This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Building a Second Brain" by Tiago Forte. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What are the different methods of storing information? What is an external storage system?
In Building a Second Brain, Tiago Forte claims that modern humans need an external storage system (ESS). This is a digital platform to store all the important ideas, information, and work they encounter.
Continue reading to learn Forte’s advice for using your external storage system effectively.
How to Effectively Use Your External Storage System
Forte explains that you must learn how to use your ESS in a way that increases your productivity and creative potential. His process for utilizing your ESS mirrors the creative process, which he explains has two modes: expansion and contraction. (Forte calls these modes divergence and convergence, respectively.) First, you must expand the possibilities of a project or goal to include all relevant information and resources. Then, you must contract by narrowing your scope, cutting extra information, and refining your product or idea until you have a final result.
Forte explains that the first two methods of storing information are to record information and sort it into relevant folders where you can utilize it (these are the condense and organize steps of Forte’s CODE system for saving information). These steps are part of the expansion mode of the creative process—they’re designed to gather relevant information that gets your creative juices flowing and sparks new ideas.
The second two steps of using your ESS are to refine your notes to their most important parts and use them to create something (these are the distill and express steps of Forte’s CODE system). These steps are part of the contraction mode of the creative process—they’re designed to narrow the scope of your information and propel you toward the completion of your goals.
The following sections will explain in detail each step of using your ESS to store information.
Step #1: Record
Before you start recording your notes, Forte says you should pick one platform that will house your ESS and make sure all your saved information is sent there. There are numerous information storage apps to choose from, a list of which Forte explains can be found on his website. Once you’ve selected your platform, ensure that the information you save on other platforms—like ebook apps, social media apps, or mobile phone notes apps—is sent to your ESS inbox folder. Some content storage apps feature an automatic export function, but others may require you to export saved information manually.
(Shortform note: Automatically exporting notes from one platform to another is getting increasingly difficult due to issues involving privacy and copyright. Rather than clicking a button and having a compilation of notes exported, people often have to copy and paste each note individually or re-type information from one source to another when the “copy” function isn’t available. However, Evernote, a popular note-taking software, allows you to directly import digital information using its Web Clipper tool. This will save you time and effort when content apps like Kindle don’t have automatic export features or don’t allow you to copy and paste text.)
Next, record all important information that you come across—this can be anything from personal insights or realizations to quotes from articles or meeting notes. However, Forte warns to only save information that resonates with you or makes you reflect—it must be either inspiring, useful, personally important, or something that changes your current ideas or beliefs. If you’re not selective with the information you save, your ESS will end up being cluttered and unmanageable.
(Shortform note: In Getting Things Done, David Allen recommends a similar system for recording important information; however, his opinion on what to save differs from Forte’s. Rather than only saving information that’s either inspiring, useful, personally important, or changes your beliefs, as Forte recommends, Allen suggests saving any idea that’s stuck in your head. Doing so will rid your brain of all “mental clutter” and therefore restore your mental energy, which you’ll need later when it’s time to sort ideas into different folders.)
When you record information, save only what’s necessary for it to be actionable and for you to remember why it’s important. For example, if you liked one photo from an article you read, save the photo instead of the whole article. Or, if you find an article that you don’t have time to read but think might be useful, record the link and include a brief note explaining why you’re saving it to remind yourself later.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Building a Second Brain summary:
- Why we get frustrated and overwhelmed in the age of information
- Why modern humans need an external storage system (ESS)
- How to make and organize an ESS to increase creativity and productivity
