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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Tiago Forte
This digital commonplace book is what I call a Second Brain. Think of it as the combination of a study notebook, a personal journal, and a sketchbook for new ideas.
For modern, professional notetaking, a note is a “knowledge building block”—a discrete unit of information interpreted through your unique perspective and stored outside your head.
There are four essential capabilities that we can rely on a Second Brain to perform for us: Making our ideas concrete. Revealing new associations between ideas. Incubating our ideas over time. Sharpening our unique perspectives.
“Creative people are better at recognizing relationships, making associations and connections.”
It was jobs that required the ability to convey “not just information but a particular interpretation of information.”5
Careers least affected by AI
Our careers and businesses depend more than ever on our ability to advance a particular point of view and persuade others to adopt it as well.
The second way that people use their Second Brain is to connect ideas together.
To guide you in the process of creating your own Second Brain, I’ve developed a simple, intuitive four-part method called “CODE”—Capture; Organize; Distill; Express.
We need to adopt the perspective of a curator, stepping back from the raging river and starting to make intentional decisions about what information we want to fill our minds.
The solution is to keep only what resonates in a trusted place that you control, and to leave the rest aside.
just look inside for a feeling of pleasure, curiosity, wonder, or excitement, and let that be your signal for when it’s time to capture a passage, an image, a quote, or a fact.
The best way to organize your notes is to organize for action, according to the active projects you are working on right now. Consider new information in terms of its utility, asking, “How is this going to help me move forward one of my current projects?”
distill your notes down to their essence.
“How can I make this as useful as possible for my future self?” That question will lead you to annotate the words and phrases that explain why you saved a note, what you were thinking, and what exactly caught your attention.
Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand.
A common challenge for people who are curious and love to learn is that we can fall into the habit of continuously force-feeding ourselves more and more information, but never actually take the next step and apply it.
Other synonyms for expression include publish, speak, present, perform, produce, write, draw, interpret, critique, or translate.
Capture Criteria #1: Does It Inspire Me?
Capture Criteria #2: Is It Useful?
Capture Criteria #3: Is It Personal?
Capture Criteria #4: Is It Surprising?
Ultimately, Capture What Resonates
“emotions organize—rather than disrupt—rational thinking.”
It’s a good idea to capture key information about the source of a note, such as the original web page address, the title of the piece, the author or publisher, and the date it was published.III
Projects: Short-term efforts in your work or life that you’re working on now. Areas: Long-term responsibilities you want to manage over time. Resources: Topics or interests that may be useful in the future. Archives: Inactive items from the other three categories.
Examples of areas from your personal life could include: Activities or places you are responsible for: Home/apartment; Cooking; Travel; Car. People you are responsible for or accountable to: Friends; Kids; Spouse; Pets. Standards of performance you are responsible for: Health; Personal growth; Friendships; Finances.
For example: What topics are you interested in? Architecture; Interior design; English literature; Beer brewing. What subjects are you researching? Habit formation; Notetaking; Project management; Nutrition. What useful information do you want to be able to reference? Vacation itineraries; Life goals; Stock photos; Product testimonials. Which hobbies or passions do you have? Coffee; Classic movies; Hip-hop music; Japanese anime.
In which project will this be most useful? If none: In which area will this be most useful? If none: Which resource does this belong to? If none: Place in archives.
move quickly and touch lightly.
The emerging Octavia made three rules for herself: Don’t leave your home without a notebook, paper scraps, something to write with. Don’t walk into the world without your eyes and ears focused and open. Don’t make excuses about what you don’t have or what you would do if you did, use that energy to “find a way, make a way.”
“The greater your ignorance the more verifiably accurate must be your facts,” she once remarked.
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Creativity: The Magic Synthesis
The more imaginative and curious you are, the more diverse your interests, and the higher your standards and commitment to perfection, the more difficult you will likely find it to switch from divergence mode into convergence mode.
Project Checklists: Ensure you start and finish your projects in a consistent way, making use of past work. Weekly and Monthly Reviews: Periodically review your work and life and decide if you want to change anything. Noticing Habits: Notice small opportunities to edit, highlight, or move notes to make them more discoverable for your future self.
Capture my current thinking on the project. Review folders (or tags) that might contain relevant notes. Search for related terms across all folders. Move (or tag) relevant notes to the project folder. Create an outline of collected notes and plan the project.
What do I already know about this project? What don’t I know that I need to find out? What is my goal or intention? Who can I talk to who might provide insights? What can I read or listen to for relevant ideas?
Mark project as complete in task manager or project management app. Cross out the associated project goal and move to “Completed” section. Review Intermediate Packets and move them to other folders. Move project to archives across all platforms. If project is becoming inactive: add a current status note to the project folder before archiving.
You can pay forward some of the immense care that has been poured into you by a lifetime of parents, teachers, and mentors.
Keep what resonates (Capture) Save for actionability (Organize) Find the essence (Distill) Show your work (Express)
