THE PROBLEM WITH MOST NOTE-TAKING
Notes are useless if you never go back to them. The goal isn't to take more notes — it's to take notes you'll actually use.
THE AI-POWERED SECOND BRAIN STACK
- Capture: Anything interesting gets noted immediately (voice notes, quick text)
- Process: AI summarises and extracts the key insights (once daily or weekly)
- Organise: AI tags and categorises notes into your system
- Retrieve: AI surfaces relevant notes when you need them
TOOL OPTIONS
Option A — Notion + Notion AI: Best for: People who want a structured, database-driven system Setup: Create a Notes database, enable Notion AI, use templates for different note types
Option B — Obsidian + Claude: Best for: People who want full control and local storage Setup: Take notes in Obsidian, periodically paste into Claude for processing
Option C — Apple Notes + ChatGPT: Best for: Simplest possible setup Setup: Voice notes on iPhone, paste transcripts into ChatGPT weekly for processing
PROMPTS FOR PROCESSING NOTES
After a learning session (book, course, video): "Here are my raw notes from [SOURCE]: [PASTE]. Extract: 1) The 5 most useful insights, 2) Anything I should do or try, 3) Questions this raised, 4) How this connects to what I already know about [RELATED TOPIC]."
After a meeting or conversation: "I just had a conversation about [TOPIC]. Here are my rough notes: [PASTE]. Clean these up and identify the 2-3 things I need to remember or act on."
Weekly review: "Here are all my notes from this week: [PASTE]. Identify: any themes or patterns, the most important insight from the week, and the one thing I should do differently next week."
BUILDING YOUR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
In Notion, create these views of your notes database:
- By Tag — find all notes on a topic
- By Date — chronological view
- By Project — linked to active work
AI search prompt when you can't find something: "I remember reading something about [VAGUE MEMORY] recently. Here are my recent notes: [PASTE]. Which note does this sound like?"
EVERGREEN NOTE FORMAT
For ideas you want to keep forever, use this format:
- Title: [ONE SPECIFIC CLAIM]
- Evidence: [WHY I BELIEVE THIS]
- Connections: [WHAT ELSE THIS RELATES TO]
- Application: [HOW I CAN USE THIS]
Ask AI to convert rough notes into this format: "Convert this rough note into an evergreen note using this format: Title (one specific claim), Evidence, Connections, Application. Note: [PASTE]"
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