My Second Brain Setup in Notion

In this video, I'll walk you through how I use Notion as my "Second Brain" On the left side of this setup, I can quickly assess what I need starting with some buttons to capture new items Clicking on "New Task" button creates a new task page, allowing me to quickly write down the task and close the window These tasks will then appear in the inbox view for me to process later on

Pages under the "Dashboard" heading are pre-made setups that consist of a mix of databases and filtered views These setups have proven to be helpful for different use cases, and it focuses on specific use cases For example, the "PARA Dashboard" provides a simple 4-database field setup inspired by Tiago Forte's PARA framework "Projects and Task" page is where you get things done as inspired by the GTD framework by David Allen and the knowledge base page

is designed for pure knowledge management Below that, we have all the different pages for each of the databases in the "Second Brain" setup These pages help you find and jump into what you need when you need them On a day-to-day basis, I use the right-side of this setup as my main view which consists of the different database views I need, sorted by actionability with the most actionable at the top, and the least actionable at the bottom

Now that you understand the main layout, let's start setting things up!

How do we get started with organizing our life using Notion as our Second Brain?

We first break down our life into smaller actionable steps using a hierarchy of areas, goals, projects, and tasks On the other hand, resources, notes, books, and highlights are things we collect on a day-to-day basis They are the different sources of knowledge we use to support the completion of our goals and projects With reference to Tiago Forte's PARA framework, areas are your roles and responsibilities in life

like finances, health and fitness, and parenting To start using this Second Brain, you must first identify your areas, and then under the Areas view, start listing them down As an example, I'll add a new page called "Health & Fitness" Then, I'll add a page icon that represents it.

Creating a new Area page will populate a gallery view of other databases linked to this Area database If you want to use Notion for both personal and work life, you might have more areas to manage You can make use of the "Type" property to set this Area under a larger pillar like Personal or Work or create an option that works for you I'll delete the "School" option since that is no longer relevant to me,

and I'll also delete the filter view for School Next, we move on to setting goals for a new area of Health & Fitness We first go into the goals page, we will see a board view.

I'll first set the year to the current year.

I would then set the goal in Q4 to run a half marathon Thinking further ahead, I want to also run a full marathon sometime next year, I'll go to the Yearly tab view, and create a new option for the year 2024.

And then, I'll write down the goal under this new column Since this goal is still far ahead, I'll first go back to breaking down my goal of running a half marathon Clicking inside the goal page, we see a database view titled "Actionable steps" which is also our task database Before I break down this goal into smaller steps, I will first fill up some of the page properties like the specific month I want to achieve this goal,

the Start Date, and the Due Date Thereafter, I'll go back down to write down tasks that move us closer to this goal, like registering for a half marathon or joining a running club But there's still a bigger task of training for a marathon that includes the running schedule, breathing techniques, and dieting which seems to be quite a bit of research and action within.

So this is what would be considered a Project.

Click on "Add projects" and create a new page called "Training for Half Marathon".

Then, I'll open up this project page and apply the page template.

This will generate the task view on the page body.

Following next, I will fill up the page properties by setting the area to "Health and Fitness" The start date will be today, and the due date can be the day before the marathon I will also set a "medium" priority for this project On this project page, we can list down tasks that can help us complete the project, including consulting a fitness coach, creating a personalized diet plan, and planning a running schedule

Projects are a series of tasks that lead to an outcome But sometimes we have tasks that takes additional steps to complete.

This is where I can use the sub-task feature by clicking on the arrow when hovering on the left side of the task to add the subtask And that's how you set and break down your goals into more manageable steps.

Lastly, I'll update the project status from "Inbox to "Not started" Inbox means it's unprocessed but an initial idea, however for this project, it's something that I'm certain I want to work on, so I'll mark has "Not Started" Goals are there to give us direction, motivation, and the reason for doing what we do But projects aren't always related to goals.

they could be a necessity or something we need to get done.

I work from home, and it's convenient for me to workout at home, so I'm currently working on a project to build a home gym Going back to the Health & Fitness area page, we can click on projects and add a new project called "Build a Home Gym" And set the due date to be the end of this month.

Opening this project page, I will set the start date for me which was sometime last week, and the priority for this project is "medium" I already have some equipment, but I still need to buy a yoga mat and weights, so I will add that to the task database I also want to print out some workout plans to put up on the wall near my workout area.

So I'll add a task to print out a workout plan and then subtask the plan the workout.

That's pretty much the process of setting up a new area of life in your second brain, setting goals, and breaking down in the projects and tasks, and identifying active projects you're working on, and making clear the series of thoughts you need to do.

Moving on, we will learn how to use our second brain on a day-to-day basis.

When you open the Second Brain page, you will land on this setup.

As explained earlier, we use the right side for our day-to-day use. At the start of each day, I will open the today toggle and look at my task list.

Then I'll set a daily highlight, by dragging and dropping into the view above.

This will be the one thing that I want to complete by the end of today.

I can choose to toggle to hide the today view to really focus on the tasks, but what I like to do when working on a tasks is to open the task page so I will know what I'm working on, and also being able to jot down some quick notes.

Say you have completed most of your task for the day, what I do next is to review my projects.

It's important to go over your project list, and make sure you're on track to meet your deadlines.

We should also routinely check in on each project, and set the due date for our project tasks, or list down the next steps that can move us towards completion.

After reviewing my projects, we can move on to review our areas.

Having a visual reminder of my different responsibilities in life allows me to reflect on whether I'm spending too much time in one area or neglecting another.

If I'm falling behind in a certain area, I can open up area page to set a goal that gives me a direction to work towards or start a new project that levels me up in the area.

I keep thinking about wanting to travel, but I keep holding on more work so I will start a new project to plan a trip, give myself a deadline and commit to it.

As I open my Finance area, I realized that I want to do something about my financial insecurity. Therefore, I've decided to set a goal to save up an emergency fund.

financial insecurity. Therefore, I've decided to set a goal to save up an emergency fund.

After reviewing our areas, we move on to our goals.

Similar to projects, we can first decide on a due date for unscheduled tasks and then break down more steps that brings us closer to achieving our goals.

And that's pretty much how I use my Second Brain to get things done.

Moving on, we'll discuss how we use our Second Brain for knowledge management.

Say while I'm on my break, I stumbled upon a great YouTube video of a creator sharing their experience running a marathon.

Halfway through the video, I find it pretty helpful, so I'll use the Save To Notion extension to add it to my resources database in my Second Brain.

Alternatively, I can use the quick-action button on the Second Brain page to create a new Resource page and copy-paste the video title and link.

Since I have the time to process it, I will add more details to this resource, such as setting the Status to "To Review" the Type to Video, and adding a new topic called "Running" to my topics database.

On this new topic page, I will apply the page template and giving it an icon that represents it.

Topics are a useful way of organizing information for future reference. By linking resources, notes, books, and highlights to specific topics, you can easily assess relevant pages whenever you want to revisit a particular topic. A topic can be something that falls outside of your areas of responsibility or a subcategory of your areas of responsibility.

For instance, "Investment" can be a topic for the area of Finance, while "Running" can be a topic for the area of Health & Fitness.

We will now head back to our newly created Resource page.

On the page body, you can also embed external media such as a YouTube video, an image, a Figma file, or a PDF.

And then, write down summaries and key takeaways below it.

And if there's a phrase in the video that resonates with you, you can add that to your highlights database.

The highlights database is where you can keep all these bite size knowledge from your resources database and your books database.

When saving a new resource, it's crucial to add a relation to all your related active projects and goals. For example, you can add a project "Train for Half Marathon" and your goals of "Running Half

and goals. For example, you can add a project "Train for Half Marathon" and your goals of "Running Half Marathon" and "Running Full Marathon" By making these relations in advance, this helps us to surface the relevant resources when we need them. As you build your own resources database, you save time researching and getting started on future projects. When it's time to work on your project and goal, the

relevant resources will already be sitting in your Project page. And if you still need additional resources, you can open your resources database or the relevant topic page.

Moving on, we have Notes.

But what separates Resources and Notes?

Resources start externally, while Notes start internally.

Resources are links to articles, videos, PDFs, and other documents.

While Notes are personal thoughts meeting notes, and things you want to remember that come to your mind.

I personally create a new note in the Knowledge Base page, or you can also navigate to the page to copy over the New Note button to your Second Brain's homepage. If the notes database is something you use often, this will make it easier to add a new note. Every new note starts from the status "Inbox", and you have the option to move it to Draft or Permanent.

A draft note means you're only using it temporarily, while a permanent note is a note you want to keep, and update and refer to routinely.

You can then start typing and put together your notes in the page body below.

If you find yourself capturing many similar types of notes, like meeting notes, you can use the notebook database to view all notes of the same type together.

Opening the Meeting Note notebook, will allow you to view all your past meeting notes.

Notebooks are simply a better way to organize your notes when things are piling up.

Creating a new Notebook will automatically generate the notes database within it As we approach the end of the day, you can open and review your inbox page.

This is the time to process your tasks, project ideas, new resources, and notes you captured on the go. Give your task a due date before moving it to "Next Action".

For new project ideas, fill up the project details and decide if you truly want to work on it.

For resources, if it's not relevant to any project or goal, archive it.

But if it's something interesting you want to review, set it to "To Review".

Finally, for Notes, tag it to a topic before moving it out for inbox to ensure you have a way to find or reference it later on.

That's mostly what you need to know about using Notion as your Second Brain.

Some of you might ask how to use your dashboard pages.

It honestly depends on your preference and needs.

The right side of this home setup is already personalized for my use case, so I don't need to spend time navigating to most of the pages from day to day.

When I do feel overwhelmed in Notion, I do like to fall back on the PARA dashboard which simplifies my page to just 4 main databases of tasks, projects, resources, and areas.

If you like to focus on your projects and to-dos during a deep work session, you can use the projects and task page to hide away more of the knowledge management features.

When it comes to a dedicated session for learning and research, you can open the knowledge base page to assess everything you need for knowledge management without getting distracted by your to-dos and deadlines.

The remaining pages can be helpful especially when you're on your phone, so you can easily look up what you need.

It also serve as an overview for databases like your goals, so instead of going to each area to view the respective goals, you'll get a bigger picture of where your energy and focus are.

Ideally, you don't want to be jumping to too many pages when you're using Notion. Hence, the importance of finding a dashboard view that works for you or customizing it a little to suit the majority of your needs.

At the end of the day, Notion is just a tool to help us organize our knowledge and get clear on our priorities and deadlines, and we still have to do the work.

Second brain has really helped to organize my life, and I hope you will do the same for you.

You can find a link to this template in the description below and I'll see you on the next one.

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