Your Second Brain | Managing all the Data and Putting it to use

WorldWide Markets with Simon Brown

🌍 Worldwide Markets Ep. 649 – Building a Second Brain 🧠✨

Recorded on 24 September 2025 (from the beach!) – Hosted by Simon Brown

This week, Simon takes a break from market talk 📉📈 to explore something equally powerful: how to manage the flood of data and information we face every day. Instead of focusing on stocks, currencies, or central banks, he dives into the idea of creating a "second brain" — a system to capture, organize, and use knowledge effectively.

🔑 Episode Highlights

• 🧠 Brains are great at decisions – quick choices like what to eat or which route to take. But storing and retrieving data? Not so much.

• ✍️ Handwritten notes win – research shows writing helps memory more than typing. Simon shares how digital handwritten notes improve recall.

• 📅 Calendars as to-do lists – forget endless apps. Simon’s hack: putting everything (from work deadlines to buying milk 🥛 & whiskey 🥃) in his calendar for one central source of truth.

• 📚 Building a Second Brain (by Tiago Forte) – the PARA + CODE framework that inspired Simon’s system.

🗂️ PARA Framework

• P – Projects 🎯: Active tasks (e.g. upcoming presentations, podcast prep).

• A – Areas 🌐: Broader ongoing themes (like camping 🏕️ or tech gadgets 📸).

• R – Resources 📖: Interesting but general material worth saving.

• A – Archive 📦: Where used or finished items end up.

🔄 CODE Method

• C – Capture 📸: Snap photos, clip articles, jot notes into Evernote.

• O – Organize 🗃️: Sort into PARA a few times a week.

• D – Distill 💡: Pull out the key ideas & insights.

• E – Express 🗣️: Use the information for podcasts, presentations, articles, or even shopping lists 🛒.

🛠️ Tools Simon Uses

• Evernote 📱💻: Clunky but everywhere (phone, laptop, e-reader, iPad). Paid version makes it work seamlessly.

• Tried but moved on: Obsidian (too complex), Notion (powerful but not his fit), Raindrop.io (good for bookmarking but limited).

🎯 Why it Works

✔️ Frees up mental space – no more stressing about remembering. ✔️ Keeps data accessible & actionable. ✔️ Turns chaos (screenshots, random notes, cluttered camera rolls) into a system. ✔️ Supports Simon’s creative and teaching work.

🙌 Your Turn

Simon invites listeners to share their hacks: 👉 How do you manage the constant stream of info? 👉 Do you have your own “second brain” system?

Send us your thoughts, tools, and strategies 💬.

Simon Brown

* I hold ungeared positions.

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