Build a Second Brain with AI
Notes, ideas and documents linked together, with an assistant that remembers for you. A simple method to start this weekend.
How many times have you thought “I read that somewhere” and couldn’t find it? A Second Brain is a system outside your head where you keep what you learn, decide and plan, linked so you can find it when you need it.
The idea isn’t new. What’s changed is that AI can now read that system with you.
What it is, in practice
It’s a folder of simple text notes. Each note is about one thing: a person, a project, an idea, a recipe. Notes link to each other, like the map on this blog.
Popular tools for this are Obsidian (free, notes stay on your computer) and Notion (cloud-based, good for sharing).
A method in 4 folders
- Projects — things with a deadline: “move house”, “launch the website”.
- Areas — ongoing things: “health”, “money”, “work”.
- Resources — topics you care about: “AI”, “recipes”, “travel”.
- Archive — what’s finished.
When you write a note, ask: which project or area is this for? And file it there.
Where AI comes in
This is what makes it different from a notebook:
- Quick capture. Dictate an idea on your phone and AI turns it into a tidy note.
- Links. Ask “which notes talk about this?” and AI finds connections you missed.
- Answers from your own notes. “What did I decide about the holiday budget?” AI reads your notes and answers, with the source.
- Weekly review. On Sunday, AI gathers what you wrote that week and tells you what’s still open.
Mind your privacy: if the notes are personal, prefer an AI that runs on your own computer. We explain how in the free AI guide.
Start small
This weekend, create the 4 folders and write 5 notes about things on your mind right now. That’s it. Next week, ask AI to summarise and link them.
A Second Brain template is on its way to the resources page.