a few avenues of output, but like inputs these will change depending on the season of life I am in, as my priorities tend to change along also.

This Website is actually one of the driving forces of defining a productivity system for myself. I used (and am still using) this project as a trial period for the different tools I laid out above. Since starting this I have expanded my use into my Youtube channel that I am just now starting, projects for our new home, and the various business Ideas that I come up with while driving or in the shower.

Wrapping Up

The most important thing I have learned from creating my own second brain is not to get set on finding the perfect one forever, but the perfect system for yourself in the moment. Just in the last 6 months I have cycles through 3-4 note taking systems and applications, and what I have laid out above is just what is working for me now. I’m not married to what tools I have written down, but more the idea of how I process and store the information for later use. I hope that you found this helpful in some way, and good luck on your own productivity journey!