Are you building a second brain?

Have you heard of building a second brain? I stumbled across a video on YouTube which introduced me to Ryan Holiday. He utilizes a note card system to catalog interesting information while researching which he transcribes to note cards.

At the end of Ryan’s blog post, he is asked what he uses the note cards for. He answers, “Whatever I want.” You can read more about The Notecard System here.

Why would you want to take notes?

While reading a book, have you come to a profound statement or story and thought to yourself “I should remember that”? Over time we forget those impactful pieces of information and the significance we once felt at the time. Since I mostly read books about business and personal development, I wanted a way to capture key ideas or remember important facts from the books I am reading.

How are you taking notes?

Once I heard about Ryan Holiday’s note card system, I decided to come up with a modified way to utilize the system which would best fit my current routine. After some further research, I decided to create a book journal where I can write down notes while I read and quotes that were impactful. Having a journal with just a few pages of notes enables me to easily reference what my key takeaways from the book were when I read it. Instead of reading the whole book again, I can review my notes and quotes references.

Why a journal?

A journal is a small resource that can be comfortably carried around with a book. It isn’t too cumbersome to set the journal on my lap or on the table as I read for inspiration. Although I could use a digital resource such as Evernote I like the flexibility of a printed copy to take along with me as I read.

Sharing my second brain

Since I am already following this system, I thought it might be helpful to others if I shared interesting pieces of information from the books I am reading. I post quotes from books every Friday for #fridayreads. Follow me on social media to keep up to date on the quotes and references from the most recent books I have read.

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