How I Built a Second Brain

February 3, 2023

By: Erin Suhajda

Have you ever thought about how many original thoughts you’ve had over your lifetime?

I continue to be amazed by “Past Me” every time I dive into old journals or old files on my computer. This year, I’ve challenged myself to improve my processes when it comes to organization, productivity, and sharing my thoughts with the world.

I spent the last 6 weeks developing my digital “Second Brain”. 

I’m sure you’re asking “What even is a “Second Brain”? I was referred to this concept by a friend who knows I love anything and everything productivity related. I recently started using a new platform —Notion— and thought this could be a great test project to see what I could accomplish and learn the platform better.

As I went down the rabbit hole of building a Second Brain, it occurred to me that this is some thing I already do, on some level at least. I would guess you too have a second brain that you’ve developed over time.

This is based off of a concept by the incredible Tiago Forte, so I’ll answer your question in his own words:

A "Second Brain" is simply the name for a trusted place outside your head where you can collect and organize your most important ideas and insights (while filtering out the junk) and use them to do your best work.

Tiago created this concept with the intent to teach others how to:

• Combat information overwhelm and free up their attention for more creative, interesting endeavors.

• Keep the most important information just two clicks away, giving them peace of mind that their knowledge and insights are safely stored and available whenever they need them.

• Create a playground of their own thoughts, ideas, resources, and connections to bring to life the creative works that have been locked up inside.

• Know exactly where to start when they sit down to work, so they can achieve lift-off on long-awaited projects and take them to the finish line. 

• Finally focus their time and energy on the people and things that are most important to them.

A good second brain can be summarized as this:

A Digital archive of your most valuable memories, ideas, and knowledge

So what have I learned?

Building a Second Brain is less about storing every single piece of information you intake at some point in your life and much more about how you use it. As I’ve developed my system over this short period, I’ve leaned into the philosophy of BASB and seen the direct result on my output as a knowledge worker.

Part of that philosophy is that building a Second Brain is not a destination, rather a journey and way of life. It has helped me hone processes I was already doing, but now I know why and how to improve it further. BASB gives you back the freedom of creativity while output flows naturally.

To get the process started, I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past few weeks digging up old information from all the digital platforms in my life— Apple Notes, Google Drive, Screenshots, Saved Posts on Social Media — and I’ve been shocked to uncover all the golden nuggets I’ve rediscovered.

Some highlights include:

• Travel “Food & Fun” Guides for multiple cities I’ve lived in, and 5+ Countries I’ve traveled to (including Travel Journals and Photos)

• My favorite homemade Lemonade recipe from a job I had in college

• Great ideas for projects that I was able to action at work this week!

• A virtual rolodex of favorite drinks, snacks, and more for the important people in my life

I plan to share updates as I continue on my BASB journey, but I’ve already changed the way I think about the many little notes I make to myself daily--knowing that one day it might just be the perfect missing piece to the puzzle days, weeks, or years from now.

If you are interested in learning more about Building A Second Brain, I highly recommend you check out Tiago Forte’s book!