In this age of information, who doesn't have anxiety about information?Therefore, we desperately hoarded information, crowding all kinds of cloud space and electronic note-taking software. But when we need information, we still can't find it in time, and we fall into even greater anxiety.
In this way, we unwittingly enter a vicious circle: anxiety - hoarding - not being able to use me - hoarding more anxious ......, as if there is no end.
Therefore, how to make notes can be found and effectively used in time when we need them has become a real antidote to this strange circle.
"Building a Second Brain".It's one such book.
Interesting, the author of this bookThiago FordMastering this method was actually an accident.
Thiago Ford suffered short-term amnesia and mental deterioration due to an unknown illness in his junior year. In order to effectively grasp his condition, he converted hundreds of pages of medical records and medical orders into digital archives so that he could search, organize annotations and share them at any time, and unknowingly summed up a set of electronic note management methods.
The method that comes from practice is destined to have one major characteristic, and that is itPracticality
For the sake of memorization, the author replaces the method he summarized with a single wordcode, i.e. four steps:
Capture
organize
Distill,
Express.
According to the author, scraping information is fromYour interests or actual needsLet's go.
What should be done?The author has listed 12 questions to ask for information gathering that will surely inspire you
o How can I stop dwelling on the past and live better in the present?These questions are varied, and they make us understand that the important principles of gathering information are centered on "me" and "now".o How to develop an investment strategy that aligns with medium- to long-term goals?
o What is the transition from "mindless consumption" to "concentration on creation"?
o After putting the kids to sleep, how can I resist soap operas and get rested early?
o How can companies be profitable and ecologically sustainable?
o How to overcome the fear of taking responsibility?
o As a school, how do you provide multiple resources for students with special needs?
o How to get out of the dilemma of "hoarding books but not reading"?
o How can I complete the task quickly and easily?
o How can the health system better meet people's needs?
o Is there an easier way to eat healthily?
o How can I improve my confidence in making decisions?
But then another question arises, how should more and more information be collected?This brings us to the second step
The classification may be different for different people. For example, some people Xi used to do it according to the library classification method, while others did it according to the following methods: work, life, relationships, entertainment, self-improvement, ....... But these conventional classifications are not conducive to the use of information, and the classification proposed in this book is eye-catching—there are four categories in total:para (projected) project, (area) domain, (resource) resource, and (archive) archive.
Item:Short-term activities that are being engaged. For example, if you want to plan an exhibition, or do a renovation.
Domains:Long-term commitment to the project. For example, you are engaged in psychological research, or software development ......
Resources:Everything you're interested in and doesn't belong to the category of projects and domains is thrown in there.
Archive:All closed or put on hold.
The author's example can help us better understand ——
The second diagram is the reclassification under the manuscript classification in the first diagram, which can be said to be applicable to almost everyone, no matter what industry you are in, what field you are in, you can organize information from the perspective of using it.
From the categories we can see, so that your notes are dynamic. For example, when your project is finished, you will put the notes under this category in the "Archive";Or when starting a new project, you can move the relevant information from the "Domains" and "Resources" into the "Project", or even extract useful information from the "Archive" that has already been completed and reuse it.
Below the first level of categorization, you can further divide the content into secondary categories. However, there are at most three layers of information classification, and any more is not conducive to memory and search.
After the information is collected and classified, in order to use it more efficiently, there is another important work, which is the third step
In the process of refinement, the author proposes a pyramidal method of arrangement, which he calls the radical induction method.
In general, it is:Highlight the key points first and then summarize, and the content of the refinement should not exceed 10-20% of the total information. After this arrangement, when you need relevant information, you don't have to reread the whole article, but only need tens of seconds to quickly complete the screening work, which is very time-saving.
The author's example makes it clear to us at a glance:
After that, it was the final step
The expression here is not only to put it into words, but also to share or publish it, but also to put it into practice. For example, when you use the information you gather to help yourself complete a project, you don't just express the words, but the entire process of your project operation.
This step consists of three parts:
1. Establish an "archipelago of ideas" and outline it.1. Establish an archipelago of ideasTo put it simply, it is to make an outline of the "half-baked material" that you have already refined, and these points seem to be the essence of your thoughts, gathered together into an island because of a project.2. Use the "Hemingway Bridge" to record inspiration.
3. "Compress the range" to gain a sense of control.
A very important principle in this step is to try to limit your work to the information you already have, unless there is something important to look up into. Otherwise, you may fall into a sea of search traps and it will be difficult to move on to the next step.
2. Hemingway's Bridge
The term is a method used by the American writer Ernest Hemingway in his writing process.
That is, in the process of writing, if he suddenly bursts into some ideas for future plot design, he will immediately stop writing and record these inspirations so as not to be fleeting. And these inspirations are the bridge to the future.
As we outline, inspiration and details pop into our heads, and that's what happens all the time. At this time, we must record these details in time, because these details will make the next work easier.
3. Compression range
When we work on a project or work, it often seems that the project is more complex than we imagined. At this time, it is necessary to use the technique of compressing the range to gain a sense of control, so as not to give up halfway. Put simply, it's about lowering the requirements and simplifying the plan. After all, it's much better to stick with it than to run a project aground because of the pursuit of perfection.
Later, as the project progresses, we can gradually flesh out the simplified plan, which will make it easier for us to execute and not give up.
Through the above brief introduction, you must be able to realize that the author's method is indeed based on practicality.
Maybe you're excited to see this and want to make a big adjustment to your hoarded notes.
But the author advises you here:
It's a good idea to "archive" past notes first, so you can slowly extract them later when you need them.
I believe most of us have the energy to try to spend a whole block of time, such as an afternoon or two or three days, to organize our bloated notes neatly and clearly. But this often ends in failure, because we are hoarding more notes than we would like, and we may get bogged down in the details of the process. In the end, the complicated tidying up work exhausted our enthusiasm.
So the best thing to do is::First, use a fragmented time, choose a project that you are interested in or need to solve urgently, and start immediately!
If you still don't know where to start, then go back to the 12 questions about interests in the article, pick one of them, or get inspired to start building your second brain.