NotebookLM
Google tool that answers only from documents you upload, with citations
You load your own sources, notes, PDFs, transcripts, and it answers from those instead of the open web, pointing at the passage it drew on. The limit is the feature: answers stay tied to material you picked. It will also generate an audio walkthrough of the same set. Free with a Google account.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Tiago ForteDoes it
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
Loaded his entire reading highlight archive into it, 594,379 words across 719 sources by his own count, then asked it to draw connections across the lot. He is careful about the limit: the reading and the saving were still his to do, and so is turning what it returns into a finished piece.
Source: fortelabs.com: Will Artificial Intelligence Replace the Need for Second Brains Entirely?
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 5 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Readwise
Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 2 recommend it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
- App$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
DEVONthink
DEVONtechnologies
Document and information manager for Mac and iOS with local, indexed databases
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.