You Are Wasting 99% of What You Learn

Jul 7 (edited) in Self Improvement & Motivation

From now on, I'll be posting my content in markdown format, even though Skool doesn't fully support it (which is sad). It's just a better way to format my posts.

We’re drowning in information. We read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos and consume a ton of content every day. But what do we do with all that information? How do we retain it, process it and actually use it in our lives? That’s where the concept of a “Second Brain” comes in.

In this post we’ll be exploring the idea of a Second Brain, based on Tiago Forte’s book “Building a Second Brain” and how this system can solve information overload.

## The Problem: Information Overload

Let’s start with the root problem: information overload. Studies show we consume 34 gigabytes of information daily. To put that into perspective, that’s 174 full newspapers every single day! With that much information, it’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed and can’t retain and apply what we learn.

## The Simple Solution: Write It Down

The simplest solution to information overload is surprisingly simple: write things down. But we don’t even take this first step. We think, “Oh, I’ll remember this,” but more often than not we don’t. Whether it’s a quote from a podcast, an idea from a book or a personal anecdote, we should make it a habit to write these things down.

For example, if you’re reading a book and come across an interesting quote, don’t just think you’ll remember it - write it down! If you have an interesting thought while in the shower or on a car journey, make sure to capture it. These small pieces of information can be gold later on.

## The Commonplace Book: An Old School Approach

Before we get to the digital solution, let’s look at an old school method: the commonplace book. This has been used by great artists and thinkers throughout history. For example:

- Taylor Swift writes down interesting things from her daily life.

- Jerry Seinfeld writes down funny things that come to him in the shower.

- Leonardo da Vinci kept a commonplace book filled with sketches and ideas that later became the source of his creativity.

Carrying a physical journal everywhere is one approach (and I do this myself) but it has its limitations. It’s inefficient, hard to search and hard to organize.

## Digital Commonplace Book: The Second Brain

Thanks to technology we can now have a digital version of the commonplace book. This is what Tiago Forte calls a “Second Brain”. It’s a single digital source where you capture inspiration from both external sources (books, movies, podcasts, quotes) and internal thoughts (random musings, shower thoughts, work-related ideas).

## Why a Second Brain?

1. For Creatives: If you’re in any creative field (writing, music, art, content creation) having a second brain is a game changer. It’s a constant source of ideas and inspiration.

2. For Knowledge Workers: Even if you’re not in a traditionally “creative” field, chances are your job involves some form of knowledge work. As Bertrand Russell once said, a job is about “moving matter at or above the Earth’s surface.” But in today’s world there’s a third kind of job: moving knowledge or information. Whether you want to be a doctor processing medical information, an investment banker analyzing market trends or a consultant creating presentations, a second brain can help you organize and use information better.

## The CODE Framework for a Second Brain

Tiago Forte explains the CODE framework for building and using your second brain:

### C - Capture

First you capture anything that resonates with you. This could be:

- Book highlights

- Valuable websites or blog posts

- Meeting or coaching call notes

- Your own thoughts and ideas

I use Apple Notes/Google Keep for most of my second brain use cases and Notion for school-based collaborative work.

### O - Organize

Once you’ve captured all this information you need to organize it. The key insight here is to organize by actionability, not by source or topic.

Instead of having folders for “book notes”, “podcast notes” etc. organize your notes by where you might use the information. For example:

- If you’re writing a book have a folder for your book project.

- If you’re working on a video about longevity have a folder for that project.

This way your notes become much more useful and actionable. For instance I’m interested in AI so I’ve been reading books like “Make Your Own Neural Network” by Tariq Rashid and watching videos from Geoffrey Hinton. Instead of organizing these notes by topic (CS or AI) I will organize them for a specific project, like a project called “Building a Neural Network ”

### D - Distill

Now you have all this captured and organized information you need to distill it to its essence. Tiago introduces a method called “progressive summarization” which is highlighting on steroids.

The idea is to progressively highlight and summarize your notes so you can quickly get the gist when you revisit them.

### E - Express

Finally you express your ideas. This is where you “show your work” and create something with all the knowledge you’ve accumulated.

Expression can be:

- For a YouTuber, creating videos.

- For a consultant, a PowerPoint presentation.

- For an investment banker, a trading strategy.

- For an artist, musician, writer, creating your art.

- For a student, completing your homework

The idea is to use your second brain to feed your creative output and share your ideas with the world.

## How a Second Brain Can Help You

### Slow Burns vs. Heavy Lifts

Before I found this system, I used to think of projects (like a Skool post or my GO AI project) as “heavy lifts” - tasks that required sitting down and completing in one go.

Now I think of projects as “slow burns”. I work on multiple projects in parallel, slowly adding bits of information and ideas to each as I come across them in my daily life. For example, I’ve got about 5 more posts on books I’m slowly working on and various book chapters at different stages of completion.

So when it’s time to create the final product, most of the work is already done. I just need to assemble the pieces.

## Wrapping Up

A second brain is more than just note-taking. It’s a system for capturing, organizing and using the information we encounter every day. By using this system you can reduce stress, increase productivity and unlock your creativity.

Remember, the goal isn’t to just hoard information but to express it, share it and use it to create value in your work and life.

If you want to learn more about this idea, check out Tiago Forte’s book “Building a Second Brain”.

Building a second brain takes time and effort but it’s worth it. Start small, be consistent and you’ll see your ability to manage information and generate ideas grow over time.

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I really hope you find them helpful and start using the tips I share. I've dedicated my entire freshman year to researching productivity, life improvement, study techniques, note-taking methods, and more. This involved reading tons of books, scouring the web, talking to people, and watching around 3000 hours of YouTube videos on these topics.

If there's a specific book or topic you'd like me to cover in a post, just let me know. I'm happy to do it. The algorithm only shows the post when there's a new comment. So your comments keep these posts visible.

Sorry for not posting anything for a while. I didn't know what to do after that whole "like farming" thing happened. I felt bad for growing without people actually liking my posts, especially since I got 30 points from that like spammer. So, I decided to take a break for a few days. During this break, I considered it an equivalent to those 30 points, since I usually get an average of 8-9 likes per post. The days I didn't post cover those 30 spam points. I'll be going back to posting one post per day again. Thanks for understanding; I was just taking a break and felt sad about being a victim of "like farming."

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