Create Your Thought Library
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them” — David Allen.
About 15 years ago, in my second job as a software engineer, my boss pulled me into a meeting with a client to discuss a new project. A little into the meeting, he noticed I didn’t have a notebook.
“Swami, aren’t you going to take notes?”
I grabbed a notebook and started taking notes. Half-heartedly, though–I wasn’t in the habit of taking notes. I relied on memory for everything. I thought note-taking was for dummies who couldn’t remember things.
I was clearly missing the point! Here’s why: Imagine you are at a library to research a topic. You’ll select a few books that look relevant and bring them to your table, right? That way, you won’t have to return to the shelves after each book.
Your mind is like the table. You could keep it cluttered with all kinds of crap you can’t afford to forget, or you could keep it clear, so there’s room to bring in what’s needed for the moment–everything else gets stashed away in a thought library — your ideas, insights, and other valuable thoughts collected over time.
How do you create a thought library?
When a useful thought enters your mind, jot it down immediately. Ideas, insights, lessons learned, tasks, reminders, and whatnot. Things to discuss with the boss. Or the spouse. Things to bring up in the next meeting. Ideas for your next presentation. Ideas for your next article. Movies to watch. Books to read. Places to visit. Insights from videos and podcasts. Highlights from books.
Like the shelves in the library, this knowledge is there whenever you need it. It’s your second brain. The more you can offload to your second brain, the more you can use your biological brain for being present, thinking clearly, being creative, and solving tough problems.
Most creative people I know maintain a thought library. Take an author, for instance. Do you think they think of what to write when they sit down to write? Not at all. Ideas and insights don’t come on demand. They come randomly over time. The author would have been collecting ideas months or years before they wrote the first word.
Perhaps the most famous person to follow this practice is the billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. He always carries a small notebook with him and jots down everything potentially useful. He attributes much of his success to his note-taking habit.
There’s a Problem
You could get an idea in the shower. Or an insight while running. You might see an interesting message on a billboard while driving. How do you note these down? You’re not going to have a notebook in the shower. You could wait till you are back at your desk, but you might not remember everything. I often get multiple insights while running, especially when listening to audiobooks. I risk forgetting some of it if I don’t capture them immediately.
Capture Devices
To solve this problem, I have multiple capture devices, so I can take notes wherever I am. Technology wasn’t caught up during Branson’s time, so he had to carry a notebook everywhere. I can, however, type a note on my phone while out running. I can record voice notes while driving. I can wear my Apple Watch (which has a voice recorder) to the shower, where I get most of my ideas. I always have a notebook and sheets of white paper on my desk because, often, the mind works best with pen and paper. I also scribble stuff on my whiteboard. David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, keeps a tray on his desk–whenever he gets an idea, he jots it down on a card and throws it in the tray. You can set up your capture devices how you like–go crazy — this is not the time to be a minimalist. You want to capture as much of your mind as possible.
A Single Source of Truth
You have to set aside time each week to move these scattered notes into your thought library. Having one source of truth is crucial, so you know where to go when you need to access your knowledge. You could use a physical notebook (like a bullet journal), but I highly recommend a digital note-taking app–it’s much easier to search your library if it’s digital.
We have over 70,000 thoughts a day. Even if a small fraction is worth saving, your thought library will get messy pretty quickly. I’ve worked out what I think is the most effective way to organize notes, and I’ll share my strategy in the next article. I use Roam Research. I’ve used Evernote in the past, and I know folks who use Notion and Google Docs. The tool isn’t important–the strategy is.
I cannot imagine living without my thought library. I don’t let any idea, insight, or lesson learned slip into the ether. Everything is captured, organized, and available for future me.
So often, I run into folks who think they lack creativity. They live a life avoiding creative pursuits. They assume they were born “left-brained,” and therefore, creativity isn’t their forte. If this is you, here’s some news: the left-brained/right-brained thing is a myth. What’s more likely is that your brain’s full of shit! All you got to do is create a place to move that shit to, so your brain’s available to do more exciting things (than storing your shit). You’ll become more effective in all areas of your life, and you’ll build the most valuable resource for yourself — a library of your own thoughts.
Do you maintain a thought library? If so, what’s your process? If not, have I convinced you to start one? Why or why not? Would love to hear your thoughts.
