My Second Brain: How AI Transformed My Daily Organization

In the relentless whirlwind of our hyperconnected daily lives, I often found it difficult to keep a clear and orderly trace of my thoughts, projects, and the information I consume. Faced with this challenge, I discovered a solution that transformed my way of storing and retrieving my data: creating my "second brain" through Notion and its intelligent assistant, Notion AI. This combination proved to be a real game changer, allowing me not only to centralize everything that matters to me in one single place, but also to access this information with disconcerting ease. Follow me on this adventure where I explain how I set up this revolutionary system and the incredible benefits it brought to my daily life.

In my quest to organize my thoughts and knowledge, I explored several fantastic tools, each with its own charms and specificities. Here are some of the digital companions I considered to help me build my "second brain":

1. Notion

   It's like a Swiss Army knife for organizing ideas, combined with Notion AI, which makes the experience even more intuitive and personalized.

2. Evernote

   A veteran in the world of note-taking applications, perfect for those who like to quickly find their recorded thoughts, and available everywhere, all the time.

3. Obsidian

   For markdown and network structure enthusiasts, Obsidian is a real laboratory for connecting and developing ideas in a visual and interconnected way.

Over the years, every solution I explored for organizing my data proved quite challenging. Manual information management often transformed into an arduous task: I spent more time searching than finding. And inevitably, frustrated by these complications and delays, I abandoned the system in search of something more intuitive and reactive. It was this endless cycle of research and disillusionment that pushed me to seek a truly effective method for capturing and retrieving my thoughts effortlessly.

To remedy these frustrations, I began integrating artificial intelligence to enrich documents and notes stored in my Obsidian. However, despite these advances, the process remained laborious and above all, it lacked smooth integration with the other tools I used daily. This constant need for manual intervention made the experience painful, forcing me to constantly juggle between different applications to accomplish my tasks. This situation prompted me to seek a solution that could not only integrate harmoniously with my workflow, but also automate a large part of data management.

Daily, I rely on tools like Claap.io, which allow me to record my video meetings and generate a summary accompanied by a transcription. This valuable information is then sent directly to a Notion database.

Twitter, now known as X, is also a goldmine for my tech watch. I regularly come across tools or SaaS that could prove useful in the future. Previously, I stored all these discoveries in a note on my iPhone, but I often ended up forgetting their existence.

To solve this problem, I set up a game-changing automation: now, when I find something interesting on X, I save the link directly to Todoist. From there, my n8n system takes over, processing the saved data with OpenAI and automatically integrating these links into a Notion database.

With this configuration, I now manage two distinct databases in Notion, each offering a unique perspective on the information I collect daily:

1. Meeting Notes:

   This database contains transcriptions and summaries of all meetings I attend. It allows me to keep a faithful and accessible trace of each discussion, facilitating consultation and follow-up of important points.

2. Tools:

   In this database, I compile a list of different tools and SaaS that I discover, mainly via X (Twitter). Each entry is enriched with details like the link to the product, a brief description, and potentially my personal evaluation or notes on the tool's interest for my future projects.

These two databases allow me to clearly segment my information according to its nature and utility, thus optimizing my ability to organize and retrieve specific data quickly and efficiently. This structuring also helps maintain a clear overview, minimizing the risk of forgetting and maximizing synergies between the information gathered.

Podcasts, these goldmines of insights and discoveries, represent a source of knowledge that I'm still seeking to master to fully benefit from. The audio nature of this content makes their integration into my knowledge management system in Notion a bit more delicate than texts or notes. Yet, I'm convinced that, properly retrieved, analyzed, and stored, podcasts could significantly enrich my personal and professional database. I'm therefore looking for effective methods and tools to transform these continuous flows of speech into structured and exploitable information, in order to integrate them harmoniously into my knowledge ecosystem in Notion.

Recently, I got my hands on a tool that could well revolutionize my way of consuming and archiving podcast content: Snipd. This innovative tool promises to use artificial intelligence to not only detect key moments in podcasts, but also to convert them into audio clips or text transcriptions. The idea of being able to automatically capture pearls of wisdom without having to manually transcribe each episode is incredibly appealing.

Now that you have an idea of how my Notion databases are enriched almost automatically, it's time to reveal my secret for finding any information in the blink of an eye. The magic doesn't stop at data accumulation; the art of finding it quickly and efficiently is just as crucial.

To effectively dive into my vast data library and extract precisely what I need, I turn to a major ally: "Notion AI". This secret tool acts like a magic wand in my knowledge universe, allowing me to instantly find any information. Thanks to Notion AI, I navigate through my data with surprising ease, transforming a search that might seem arduous into a fluid and intuitive experience. Follow me to discover how this revolutionary tool allows me to master informational chaos and make my days incredibly productive.

Notion AI is my faithful companion, a true detective within my universe of notes. It doesn't simply find the information I'm looking for; it goes well beyond, by indicating precisely where it comes from. With each query, Notion AI searches through my notes, unearths relevant data, and presents me not only with results but also with the exact sources of this information. This allows me not only to quickly find what I need, but also to verify and contextualize the information on the fly. With Notion AI, each search session transforms into an enriching experience, where I'm guided through my own knowledge archive with stunning precision and efficiency.

And you, what's your secret recipe for creating your own second brain?