Louisville Medicine Volume 70, Issue 12 | Page 23

in various virtual and physical places , but without a systematic approach . We accomplish tasks , but not very efficiently . According to research , one-fourth of knowledge workers ’ days are spent looking for information – they find what they need half the time .
People used to interact with reading material , interpreting and engaging with authors . Serious readers maintained commonplace books 3 to keep track of salient content . That personal touch led to new insights . We have forgotten these old ways of experiencing timeless works privately – rereading , reformulating , noting connections , creating our own ideas . We also used to take notes in school , writing down what the teacher said or what we found in books to prepare for “ the test .” Now we have no idea what to write down because there is no test . In most cases of work , hobbies and home life , we need to use the knowledge we accumulate instead of regurgitating it .
Ok let ’ s get into the nuts and bolts . Forte ’ s strategy comes with a blueprint , the CODE method – Capture , Organize , Distill and Express . With a visual-spatial approach , we harness the human brain ’ s uncanny ability to remember in map or grid form . If you want to learn more , check out the mind-blowing book Memory Craft 4 by Lynne Kelly . She reviews numerous examples of mnemonic techniques and even physical devices used for thousands of years by indigenous populations .
Capture
Instead of reservoirs that collect all information , we should act as curators , keeping on average 10 % of content . Notice what resonates on an intuitive level ( passages or media that are unusual , surprising , interesting or useful ). When you only consume and save information that adds value , you show respect to your future self . You will refine your intuition and improve your mental health by a ) decreasing clutter and b ) letting go of the fear that your memory will fail you . It will ! So , use the Second Brain to save important content , including your own random insights .
The biggest change I have made since reading this book is the use of a “ Notes ” app and a “ Read Later ” app . Apple makes a great notes app . The best read-later apps are Pocket and Instapaper . The premium version of Instapaper has been a game changer . I can save any random web page or email . I can highlight , add notes and organize them into folders . I used to print PDFs of medical papers and tons of random internet articles . Not only have I saved hundreds of trees , but I can now keyword search my “ database ” and use it .
Forte covers numerous software tools : read-later apps , basic notes apps , social media , web clippers , transcriptions of podcasts and videos and eBooks . The important part of capturing is sending these ideas , texts , emails and notes all to one place . Advising your relative about how to treat back pain ? Save the email you sent her and later put together a handout for patients . Doing a home remodel ? Keep all the screenshots of design ideas , contracts and receipts in one place .
Organize
Because goals and projects frequently change , stop organizing by subject and start organizing by action / utility . Like making your house or desk more orderly , organizing your digital workspace makes you more productive and mentally healthy . Facing a mass of disorganized notes leads to overwhelm . Into this organization space comes Forte ’ s other acronym : PARA : Projects , Areas , Resources , Archive . Projects are short-term with a defined endpoint ( research project or bathroom remodel ). Areas are longer-term with no endpoint ( physical health or medical practice finances ). Resources might be useful in the future but do not clearly fall into projects or areas . Finally , Archive catches your inactive items , projects or areas that have concluded . Because you don ’ t delete this stuff , you can go back and even recycle that material in the future .
PARA applies to the organization arm of CODE . But don ’ t think of it as a filing system – it is a production system . This system crosses various software platforms or even hard folders / files . Forte emphasizes that Capture and Organize represent separate , distinct steps . You keep what resonates in the moment , then later go over it to see if it is worth storing .
To attain knowledge , add things every day . To attain wisdom , remove things every day .
– Lao Tzu
Distill
Equipped with a well-organized collection of notes , start distilling each down to its essence . Your busy future self will not have time to read whole passages or pages of notes . Figure out the main takehome points to ensure efficiency . Forte teaches about “ quantum notetaking ,” creating little packets of knowledge . Distill for maximum “ discoverability ,” meaning you can find them when you need them . The more notes you take , the harder they are to discover in the pile . Distilling is the solution .
Forte ’ s quantum notetaking involves “ progressive summarization ,” or levels of highlighting . You can use any progression that seems intuitive , but he suggests : 1 ) capture content and move to a notes app , then 2 ) boldface the most important segments , then 3 ) highlight the bold content that reaches highest significance , then 4 ) at the top of each note , write an executive summary using your own words . This creates a range of detail from a final concise summary all the way back to the source content . Zoom in and out as you please . This comes in huge with sharing notes . I used to send long articles to friends and family ; I doubt anyone read them . Now I send the distilled summary . Forte credits the book How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens ; he wrote a great article 5 about this method .
Verum ipsum factum . We only know what we make . – Giambattista Vico
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