Transcription
Did you know that we consume 34 GB of information per day? But how much of that information do you think our brain actually remembers?
This is where the second brain comes in. And no, no, nothing like this. Yes, yes, yes. No, y, y. Yep. Cool. I mean, a second brain that is for normal people like us. In this video, I'm going to show you how you can set up an easy second brain with OneNote and how to use it. To do this, I'll be using Thiago Forte's PAR method.
Why have a second brain? Before having my second brain, I have been constantly overwhelmed by the sea of information out there that I have completely burnt out a couple of times this year already. With the constant traveling as a digital nomad, trying to make YouTube videos, and on top of all of that, I'm still trying to study for postgrad exams as a medical doctor. There were just so many moving parts, and I find myself forgetting lots of important things. And I was so sure, so sure that my human brain is going to remember all those things. Of course, when you need it, it's gone, gone from my memory. Then I end up feeling kind of crap, and then I beat myself up for not remembering those things.
Here's the thing, guys. David Allen in Getting Things Done quotes that your brain is for having ideas and not holding them. Your second brain should be holding that information for you, and it has been absolutely game-changing. It helps you store information in a systematized way where you can actually make use of it later on. So, if you're interested in making one, let's get to it.
CODE is the key that elevates a normal note-taking platform like OneNote to something really powerful, a second brain that actually serves you. CODE stands for Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express. Capturing these steps involves capturing information or ideas from various sources that resonates with you. So, these could be things like articles, blog posts, tweets, inspirational posts, or Reels that you found on Instagram, or even things like shower thoughts or meaningful conversations that you've had with your special someone.
Now, here's a realistic example. While I am scrolling on my phone on Instagram, I found a post on tips on how to have a lasting happy relationship. So, I want to quickly capture this into my second brain. How I do this is that I use OneNote on my phone, and there is a widget here that allows me to capture information really quickly, and then it ends up in my quick notes. And I'll show you what to do with it later on in the video.
After capturing that information, we organize the notes in a way that allows for action. And this is where the PAR method comes in. The rest of the two steps are Distill and Express, which I won't cover in this video. If you do want to learn about CODE, please let me know in the comments below. I can make a separate video on it because it did take me a while to know how to apply it in real life. But before that, make sure you hit the like button if you've enjoyed this video so far.
Now, I'll show you how to use PAR in my OneNote to organize my second brain. It's just an acronym, and we love acronyms. Thank you, Thiago Forte. PAR stands for Project, Action, Resources, and Archive. And this form of organization is based on Thiago's statement that the best way to organize your notes is to organize for action, according to the active projects you are working on right now.
Project is the most actionable thing in all of your folders. This is something that you're actively working on and there is a deadline with it. Examples of these could be like a presentation slide or PowerPoint that you're working for school or work, moving flats, planning your next girls' trip, a 30-day fitness challenge, becoming a better version of yourself project, or other creative projects like that.
Now, Action is ongoing responsibilities in your life, and these things do not have an end date. They are things like health, mental health, relationship, friendship, family, finances, things like that go into Action. And Resources is where you store useful information for your interests or your hobbies. Things that don't fit in the first two folders, they go here. And lastly, is Archive. These are things that you're no longer working on actively, but they also serve as a place where you can refer to your old notes if you need to.
Now, Quick Note doesn't fit into the PAR method, but this is a very important area, and this is also known as the inbox or, for me, the brain dump area. This is a temporary home for all the notes that you've taken on the fly. Remember that relationship advice that I captured early on in the video? We are going to pick that up now and fit it into one of these four orders. Every time you're capturing a note, you want to ask yourself, how is this note going to help me move forward with any of my current projects? Will it help with any of my active projects right now, or is it going to go into my responsibilities? If it doesn't fit in any of the two that I've spoken about, then it goes into Resources. So, I think with this note, it'll help with one of my responsibilities of being a good partner, so it'll go into this folder here.
I'll show you my second brain setup in OneNote now. First, I open a notebook called Second Brain, and then in order to set up via the PAR method, I use sections as folders. And for Project, each of these projects gets a master page, and this can be a space to consolidate all the information you've collected. And I usually use this as a mind map space. And then I create sub-pages under the master page, and this is where all the notes we've captured related to the subject fall. Under my current projects and actions are usually based on my quarterly goals, which I document in my Excel sheet that I'll show you a little later. So, as you can see, there are also separate folders for Action, Resources, and Archive, and it's the same organization system for these two.
The beauty of this way of organizing your second brain is that there is zero pressure to be organized. I know that sounds pretty contradictory, but this is because none of the notes that you've captured is set in stone. The information that you've created is completely fluid, and it can move from folder to folder depending on where you need them. For example, I am all finished with making this video project, so it goes straight into my archive. It doesn't mean that I don't need it anymore because later on, I may require this information again when I make a similar video or need a video part two, so I go back to my archive and search it up, so you don't have to start from scratch.
If you're getting overwhelmed at this point of the video where you think that implementing a second brain is just going to be stressful, going to be a lot more work, and going to change completely everything that you've already set up, don't worry because it's not supposed to replace everything. In fact, if you already have some sort of organized organizational system, some sort of apps that you're already using, then even better because the second brain is going to link up all of these tools and make you even more efficient. You're still going to need your Google Calendar. You're still going to need your task manager. The second brain only acts as the center or the digital brain of your personal knowledge management. And I'll show you how it fits exactly into my existing workflow.
Hey, if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, please do and make sure you turn on your notifications so that you get tips on how to optimize your life and get to a game. Now, this is my current workflow where I have a Google Excel sheet that has all my goals and to-do lists on it. I also use Google Calendar to schedule all of the to-do tasks from the Excel sheet. My YouTube video creation process is in an entirely separate app called Nifty, which is a project management tool. With all of this, my second brain fits right here. So, new ideas and knowledge come into the second brain, and they literally get converted into valuable knowledge and ideas for my actions and my projects later on because all this new information can inspire new goals. Then my weekly to-do list also gets materialized as projects in my OneNote. This is where the progress of ongoing projects are documented clearly. I've also found that my videos are so much easier to make after having my second brain. And this is my current workflow. I capture ideas and quotes and books day to day and store it in one place in my OneNote, and then later on, I collate all of this information in my master page, and it gets converted into a script in my Nifty app.
The most common misconception that I hear is that the second brain is supposed to somehow be that one solution that fixes all your problems and replaces all the apps that you've been using. I hope that I've shown you that this is not the case. The second brain serves as a digital brain that lightens your cognitive flow. It frees up the human brain to do what it does best, which is being creative and empowers you to live your best life. But everything I've talked about in this video is absolutely useless if you don't know how to use this one skill. Make sure you check out this video next to learn what it is and how to apply it.