Introduction

Hello, this blog post will be a bit different. I want to share a few tools that I'm using daily that greatly help with my productivity, allow me to better track my tasks and goals, and store all the notes & articles about things that I found interesting. I changed the set of tools a few times in the past, but the current setup has been working really well for more than past two years. Let's dive in!

Second brain

Have you ever felt like you have too many ideas floating around in your head, making it difficult to focus and stay organized? If so, you're not alone. Many people struggle with managing the overwhelming amount of information and tasks they need to keep track on a daily basis. That's where the concept of a second brain comes in.

A second brain is a system that helps you capture, organize, and access the information and ideas that are constantly swirling around in your head. It's a way to offload the mental burden of remembering everything and allows you to focus on what's important. The term has been introduced by Tiago Forte and often relies on one or more digital tools such as note taking-apps and task trackers. It is especially useful for knowledge workers, that are processing vast amount of information every day.

Notion

One tool that has become increasingly popular for creating a second brain is Notion. Notion is a versatile workspace that lets you create databases, wikis, and even to-do lists, all in one place. It's a digital notebook that can be customized to fit your specific needs and workflows. Some people even use it to host their websites!

With Notion, you can create a system for capturing ideas as soon as they come to you. For example, you can create a database for collecting notes, a calendar for scheduling appointments and deadlines, or a to-do list to organize your tasks. This allows you to quickly jot down ideas without worrying too much about losting them or forgetting about them later.

I personally treat Notion mostly as a database for collecting and organizing my notes. I really like the way that you can nest pages and create links between related information. It also has a really good search functionality that helps me find useful information faster.

Nozbe

I tried multiple times to move my task tracking to Notion, but I always kept coming back to Nozbe, as it just fits my needs better.

Nozbe is a productivity and task management tool designed to help individuals and teams stay organized and manage their tasks and projects more effectively. It is a cloud-based service that provides users with a range of features, including the ability to create and organize tasks, set priorities, assign tasks to team members, and track progress. Nozbe also offers integration with a variety of other tools and services, such as Evernote, Google Calendar, and Trello, to allow users to manage their tasks and projects in a way that fits their workflow.

I use it purely for tracking short-term goals and tasks for both personal and professional projects.

Google Sheets (+ 3 poziomy method)

The last piece of the puzzle for me is Google Sheets, one of the most powerful pieces of software ever created. I mainly use Google Sheets for tracking and planning my long-term goals, relying heavily on "3 Poziomy" method introduced by Mirek Burnejko. I highly recommend checking it out, unfortunately, I don't think it's available in language other than Polish. All refined goals are then translated into smaller tasks that land in Nozbe and I review them every month to update progress in Google Sheets.

Summary

At this point, I'm not sure if I could live without a system like the one above. It might seem complicated as it uses 3 different tools (you could do the whole thing purely in Notion), but I've found the setup to be working extremely well, especially with "3 Poziomy" method for goal setting. Please share on Twitter or other social media what are you using for managing your digital life.

Thanks for reading and see you next time! 👋