Preface#
In the digital age, managing personal information and ideas has become increasingly important. Creating a personalized digital second brain has become key to improving work efficiency and creativity. I will introduce how to design and establish your own second brain, from concept to practice.
Less talk, let's show the results first.
Previous articles: Building a Second Brain
As a freelance designer, I have accumulated a vast amount of project materials and resources over the years, as well as learning notes. I increasingly feel that designers face enormous information management challenges in the digital age.
I have always believed that the enhancement of professional competence often comes from outside the profession. As designers from different fields, everyone has a unique workflow and aesthetic orientation. If you are also a designer, I hope my experiences and lessons will be helpful to you. If you are in another profession, I believe it can also inspire you. It may help you choose elegant tools that suit you or help you find new paths in designing your own workflow.
Evolution of Concepts#
Since I first wrote about the second brain last year, my understanding of its concept has gone through three stages (perspectives): tools, systems, and thinking patterns. Now, I realize that it is not just a tool, but a systematic approach that ultimately evolves into a thinking pattern, constantly interacting with our first brain.
Tools#
Initially, I only used Evernote, which was a standard case of "hamster syndrome" in its late stage. I stuffed everything I saw into it without any categorization, essentially just doing copy-paste work. The whole process was filled with the illusory satisfaction of "collecting is learning." Looking back now, the most useful feature of Evernote for me was just multi-platform synchronization. However, the meager monthly limit on synchronization data and the bloated, slow client gradually made me lose interest in it.
Then, attracted by the unlimited synchronization data, I fell into Microsoft OneNote, but soon found the mobile experience very unfriendly, and the UI on the PC side quickly led to aesthetic fatigue. Withdrawn.
Later, I switched to Notion, drawn in by its free unlimited capacity, elegant interface, and flexible yet reasonable layout. When I was ready to import all the content from Evernote into Notion, I ironically discovered how insignificant the content I had mindlessly copied was, much of it being images of artworks introduced by art bloggers on Weibo.
Tools are essentially software, a digital platform used to manage and organize information. I focused on selecting the right tools, learning how to use them, and trying to organize my notes, documents, and ideas into an orderly structure. However, as I delved deeper into using the second brain, I began to realize that it was far more than that.
Systems#
In the second stage, I began to see the second brain as a system, a systematic approach to processing and managing complex information. I no longer limited myself to simply collecting and storing information, but began to think about how to build a more complete and organic knowledge system. I set out to redesign the structure of my second brain, creating a richer classification and tagging system to better reflect the relationships and connections between different pieces of information.
At this stage, I tried more software tools, ultimately narrowing it down to Notion, Obsidian, flomo, Apple Notes, and Apple Reminders. I abandoned my previous obsession with AIO, leaving professional matters to professional tools.
Thinking Patterns#
Now, as time goes by, the data and information from various tools are slowly undergoing subtle changes. I gradually realized that the true value of the second brain lies not only in the information it contains and the network it grows, but also in the way of thinking it represents.
Then I entered the third stage, gradually correcting the methodology step by step towards a direction that better suits my workflow based on the patterns summarized by predecessors. At this stage, the second brain has become a thinking tool used to organize, diverge, associate, and generate creative frameworks. It is no longer just a simple digital note-taking system and knowledge management tool; it is closely integrated with work and learning, even directly used to solve problems, make plans, and discover new ideas.
Design Approach#
As a designer, it is natural to assume that designing a second brain is like placing an order for myself. The first step is to clarify goals and needs.
Clarifying Goals and Needs#
You need to define the goals you want to achieve and the needs you want to satisfy with your second brain, which can include knowledge management, creative thinking, project planning, etc. Of course, it can also be all-in-one.
After I streamlined all workflows in my work and life, the final core process that remained was very simple: reading, editing, outputting.
It's just that the type of data subject varies under different tasks. For example, recording ideas, mind mapping, routine meetings, and writing involve text; drawing and design involve models, images, and occasionally audio. The common files on my computer are just a few categories; other project files and software tools are generally only frequently operated in scenarios involving recycling and skill learning. Purely work-related items I manage with another set of methods, returning to knowledge management.
Based on my needs, the overall design framework for adopting the second brain is: CODE, which stands for Capture, Organize, Distill, Express. (Inspired by Tiago Forte's "Building a Second Brain") I also casually noted the tools I decided to use at each stage.
My drawing hand isn't great, please forgive me.
This record was made last year and is somewhat different from the current situation; it was just a casual note at the time, and the thought process was not yet mature.
Choosing the Right Tools#
Choosing the right tools is crucial, as tools affect the efficiency, quality, and experience of the entire process. Before selecting, it's important to understand the design philosophy, functionality, applicable scenarios, and aesthetics (a designer's occupational hazard) of different tools.
The tools I currently use are: Notion, Obsidian, flomo, and Apple Notes.
Below, I will introduce each according to the overall design framework.
Capture#
The first step is to capture information, which falls into two main categories: what I see and what I think.
Valuable information I see generally comes from books, audio-visual materials, the internet, social media, RSS, newsletters, and news media. This order is also based on the average quality of the information types.
Aside from books, for collecting other information at this stage, I generally use Notion's clipping plugin to gather it into the Inbox page in Notion, managing it with a single database without special categorization, only recording whether it has been reviewed. Overall, it serves as a "read later" function. However, its main function is to record work projects, which I won't elaborate on here.
I believe books are the most valuable reference information that requires dedicated time. I don't mind the format, whether it's an e-book or a physical book, as each has its own benefits. I directly record both original excerpts and my thoughts after reading in Obsidian. Additionally, Obsidian also serves the purpose of daily recording, allowing me to clearly feel that I am progressing towards my goals.
Valuable information that comes to my mind is more often derived from the real world. I generally record it in flomo and Apple Notes. The lightweight and cross-platform synchronization features of flomo are much better than those of Notion and Obsidian, making it more suitable for the domestic internet environment. Apple Notes is more convenient for me to record without internet access (such as on planes and trains) or to use the Apple Pencil for quick sketches and notes.
As a side note, whenever information intake is mentioned, algorithm recommendations and information cocoons inevitably come up. I am not entirely opposed to algorithms; everything has two sides objectively, and too much or too little can be detrimental.
Organize#
In the classification and management stage, I not only consider the content characteristics of work and personal knowledge management but also optimize based on the characteristics of each tool.
At this stage, I use the classic P.A.R.A framework, which stands for:
Project: Short-term activities being undertaken in work or life, with clear objectives and timeframes.
Area: Long-term matters that one is committed to, which benefit others and for which one is responsible. While specific goals are not set, each area must have standards for persistence.
Resource: Information with potential reference value, which can include topics of interest, research subjects, reference information, and personal hobbies.
Archive: The above three types of information in a dormant state, which can include completed or canceled projects, areas no longer engaged with, and marginalized resources.
After understanding P.A.R.A, I categorized each of its categories into the following diagram for my workflow as a designer. Since I use my own NAS for archiving, which has a unique management mechanism that suits me better, I will not consider it at this stage.
For example, Notion is not only capable of synchronizing information at any time but is also better at collaboration and sharing. It is most suitable for managing commercial cooperation projects and brand operations. Flomo is mainly used to record fragmented thoughts and information from reality, thus being more personalized. Therefore, it is categorized as personal projects, skill enhancement, and hobbies. Apple Notes is more private and completely unrelated to work, so it is used to record life projects and interests.
Distill#
Next comes the stage of extracting and refining information. Notion is used for project reviews, recycling project assets, summarizing patterns in workflows, reducing and avoiding repetitive workloads, thereby improving efficiency. Obsidian is responsible for personal project management, deeply integrating professional-related knowledge structures, and establishing an increasingly complete knowledge structure network. The greatest benefit of this approach is that new knowledge can be integrated more quickly.
I also placed the task advancement system here, using Apple's built-in Reminders. On one hand, it can synchronize across platforms, and on the other hand, it can link with calendar applications. After extracting information, any project can be broken down into individual executable tasks.
Express#
After the previous processes, the valuable discoveries and thoughts I have organized and summarized are produced into various content in an easily understandable way, which is expression and output.
At this stage, the main outputs include articles, video scripts, project introductions, etc. I use Obsidian for these, as it focuses more on local data management. Additionally, using Git for synchronization and backup is also very suitable.
For publicly published blog articles, technical tutorials, behind-the-scenes productions, and artwork, I use Notion. The main purpose of these contents is to share, and with Notion's beautiful interface, flexible layout, and relatively comfortable reading experience, it is more suitable. However, compared to its flashy appearance, the overall core structure design is more important.
Establishing Structure#
Next, establishing structure is key. In fact, it is about viewing the second brain as a thinking tool. The structure designed with this thinking tool can help me better organize and manage my content, and it is more flexible, not limited by any specific tool. I firmly believe: solid data, fluid processes.
From the overall structure diagram, it is easy to see that the structure I designed for myself follows a vertical C.O.D.E and a horizontal P.A.R.A.
C.O.D.E vertically runs through the entire second brain from input to output, while P.A.R.A horizontally penetrates the classification forms within each tool, used to categorize and manage the smallest units of information. These are independent of what tools are used; even if I replace Obsidian with Windows Notepad, Word, or Visual Studio Code, it doesn't matter.
Personalized Custom Tools#
Personalized customization is certainly necessary. You can also personalize your tools according to your preferences and workflow. Here are a few examples for reference:
Notion#
In Notion, I use two custom databases to manage published articles and works, and then use Super to build a personal website, which serves more as a backup function rather than a main site.
Obsidian#
The personalization settings in Obsidian are achieved through rich plugins, with the most significant being Git, Calendar, Projects, and Weread. Git needs no further explanation; Calendar is mainly used for daily records, Projects is for managing personal projects that do not require sharing, and Weread is used to synchronize highlighted passages from WeChat Reading.
Organizing Existing Information#
After designing a complete structure, the next step is to organize the existing information, which includes my current notes, documents, e-book highlights, images, etc.
I believe this step only needs to achieve two basic points: maintaining consistency and continuous recording, with agile iteration.
Maintaining Consistency#
Maintaining consistency is key to establishing an effective second brain. Consistency in the entire structure and usage process involves using similar naming conventions, tags, and classification methods.
In many projects I have previously undertaken, regardless of the project's scale, a consistent file directory structure and file naming method play a crucial role in project advancement and team collaboration. This requires a long time to develop good habits; do not overlook these details just because the project is small. As the number of projects gradually increases, if this step is not done well, whether in organizing archives or recycling reusable resources, you will face a pile of chaotic data with no way to start.
When you can maintain this consistency across various tools and even on your computer's hard drive, you will gradually realize the benefits of doing so:
- Improved Efficiency and Predictability: Maintaining consistency helps establish clear workflows and standardized operating methods. When all information and operations are managed and executed according to a unified standard, it can improve work efficiency and reduce confusion and errors. Additionally, consistency makes workflows more predictable, enhancing the stability and controllability of work.
- Enhanced Professional Image and Brand Recognition: This is an added effect. Consistency helps shape the professional image and brand recognition of individuals or teams. When information and works present a unified style, language, and visual effect, they leave a deeper impression and enhance the brand value and influence of individuals or teams. Consistency can also enhance user trust and loyalty to the brand, promoting long-term development and success.
- Improved User Experience and Satisfaction: This point applies to the content you will output, if any. Consistency can enhance the quality and readability of output content, making it easier for readers to understand your content.
Continuous and Agile Iteration#
Finally, perseverance is the ultimate secret to building a second brain. As long as you continuously record and iterate your second brain, regardless of your workflow, you will naturally start to think about how to make this system better, rather than jumping between various note-taking software.
Consistently investing time and energy means continuously updating and maintaining the second brain. This includes adding new information, adjusting structures and layouts, cleaning up outdated or useless content, etc. A continuous improvement attitude means constantly seeking opportunities for enhancement and improvement, often looking for ways to optimize the second brain from external feedback, market changes, technological advancements, etc. By constantly reflecting and adjusting, this system can remain agile and up-to-date, better adapting to your needs and changes in the environment.
Conclusion#
In this article, I shared how, as a designer, I continuously evolved and improved this system while building my second brain.
- Evolution of Concepts: The transformation of understanding the second brain from a tool to a system and then to a thinking pattern.
- Design Approach: A detailed demonstration of how I designed a knowledge management mindset tailored to my work and life based on the excellent ideas of predecessors.
- Personalized Custom Tools: I provided examples from Notion and Obsidian; although it may be a glimpse, I am also continuously striving to improve, discovering better tools and methods of use, and will naturally continue to share with you after trying them out.
- Organizing Existing Information: The best time to do something is now; doing something that benefits you for a lifetime naturally requires a firm belief to remain consistent, continuously iterating and adapting. In fact, everything conforms to this rule.
In addition to the above, there are many other contents I believe are worth sharing. I'll stop here for now. If you are also a designer, don't waste this skill. If you are not a designer, I am also glad that my experiences can help you.
The article was first published on: CGARTLAB, welcome to subscribe for free via email.