This is Why You Feel Overwhelmed

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 59 seconds

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Your mind was made for ideas — not for storage.

A trusted system clears mental clutter and unlocks creative flow.

Don’t just think harder - think smarter with support.

Build a second brain.

Before we take a look at today’s illustration, let’s first establish what a second brain is.

A "second brain" is a digital system for storing, organising, and retrieving information and ideas, essentially an external archive for your knowledge.

Today’s visual shows why you need to develop a second brain:

There is so much to keep track of nowadays.

We socialise with more people than ever before, we consume more media than ever before, and we have more information at our fingertips than ever before.

Building your own ‘second brain’ will save you from experiencing needless overwhelm.

Let’s dive right in to today’s saying:

You have likely seen the scribbles of Leonardo da Vinci’s journals at some point in your life.

These weren’t the mindless doodles of some fool, but the deliberate recording of revolutionary thoughts.

He was intentionally immortalising his innovative ideas, guaranteeing that he could return to them in future to act on them.

To become a great thinker, you need to become a thought-recorder.

Tiago Forte’s Second Brain system is a game-changer for anyone drowning in digital overload.

Instead of relying on memory or scattered notes, you build an external system that captures your ideas, insights, and inspirations.

This method isn’t about productivity for productivity’s sake - it’s about creating more with less friction.

When your ideas are stored, searchable, and organised, your real brain is free to think, not just remember.

Here are 3 key practices from the Second Brain approach:

1. Capture the ideas. 

   When you have an idea, it is your mission to record it immediately.

   Find a frictionless way to store them safely - don’t trust your brain to recall them later.

2. Organise the ideas. 

   An idea is only valuable if you can find it when you need it.

   Develop a system that allows you to keep your thoughts in order.

   Consider separating them into areas of your life like work, friends, family and so on.

3. Review the ideas. 

   It’s important that you ditch the ideas that you no longer need out of your head.

   The same can be said for your second brain.

   Regularly review the information you have stored to see if you’ll ever need it again. If you won’t use it again, get rid of it.

You might have an idea on your mind that is far too important to forget.

Consider capturing your ideas with today’s journal prompts.

Here are 3 journal prompts to help you explore today’s wisdom:

• Do I currently feel overwhelmed with all of the things that I need to remember?

• Do I already have a system for organising my thoughts and ideas that works for me?

• What would it feel like if I had a second brain that I can trust?

Want to learn more about journaling? Join Journal Wiser today!

If you want to learn more about how you can develop your own second brain, you won’t want to miss today’s sponsor: Shortform.

Enjoy Tiago’s Building a Second Brain and thousands of other easy-to-digest book summaries with audio narration, interactive activities and much more.

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Catch you in the next issue!

Thanks,
Michael