The talk around note-taking systems is similar to politics- divisive. Someone swears by one system. Others swears by a different one. Who is right? And what’s a noob to do? How do you navigate around the noise and choose a system when there are tons of systems out there? …

A few weeks ago I committed to the analog Zettelkasten system. In some circles, this is known as an “Antinet.” I highly recommend reading Scott Scheper’s work on this. I will give this an honest effort for 90 days just to see if it’s something I want to continue doing…

Here’s where the true value can be found — Make your notes usable. You can do this by distilling them- stripping them of everything except the essential message. I recently took Tiago Forte’s cohort-based course titled “Building a Second Brain.” It was a great course that resulted in many lightbulb moments for me. …

Matt D’Avella published this video on YouTube recently. In it, he describes his problem of never remembering what a book was about. He tested himself trying to recall the main points of a bunch of books he had just finished. …

I took a few days off from writing. No big deal in the grand scheme of things. But it felt like a very unproductive time for me. Writing gives me purpose. It’s difficult to crank out article after article, but it is rewarding. Taking a break from your writing can…

You’ve assigned an important task to a subordinate. He fails. Automatic response: he is lazy, unmotivated, and you cannot rely on him for anything. You have succumbed to a fallacy called the “fundamental attribution error.” When someone, other than yourself, fails to meet a standard, it is because of a…

If you have to choose one, choose consistency. Boring consistency always wins the race. Novelist James Patterson writes every day for about three hours. Sometimes with an outline to guide him. Sometimes not. But it’s three hours. Success is not a destination that can be reached overnight. It’s the result of years of hard work and…

Be okay with boring and you can succeed. — FOMO- the fear of missing out. SNO Syndrome- Shiny New Object Syndrome. YOLO- You only live once. All are excuses to ditch a proven system. These conditions keep you from doing your best work. The most effective and productive people have a proven system that, to the outsider, seems boring. …

The Focal Point of Any Personal Knowledge Management System — First of all, a knowledge management system is a must for anyone. Information floods our consciousness at a constant rate throughout the day. Information floods our consciousness more today than at any other time in history. What do we do with all this information? Turns out some of it might prove useful later in your life. …