Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential

by Tiago Forte

We spend countless hours reading, listening to, and watching other people’s opinions about what we should do, how we should think, and how we should live, but make comparatively little effort applying that knowledge and making it our own. So much of the time we are “information hoarders,” stockpiling endless amounts of well-intentioned content that only ends up increasing our anxiety.

I’ve long enjoyed reading books in the “self-improvement” genre, ever since I casually picked up The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz at a bookstore when I was 19. The idea that for only $15 and a few hours of reading I could obtain valuable information about how to improve my life blew my mind, and still does. I can remember even all those years ago feeling that most of what I was reading was slipping through my mind like sand. Those were probably the first inklings that I needed something like a Second Brain to save it all. What was the first moment you can remember wanting something like a personal system of knowledge management?