Building a Second Brain
The case for one external note store, and four steps for running it
Tiago Forte argues that the way out of information overload is one searchable store of what you have already learned, worked through four steps: capture, organize, distill, express. It hands over the PARA folders, progressive summarization and the rule of saving only what genuinely interests you, illustrated with what his students did rather than with theory. Published in 2022 and translated widely since. The opening chapters spend a long time on the case for keeping notes at all, which readers who already keep them tend to skim on the way to the organizing sections.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Tiago ForteRecommends
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
The book he wrote about keeping one trusted place outside your head for the ideas and insights you collect, so you can put them to work rather than hunt for a note you were sure you saved. David Allen and Daniel Pink are among the people quoted on its page.
Source: buildingasecondbrain.com: the book
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
- Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Deep Work
The case that uninterrupted concentration is a rare and valuable skill
Backed by 6 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 5 recommend it, 1 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's 1990 study of total absorption and what makes it happen
Backed by 2 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life
Penguin Press
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2023 book on vision, work, failure and giving back
Backed by 1 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Clear Thinking
Parrish on the ordinary moments where a decision is really made
Backed by 1 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Effortless
Make the most essential activities the easiest ones to do
Backed by 1 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Essentialism
The disciplined pursuit of less, applied to a career and a calendar
Backed by 1 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
Book 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.