How to Clean up your Second Brain: a Guide to Digital De-hoarding

Posted on by J.J. Hamilton

I’ve probably spent more time than most trying to find the very best digital Second Brain.

I’ve dabbled with all the best to figure out which works best for me, from Goodnotes to the default Notes app. I’ve settled on OneNote because, for my needs, it was everything I needed it to be.

OneNote also takes up such little storage space that you could use it forever and almost never fill it, which was great for storing every note, thought and brainwave that I was having throughout the day.

And yet, it has its limits. Just like any digital note-taking app, OneNote falls prey to its biggest strength. By having near-unlimited storage, there is no end to the amount you that you can capture, which can very easily lead to it becoming stacked beyond belief. Before you know it, a digital system that you set up with the express purpose of re-organising your life has become the very bane of your existence. It’s huge, unwieldy and cumbersome to use. Suddenly, you’re not sure where to find any of the useful things that you cleverly checkmarked for later use.

Later never comes because you, quite simply, do not know where to find it.

There’s our problem: the trap of digital hoarding. Hoarding feels like a much bigger problem in the physical world because we can see the issue. If I can’t get to my desk due to what’s in the way, I won’t be able to use it as intended and I won’t be able to do whatever it is I set out to do.

Digital hoarding is hidden. Quiet. Forgettable and easy to hide. Nobody would ever judge your Second Brain for being too busy, so you don’t really have that incentive to clear it up.

Trouble is, if you don’t use those really useful notes, saved for a rainy day, will stay just that – unused, taking up storage space and, ultimately, pointless.

Here’s how to counter that.

The CODE framework

Tiago Forte’s book, Building a Second Brain*, capitalised on the CODE framework, and it’s something that’s been quite useful for staying organised. It’ll help you to design a systemic, low-friction pipeline for managing the overwhelming amount of digital information that you encounter daily.

  1. Capture

If you try and remember everything, you will probably end up forgetting most things. The brain was made for creating ideas, not storing them in our working memories. So, ruthlessly filter information, capturing only the ideas, quotes or resources that feel genuinely valuable to enter your Second Brain.

However, to cut down on what you’re capturing, use this as a rule: if it takes more than two clicks to save to your digital space, don’t bother.

  1. Organise

Instead of filing things traditionally, like ‘Teaching resources’ or ‘hobbies’, organise it based on when it will be useful. For this, stick to the PARA method:

  • Projects (anything active and with a deadline)
  • Areas (that you’re responsible for)
  • Resources (what are you interested in?)
  • Archives (anything inactive)

Don’t create a folder unless you’ve got an immediate project for it. Use the Search instead.

  1. Distill

When you open something six months from now, you don’t want to re-read the whole thing. We distill information sources for students using the Cornell Note-taking method to save them from the same woe when it comes to their revision: it helps them to find what is truly relevant right now.

When storing a note, highlight the most critical takeaways or summarise the core argument in one sentence.

  1. Express

This is all about showing off your work. People seem to love gathering information – myself included. It’s part of the reason why I loved going to Uni, and part of the reason why I went back to study a Master’s part-time a few years ago.

But what’s harder is ultimately expressing these ideas. Doing something with what you’ve found out. By building an efficient Second Brain, you’ll never have to start from a blank page. You’ll always have a building block that you can go back to and rely on.

And if you really struggle with all that? Put a tax on your system. For every 5 new items that you capture, you’re banned from saving anything else until you’ve actively distilled or expressed an existing note. 

Do you have a more effective way of staying organised? Or is your digital note-taking system slowly falling apart? Let me know in the comments below.

*Any links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links and may generate a small kickback for me at no extra cost to you

While you’re here, you’ll love…

Follow my socials!

Leave a comment