I am a note taking enthusiast, I like to try different note taking apps. Some people upgrade their iPhones every year others buy the latest sneakers. I try to keep up with the shiniest note taking tool. This led to a huge problem, I was great at consuming and collecting information but failed to derive any value from it. I have documented hundreds of code snippets and solution to unique problems related to my work, however I was not able to retrieve them, if I faced any similar problem.
Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte is a great book on organising the information we capture and unlock our creative potential. The author has superbly written effective strategies on note taking and deriving value from the notes we take. In today's world, we are being bombarded by information. We are able to bookmark important articles, research papers, videos but don't have time to reflect upon them. When we invest in Mutal Funds or Stocks, we are making our money work for us right? That is most common phrase we hear from financial advisors, "Let your money work, while you sleep". In the same manner, the author explains, the information we capture should open us to new ideas, see connections between different areas and help us become more productive. The author also gives motivating examples from his own life and how effective note taking made him the go-to guy at his workplace.
CODE: Capture, Organize, Distil, Express. CODE is an effective note taking strategy in which the author goes in great detail as to what information to capture, how to organise information which can be retrieved later easily, extracting the essence of an article, blog post or a video and expressing our ideas to others.
I had a great time reading this book and it gave me important insights as to capturing and organizing information. I recommend it to anyone who has a habit of hoarding information but find it difficult to organize and extract real value from them.
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