Remember every single book you've read
Stop reading and forgetting. Start reading and connecting.
Hey friend,
I'm an avid reader.
Every year, I read 100+ books.
Before, I'd read a book and move on to the next one.
A few weeks later, if you'd ask me what was the book about, I'd have a hard time telling you.
I could tell you the topic, but couldn't recall even one useful idea.
The lessons weren't sticking and were quickly being forgotten.
It was "empty reading".
Reading for reading's sake.
You see, the value in reading is extracting ideas that you and I can apply to your work and life.
And so, little by little, I started creating a new system.
I realized that for ideas and lessons from books to stick, I needed to start engaging with my notes.
I need to review them, organize them, make them actionable. To turn them into something I could actually use in my life.
I started creating book summaries based on my highlights. I found that summarizing the book’s key ideas helped me remember what I read.
I decided I need to have a central location for all my summaries. So I moved all my book notes to Notion.
I call it the Brain OS.
Having all my notes in one tool allows me to better organize, remember, and apply everything I ever read.
If I need a refresher on the main lessons from Deep Work by Cal Newport so I can be more productive, I can simply open my Brain OS and review my notes:
Or if I'm trying to build a new habit, I can look up the Four Laws of Behavior Change from Atomic Habits by James Clear:
Building my Brain OS in Notion has changed my life.
And now you can start building yours.
This system has allowed me to maximize my creative output (my book summaries inspire many of my articles and videos), identify recurring ideas from books I’ve read, and most importantly, internalize what I’ve read.
In my course, Building a Brain OS, I show you my exact process for creating book summaries that will help you remember what you read months, even years, after reading.
This system will make you a more efficient reader and note-taker and will change how you read (and maybe even your life.)
How many books did you read last year?
And how much information do you remember from them?
The challenge of knowledge is not acquiring it. In our digital world, you can acquire almost any knowledge at almost any time.
The challenge is building a system to forward bits of it through time.
So you can use it in a future situation or problem or challenge where it is most applicable, and most needed.
Stop reading and forgetting.
And start reading and connecting.
See you on the inside,
Dan