Learning the brain app upgrade#
Learning the brain app free#

If you’ve made it this far you know that Evernote has - you guessed it - free templates you can use as a jumping-off point for your second brain. The app is free to use, and if you’re overwhelmed, there are plenty of pre-made templates available to get you started. The site also has a handy guide to bullet journaling, which can be used to track tasks, events, and notes in the short and long term to better understand and optimize how you work. From the 2022 Review, simply clicking the gray dot on the left will take you to > Personal, People, Professional, each of which houses its own list of notes (for example, “What did I do well” and “What could I do better?”). The template allows you to have content drill-downs within sections. The app even has a step-by-step guide for building a second brain using the interface.Ī page of yearlong goals looks very similar to Notion’s. Workflowy is great for simple task management, jotting down thoughts, and logging meeting notes. But once you know the different templates and systems, you can fully customize your experience. This is a blessing and a curse: It can be overwhelming to learn new tech. Similar to Notion, Workflowy has a seemingly endless list of features that allow you to create any type of second brain you’re after.

Learning the brain app upgrade#

Notion is free, unless you want to upgrade to paid plans that allow for more guest collaborators. When it comes to a second brain, the more natural the interface feels, the more likely you are to actually use it to hold your thoughts. You can also customize with emojis, photos, and banners to make your pages feel like you. If you want to level up and use it as more than a text editor, Notion lets you build databases that house and track multiple pages, and you can implement sub-tasks and dependencies to understand blockers that might arise in your goals. The dropdown menu includes extensive options such as text boxes, headlines, lists, images, tables, videos, and pretty much anything you could think of. Here’s what my Notion looks like (real 2023 goals deleted so I don’t get made fun of). There are tons of pre-made templates to help you get started. You can make pages private or shared workplaces, depending on what you need, and every page is fully customizable. I’m an entry-level user, and rely on Notion as a life aggregator: I have my work to-do list, personal to-do list, grocery list, annual goals, recipes, and a list of restaurants where I want to eat.īut the real pros use it for much more. The app is a convenient place to empty your thoughts so you don’t have to carry them with you.

I downloaded Notion in early 2022 when a convergence of personal, professional, and educational commitments meant my brain was at capacity. We’re in a serious relationship, you could say. Notionįull disclosure, Notion and I go way back. To start plucking off some of those rubber bands, I explored second brain apps and what they have to offer. Take notes in meetings, take notes at the dinner table, jot down your goals, heck - use them as a diary.Īs a writer, I often picture the contents of my brain as one of those rubber-band balls – all my thoughts are intertwined and messy, building on one another until there’s a big mass of stuff. Now, companies are tailoring tech to act as a digital dumping ground for your every thought. That’s where building a second brain comes in: Attributed originally to Tiago Forte, the practice relies on technology for storing information, freeing up our minds for more creative endeavors. In our chronically online, fast-paced lives, it’s near impossible to rely on our memories to keep track of the barrage of information.