The Issue with your Current Digital Note-taking (#notetakingtransition Part 1)
This post is part 1 of my #notetakingtransition series. In this three-part series of posts, I am trying to introduce the basic principles of PKM and the Second Brain framework by Tiago Forte. At the same time, I would like to provide a new perspective on PKM organisation for those who already implemented the system.
To see the outline and what’s coming next in this series, see my How to Transition from Writing Notes to Being your Notes Medium post.
So… let’s get this party started! First, let’s see…
…how you are currently taking notes?
Let’s split ourselves among three groups:
- Those taking notes on paper — read this!
- Those taking notes digitally who haven’t yet implemented the Second Brain framework — read this!
- Those who already implemented the Second Brain framework — read this!
Depending on which group would put yourself in, click on one of the links above, they will take you to one of the paragraphs below:
For those taking notes on paper
I should say right off the bat that I do have nothing against this approach, on the whole. If you are comfortable doing things this way, you always find what you need, if you have all your documents, notes, flashcards, presentations in a system always at hand and engage with your notes on a regular basis…Then great! You are free to stop reading and please, just please, DM me on Instagram, Twitter or comment down below which magical system that is.
If that doesn’t sound like the experience you are having right now with your pen-and-paper note-taking, then continue ➡️ here.
For those taking notes digitally without implementing the Second Brain
If you are like most people (or at least me), you always feel your note-taking space is always a bit too cluttered. I have struggled to keep my notes at hand and organised for a very long time. This really bugged me as I wanted everything to be in place, accessible whenever I needed it. But I just couldn’t solve this problem myself, at all.
Then, I discovered the PARA method of organising. This system was first introduced by Tiago Forte and is now used by influencers, knowledge workers, med school students, creators and people like you! It works like an extension of your real brain and enhances your productivity and creative output.
All that without necessarily adding any friction or complexity.
I seriously recommend everyone to stick around and at least see what it is about. But if you do not feel like it is necessary and your system works for you very well, let me know more about your setup in the comments!
If you are excited to learn more about Personal Knowledge Management and the Second Brain framework, continue ➡️ here!
For those who already implemented the Second Brain framework
If you have already implemented the PARA and the Second Brain framework, I would love you to share your thoughts, experiences, takeaways from using it and your note-taking app of choice. You can DM me on Instagram, Twitter or comment down below!
So… now we have that out of the way, let’s address the elephant in the room…
Why your current note-taking doesn’t work
I personally believe the main issue of most people’s note-taking systems is the lack of reengagement with already written notes. You aren’t noting things down just because you want them to look pretty or don’t want to forget something.
You should write your notes to make your repetitive projects and tasks easier next time you do them. You should recycle the recorded ideas you had and use them to give you a new perspective on things right now.
Recycling notes
It should come naturally to you that you don’t have to start from scratch every time you work on a project. You should first look for any kind of useful notes, documents or web bookmarks to help you kickstart the project and drive it forward. In the process, you should be tweaking the old notes, adding some sort of signalling for your future self that you’ve reused them, meaning they have a value that you could leverage in your future work.
That’s the true power of digital note-taking. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. What keeps you from reusing your old notes?
Fitting a river in a box
The problem is the organisation of your workspace. You are trying to put your flows of ideas into boxes with labels (folders) and then to top it off, put those folders in two stacks — work and personal. It is like if you were trying to fit a river (flow of ideas) into a box.
Separating your personal life from work doesn't also work very well. What if you could leverage your personal notes at work and vice versa? In fact, you should, but simply can’t in the current state. Imagine how many projects, chores and planning would you need to manage in one system if you would merge your work and personal notes. If you struggle to keep your current personal note-taking setup under control, imagine adding all your work notes on top. You just need a better system for organising. However, not everything is in your notes.
System spanning across all your apps
Your knowledge, ideas and valuable information is also in your email inbox, file manager application on your computer, messenger, word processor, calendar, task manager…
All that, holding invaluable knowledge and data you could leverage at any time. Only if you could find it. It all comes to accessibility which can be enhanced by the organisation system.
Maybe you like the way your note-taking app is organised. Is your task manager application organised the same way? What about your email application? Or even your Google Drive? You probably have a different set of folders in each of those. What if you could have one system of organisation spanning all across your digital tools. Instantly searchable, sourceable, accessible.
The Second Brain system was built with just that in mind.
What you will get with the Second Brain
This complex, yet simple system consists of 4 categories:
Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives.
In contrast to your conventional organisation systems, the notes do not stay in one of these containers long-term. They seamlessly flow from one into the other.
Each one of the four categories has folders within them with specific notes. This system is just 4 levels deep (app — category — folder — note) and 4 levels wide (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives). See? Simple.
Moreover, the aim is not to perfectly and neatly organise all notes into as many specific folders as possible. On the contrary, it involves some degree of randomness and disorder. In fact, too much organisation decreases your creative output.
It also involves tools for archiving knowledge (so you can reuse it for later when it becomes useful again), reengaging with captured knowledge (the more you engage with a note, the more valuable it becomes) and project planning (completing tasks in smaller burns rather than heavy lifts).
If that wasn’t enough to you, it is universal and can be applied to any note-taking app, task manager, email, messenger or project planning app. Even your whole computer file system (to a certain degree, of course :’)!
It is truly a fulfilling experience once you get it into it. I haven’t managed to do that just yet. It takes time, like everything else in the world. But unlike many of the things in the world, it is 100% worth it.
With that in mind, stay tuned for Part 2 of this #notetakingtransition series.
Once it gets published, you will be able to access it here!
Meanwhile, you can follow me on socials like Twitter or Instagram and see my other blog posts on Medium!
