The Genius of Second Brains and Just In Time Learning

Every Saturday I share a story about my life in a way that you can hopefully relate to. I believe we are all here to share our journey, both the highs and the lows, as this is how we collectively raise the consciousness of the planet. If anything resonates with you, please share! 🙏

I am so damn curious!

This is sometimes to my detriment, as my partner is apt to remind me (hi babe 👋).

Since becoming a full-time entrepreneur in 2015 it seems like the pace and breadth of information being created and consumed is growing exponentially.

According to siteefy.com, a single person creates 1.7MB of data per second and we produce 2.5 quintillion data bytes each day.

Is it just me or does 'zetabyte' sound like a futuristic hors d'oeuvre? 🥕

I thought it might be helpful to share a bit of my information processing process (quite a mouthful) in the hopes that it might help those of you for whom this resonates.

Building Your Offline Brain

I took a course a few years ago called Building a Second Brain. There's a lot covered, but it was a helpful framework that trains you how to distill the important from the mundane.

It was created by Tiago Forte. His process is called CODE and helps turn the information creative output.

The content is available as a course and now in book format as well.

This quote stood out for me:

If you're not ready for that level of committement you can take a look at another contribution from Tiago, which I found incredibly helpful.

The PARA Method: A Universal System for Organizing Digital Information

Since implementing PARA across all my digital archive platforms (Evernote, Notion, Google Drive, Dropbox, Bookmarks, etc.) I've noticed a noticeable improvement in my ability to keep incoming ideas sorted

Just In Time vs. Just In Case

As with all things in my world, managing this influx of ideas can get squirrely real quick.

I experienced a key a-ha several years ago when I was introduced to the concept of Just-In-Time Learning vs. Just-In-Case Learning. Shout out to one of my first coaches and friend Taki Moore for this.

It's fairly self-explanatory, but as you might imagine, Just-In-Case Learnings are those courses and books and posts and podcast episodes that you've saved or even worse bought, "just in case" you might need it later.

I've done it. We've all done it. And I've learned the hard way how that leads to a lighter bank account and usually with nothing to show for it.

In contrast, Just-In-Time Learnings are those that you need for a project you're currently working on. As you might imagine, your interest and enthusiasm in finishing said project is super high, and anything that will get you to that finish line faster is welcomed.

Now the cynic in you is probably making that calculation right now with this very letter, but I encourage you to hang in there.

I'll highlight a couple of tools which have been incredibly helpful for me in this process.

Paper to Digital, Instantly!

The first is Instapaper, an app which syncs the articles you save so that they’re waiting for you on all your devices - iPhone, iPad, Android, or Kindle. You can then read anything you save, anywhere and anytime you want.

Go to Instapaper and sign up for a free account. I have the paid version and can't recommend it highly enough. At $30/yr it's an incredible bargain for what it does.

Next thing you'll want to do is install the Instapaper Chrome Plugin. What this does is put a button in your browser bookmarks. Once installed, click on the button to ensure you're connected properly to the account you set up above.

Now, every time you're sent a "cool article to read", open it up in your browser, and click that Instapaper button.

Boom!

You've now saved it to be read later. This is key. While you're at it, download their Android or iPhone app. Then, at a time of your choosing, you can review all your saved articles.

Here's the best part. You'll come to find over time that, with a bit of space in between initial interest and actual consumption, those articles don't look as enticing any more.

Read Wisely

Next up, the genius that is Readwise. As with Instapaper, you can sign up for free. Once you've registered, go to 'Connect & Sync' and set up your connection to Kindle (highly recommended).

I'm a huge fan of reading books on my Kindle Paperwhite. It's lightweight, easy on the eyes, and best of all, not my iPhone, so there's less opportunities to be distracted. Every time I find a passage I like, I highlight it on my Kindle and it's then sync'ed to Readwise. Genius!

And for those Instapaper articles that you do end reading, every time you highlight a passage, those are also sync'ed to Readwise.

If you're still reading books the old fashioned way, no worries. You can use the Add Highlights via Photo option. The OCR (optical character recognition) functionality is superb. Simply snap a photo of the page and within seconds, it's turned it into text that you can then review and save. Simply add the page on which it was found and Readwise will keep the updates in order.

So there you have it. The quick overview of a small piece of my second brain OS (operating system).

Every morning, I fire up Readwise on my app and have excerpts presented to me from all the books I've ever highlighted. Even better, Readwise has now added a feature that lets you add books you've previously read as well, which will greatly expand your highlight library.

Lot's more to get into, but this should get you started on the right path.

And remember, guard your time wisely, and learn to differentiate between Just-In-Case vs. Just-In-Time Learning. It's a game changer for sure.

🙏 with gratitude,

Harry

What I Created This Week

🎧 Vertical Farming Podcast (Season 6) sponsored by Cultivatd

• Episode 75 | Fixing the Broken Food Model Through Education & Local Farms with ZipGrow's Eric Lang

🪐 The Podosphere is Live!

Taking what was once a glimmer of an idea in my brain, I'm proud to announce that, together with my co-founder Brad Nolan, we have launched The Podsophere! It's a comprehensive database of all the services in the podcasting ecosystem (AKA the podosphere!) If you're a podcaster, I'd love for you to check it out and create your own PodStack, which is a collection of the tools you know and love.

🙋‍♀️ P.S. When You're Ready...

Here are a few of ways I can help…

✡️ Download a free copy of my Conscious Voice Expansion Plan. The most powerful way to transmit and elevate your voice is with a podcast. This plan will outline for you the pillars of success needed prior to the launch of your show!

🎥 Watch my free video, 5 Key Pillars of a Profitable Podcast that every business owner needs to know prior to launching their show.

🎙️ Subscribe to Podcast Junkies + Vertical Farming Podcast to hear inspiring stories guaranteed to make you a better host.

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