Hey all! I'm incredibly excited to finally share this complete second-brain system I've been building in Notion. If you'd like to get it as a template that you can start using right away, go to thomasjfrank.com/brain/ (and use code UBLAUNCH to get 50% off)! In addition to the template itself, you'll also get a full beginner's guide (w/ written, video, and interactive tutorials), help docs, and access to an active support community where you can get your questions answered. I've also improved my own copy of this template with some really cool automations, and I'm working on video tutorials for those, including: - Adding new tasks to the task inbox with Siri - Automatic speech-to-text-to-Notion using Otter - Integrating ReadWise into my second brain so I can sync highlights from Kindle books, podcasts, tweets, and more If you have automation ideas or topic requests, let me know!
Hey Thomas i just purchased the template and im super excited to use it, im having some issues creating a Circle.So account im not sure whats happening with they’re site but it keeps crashing, wanted to make sure you’re aware.
I wish this guy made every tutorial on youtube. If all tutorials were this well explained and produced youtube would be the best learning tool on the planet.
I bought this 24 hours ago and have already implemented this into my life and just wanted to mention that if (When lol) i "Make it", this is the main reason! Thank you Thomas, such an amazing resource to have everything in one app instead of here and there. Worth every penny for anyone thinking about getting this or not, just do it! "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and i will spend the first four sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln.
I bought the Ultimate Brain at launch and it's pretty nifty. Be prepared to sit aside some time and plan your workflow and start getting everything in to it.
Im currently using creators companion and was dying to see how second brain looked like! Thomas you’re doing an amazing service to humanity, if I ever achieve my dreams it will be partly thanks to your work (I work on multiple projects regarding sales and content creation).
How amazing is this. I purchased Thomas' Second Brain a couple of months ago and I have been slowly building mine to fit me and my family. I wanted more info on Pulled Resources, so I went to the transcript on UA-cam and searched 'Pulled' and I'm straight in. Love this!
I usually do not write lots of comments, but we have to support people who deliver good content and products. I purchased the ultimate brain template and it delivers what has been promised. A lot of hard work and experience behind it. Ultimate brain is a sophisticated and detailed template and very well aligned with Second Brain model. With this promo code it is a no brainer i think. You save a lot of time and effort with using it. The tutorials and how-to videos are very detailed, you get the support you need to get familiar with the template. I highly recommend it. Thanks to Thomas for his hard work and dedication.
This system you've made is foundationaly (new adverb?) transformative. I hope you're making a good living and getting enjoyment out of this, because this is the kind of work that elevates and changes lives. I've never been satisfied by any task/life management tools before. This system you've built not only exceeds all I've needed; it also is acting as a teacher itself. I've been taking weeks to digest it. Thanks Thomas.
Really appreciate you explaining the new system you built in depth! Buying this today- I love anything I can learn on productivity, task and time management, and organizing your life. Your channel has helped me to get extremely organized and handle being the project manager of a big office while not stressing and managing my health as well. I cannot tell you how much of a godsend your channel is - thank you!!
I just got this template after deciding for so long, and I am very excited to start using it. I have so many thoughts and projects, and I couldn't make myself use a single project management apps longterm, but having Thomas have such a library of knowledge, support and community I can feel that this is a life changing decision. Thank you, Frank!
I always learn a lot watching these videos. Having lived through the blackberry, PDA, access, Evernote, and now Notion eras, the one question that always pops up is how do I retrieve all of my data when the resource goes away. I have not had success exporting data from Notion. Maybe you could do a tutorial on that.
To export everything, go into your Settings & Members. Under Workspace / Settings scroll down to Export Content and click the export button. Select Markup and CSV and it will zip all content up and download it. Extract the zip file to have every note in markup language text files and images. To export an individual page press the three dots in the upper right and export it. PDFs seems to work best on individual pages or a few pages at a time. I hope this helps.
I have to chime in here and say that @Thomas Frank’s Ultimate Second Brain Notion template is 100% worth the investment and is not only fairly priced, but a steal for the value it brings. I was struggling to build my own Second Brain and this template is actually the ULTIMATE second brain. It will completely change your life. Well done Thomas 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼
You didnt find it to be overly complex? I've been thinking about it, but it seems like a lot of management to keep it up to date, thought ofc I'm currently losing more than in life management, hence considering the template
I love how you just light up when talking about the databases in your upgraded PARA system :D I'm not halfway through and this video is already awesome! Great work, thanks!
I really like what you have created here. I really want to, want to use Notion. I actually set up all of August Bradley’s PPV system then only used it for a couple of weeks. I still have a large digital filing cabinet in Evernote, full of things like household/bank docs, images of special greetings cards and my craft inventory etc. About three months ago I started using Obsidian and I’m still enjoying that. I have come to the conclusion that I am a gardener who likes to maintain a building with a library on the side.
Currently, I really struggle with staying on track with everything. I spend a lot of time reading internet resources and gathering inspiration for projects, which I generally enjoy, but it leads nowhere really because they all end up scattered across browser bookmarks, downloaded files and saved posts on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Reddit, never to be easily found and accessed again. I get lots of ideas, but if I do write them down somewhere, it's on some loose paper, a notepad, in my existing notes app or a voice memo. It's even worse for projects: most of them exist only as tasks in my head, which overwhelms me while I have no overview, which is generally the problem with all the previously mentioned items. This seems like it's just the solution I'm looking for, thank you very much for putting it all together!
Brilliant template exactly what I was looking for - thank you Thomas- just bought the template. I really liked how you combined the PARA, GTD and Notion to create this life organization/productivity system. Less stuff clouding in your brain- more space and calm for more ideas and action. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thomas your template and organization of the complete second-brain system is the ultimate. I had used your previous system and liked it; however, this surpasses that system and is well done. Yes, to every about the price in that it is fair. I could not wait to get started with it, and another yes in setting aside some time to get your information transferred over from the previous system and organized. I am very thankful for it!!
I've been trying notion for some time but never felt like it was for me. I think it's because I wasn't able to build a good enough system that would encourage me to stick to it. This is an incredible template. Well worth the investment!
Dude, this is amazing... I'm just starting with notion and learning from how you have laid out your system... thank you for providing this info. This video is pure gold!
Very impressive template! Also impressed you answered all questions in comments that is rare for UA-camrs who have become successful wishing you all the best! I'm looking forward to building my own system and this is great inspo. I was intimidated by Notion but love the freedom and aesthetics of it and now I'm excited to make my own. Thank you so much Thomas!
As some already mentioned the probability that someone would use the whole system for their life is far from reality but from my point of view Thomas has some great incentives for productivity and structure in life. For me two main things: Quickcapture / Braindump and the personal setting of goals.
The braindump concept was my “aha moment.” I’ve alway struggled with thoughts popping into my head and the immediate need to act on them, but now I can take everything that pops in my head and just write it down for me to process or sort through later. Not sure why it took me so long to understand such a simple concept but it has been life changing!
After using One Note for a couple decades and bouncing around task management apps (OmniFocus being great until I swapped back from Mac ecosystem to PC) Notion is a breath of fresh air. Now that I have your 2nd brain system, I’m looking forward to customizing it to my own needs along with lessons learned from watching of your videos. Thanks for doing the hard work to show us the way.
Woooow think is my first video I've seen from you and I'm really impressed with this. I am trying to up my game on organising/collecting my notes and actions in all areas of my life and I think I will start using Notion + buying Ultimate Brain.
More fun to watch than Netflix! I came out of a BASB cohort with some of the same thoughts about organizing in Notion. It's always cool to see other people's take on things, especially when it comes to Notion. 🙂
The truth is your system is very solid, I am creating my own system and I think I am going to borrow several things from yours, it is undoubtedly the best I have seen, perhaps saturated for my taste but very solid.
Thank You so much brother! Just found out about Notion & I know is a life saver but I need some intel haha. Got so many projects starting in pararell I def need it. Take care. God Bless You.
Great template, man. Really amazing. But I have some questions about: 1. How do you manage the things about your Business inside of this? Is it like an Area or your business is inside "another brain system"? 2. If the business think is inside of this same system, how do you integrate a new employee in this system? Do you give access to all things in there? 3. I have a branding/design studio here in Brazil and in my current notion system, my clients are like areas, because they will contain projects, resources and tasks, how do I manage to do not mix everything and lose control of it? Again, thanks for all the great content.
It does have a global tag database! In Ultimate Brain, it's called Areas/Resources, since I use Tiago Forte's PARA method for organizing everything. So you can create Resources, which function as tags. As for Readwise, we do include a tutorial on how to integrate Readwise's database into Ultimate Brain. Unfortunately, there's no way to integrate it automatically because Readwise creates a database in Notion for its exports and doesn't allow you to customize it. Very soon, my team and I will be launching a powerful web clipper for Notion called Flylighter, which you'll be able to use to very easily capture highlights, annotations, and more to any Notion database - including the ones in UB: flylighter.com/ Hope this helps! Feel free to email any additional questions to thomas@collegeinfogeek.com - UA-cam isn't always the best at notifying me of replies!
Just bought your Ultimate Brain in Notion. After using Notion for some time now i think its good to use your product to prevent me of getting stuck in the technical details. (Thats something i experiance more and more) Thank you! Dutch Electrical Engineer
Game. Changer. I've been overwhlemed with the huge amount of options that are out there with Notion and knowledge management, this single handedly solves this overwhelm - so worth the money!
I love the change of perspective with areas/resources I’m always trouble a bit in that area with the formal BASB approach, but now magically makes totally sense to me! :D
do you plan to update the "ultimate brain" template using the newly "tasks and projects" notion feature? In case, if we buy the template now, will we get the new version when available?
Super cool to see the whole system put together! I have to say though that I feel skeptical that anyone actually would use a system like this consistently for an extended period of time. Seems like it would be fun to put this all together but at the end of the day your first brain is actually pretty good at doing most of this unconsciously and the friction of trying to capture your life in this level of detail just makes it unenjoyable and ultimately unsustainable once your initial enthusiasm fades away. I appreciate the high quality video and thorough explanations though. 👍 Also full disclosure I only watched the first 28 minutes.
Are you kidding? 😊 I’m so stoked about this!!!! My whole life just took a turn from complete overwhelm to totally simplified!You have no idea how much this seriously gives me oppoertunity. I’m watching this on repeat. I am forever grateful. Thank you so much Thomas!
@@ozjames yeah, I’m still getting it all together but I use it every day. Honestly way more intricate than i thought, but thats a good thing bc there is so much opportunity.
Great work, Thomas! I fell in love with Notion just recently, especially with the AI, and your recent video helped a lot. Then one thing led to another, here I am, excited to see what I can do with this template, cheers!
How long did it take you to adopt this system, structure everything on Notion and get so use to it, that you spend less time managing and more time doing... Also, how much time do you spend managing/maintaining it each day?
About your diagram at 16:50, I see the following guiding principles to synthesize: every element placed within the Notion System... 1) ...should be intendend to support goals achievement (life aspirations, annual goals, monthly goals, weekly plans...). 2) ...should be categorized as part of 1 area of life (keeps the hierarchy consistent/MECE) but maybe 2-3 (increased flexibility/non MECE). 3) ...will inevitably have 2 functions: execution management (tasks and projects) and knowledge management (notes, lists, files, links, resources) At the end of the day, that's it. What will change with lots of flexibility will be the pages that consolidate a view, for example: (i) per area of life, its projects, tasks, and knowledge associated (ii) per project, with their corresponding area of lie (iii) per timeline, with corresponding areas and projects ... The databases will potentially be the same - one for all tasks, one for all knowledge - which could/should be filtered in custom views. About the purple notes at 16:50, Projects should be always assigned to an area of life and a goal, otherwise it's not important enough to be executed. A project indeed can emerge without a goal, but once you decidre to commit to it, you should update goals. Tasks are too small and it's fine to not be linked to a goal, but should be linked to an area of life. Goals should be always associated with an area of life, otherwise you defined a goal that doesn't help you fulfilling the areas that are important, e.g.: professional, financial, health & wellness, relationships, spiritual. The rest of the notes make a lot of sense to me, even the original diagram, despite I see a different mental model behind it.
Love you brother. Having a great session learning from your video whilst building my own Notion & advancing on my personal branding in pararell :) Take care. Will follow on socials & stay in touch. I'm new to this "niche" & already feel like home just with your channel. Bless.
Thomas Frank Explains some people may want to try the product before spending that kind of money. Even at 50% off. In reality I would pay 200 for a great app that made my life easier but without being able to test it first, its like a leap of faith. Maybe a temporary trail in the future. I don’t know if that would even work with Notion.
This is awesome! Do you have any advice for hand written notes? I love to hand write notes on my ipad but there's currently no good solution (that I know of) to do that with Notion.
Handwrite your notes and snap a picture, then organize the picture like you want from your phone. I do this, and you could just take a snapshot and save. Having notion on your computer, browser, phone and ipad helps. I still use my hand writte journal. 💌
Notion doesn't have good tools for handwriting notes, so what I've done in the past is handwrite in Notability (iPad app), and then exported my notes as an image into Notion. If you use paper, you can use your phone camera to import a picture into Notion. I'm also looking into ways to automate this workflow!
I had the same issue with my Galaxy Note, taking notes on my phone and not being able to directly find them on my Notion Daily task page was such an annoying thing. My solution was to directly share the written note to the Notion app in a specific handwritten database (PhoneNotes in my case) and then create a database copy (Todays PhoneNotes) on the daily task page using the following filter, ( isCreatedToday = checked ) while "isCreatedToday" is a property in the PhoneNotes with the following formula : (formatDate(prop("Created"), "L") == formatDate(now(), "L")) ? true : false . Hope this helps
I really enjoyed this and learned from it. I'm building my own Second Brain and this video really got me fired up. I keep coming back to your channel for tips and tricks. If I get stuck, building my own, I will most probably buy yours ;-)
I can't believe I just watched the whole 45-minute video and actively took notes like I was studying in class - a super interesting class in fact! That says a lot about Thomas's explanation ability 💪 Thanks so much for all the effort you and your team have put into this template and video 😄 Btw, congrats on the wedding! Seeing that is like finding an Easter egg in your video haha 🎉 I have a question though: I learnt the method of linking the task database and the database for project/ area/ resources/ (whatever non-actionable field) from your Task manager built from scratch video, but I always have this problem: When I input a new random task, I always have to dig for the right project to link with the task (since sometimes I have so many projects going on at the same time that I can't remember the project's name right away). Also when you input the linked project for the task, the project list is always organized in the most random way possible, making the searching process even longer. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with that? I hope that my explaining is clear 🥲
Yep, this is an issue that Notion knows about and is working on! The Relation picker has had a weird sort order ever since I started using Notion. This isn't a perfect fix, but one thing you can do is embed a view of your Projects DB next to your inbox (or somewhere on the same page), sorted alphabetically, so you can easily reference it and type the name of the project you're looking for. Hope that helps!
In accounting we use the logic of a Dewey Decimal system in order to fix this issue, as you can imagine an Accountant may have many clients in their career but with a system like the Dewey system you can easily work with many entries in a list.
I'm really impressed, but I have several questions: - Is there a way to capture ideas/tasks fast enough in your pc? When I'm in a meeting or reading an email, I need to capture some ideas. What I usually do is press the appropriate hotkey and type whatever I'm thinking about, and they go to my ticktick inbox. - Is it possible to convert a fleeting note to a task. - When you are managing your tasks in your calendar view, is it always in month view? - Is it possible to merge your calendar with exchange or google calendar in order to time block, for instance?
I purchased this a few days ago. I consider myself pretty computer proficient and have been going through the tutorials slowly. Have to be honest that it's confusing the daylights out of me. This is not a template for someone just starting out with Notion; this is for more advanced users. Trying to do enter a simple recurring task and put it into Areas/Projects is an extremely confusing process. Going to try to just design my own Second Brain template.
Reading some of the comments there are work arounds to use notion. However the downside instead of getting things done or staying organized or building a second brain will require you to have a lot of time on your hands to constantly make adjustments!
Difference between Areas & Resources: Areas: Actionable stuff like tweets, threads etc you will post on Twitter, DM section - actionable stuff only. Resource: Tweets swipe file which you aren't going to post but keep it as a 2nd brain for tweets inspiration.
Got halfway through the video and was like 'imma just buy the system to save my time and sanity' hahhahaha such a dope system will solve a ton of business issues.
Hi Thomas ! Your template seems to be the perfect tool to manage both my projects and my personal life. The thing is, I'm French. Is there any translation on the template? Even though I speak English fluently, I'd rather have my everyday to-do in my own language.
This is great. Thanks so much for sharing! Question on Note Taking and if there's a way to dynamically pull in Tasks. Here is an example. I have databases for Areas, Projects, Tasks, and Notes. I may create new Projects and Tasks associated with those new projects before creating a Note. When I finally do create Notes for that new project, it would be AMAZING if I could have that template with a table view that automatically pulls in the tasks I’ve already created for that project. For example (1) new Project A is created (2) new tasks for Project A are created and tagged to Project A, and then (3) I create a new Note that when that Note is tagged to Project A all of the Tasks created in step 2 populate automatically (template has Task view table embedded) - without having to manually adjust a filter in the table view to Project A. The same would apply when I create notes for new Project B - no manual selection for the filters, just automatically pulls these through. Is this even possible in Notion?
Question... I bought the Ultimate two years ago. I've recently read some posts in which people were using Airtable AND Notion. I don't get it. Wouldn't we be better off simply using one or the other - or are the features different enough that we'd gain from using them as two components of one system - specifically for content creation?
Hey Thomas! I love this second brain so much. Will you be making a 2023 update to the Ultimate Brain with all of notion's new features and updates? If yes when will it be coming?
This is awesome. I'm just getting started with Notion and this Second Brain Journey. I'm debating how I structure things. Should I have separate "notions" for work and personal? If just one should "Work" be it's own area? What about sub areas for both work and personal? Thoughts?
One question I have is, can a given recource be shared with other people? For instance, could i share a note or a project with someone else? Either in a "read only" view or in a "you can edit this" view?
Just as everyone is migrating away from Notion, you do this?? The algo sent me this via some Ali Abdal/Thiago Forte stuff. They seem to use 5-6 applications for the SB between them.
Btw, I’d love some recorded footage w/narration of you using your system…sometimes repeated real life examples are easier for me to grok than extensive explanations with hypotheticals.
That's definitely in the works! I'm working on a ton of new tutorial videos, but I'll have a practical use example video on either this channel or my main channel soon :)
My problem with Notion is export. ANY great app could suffer future change that then makes it unusable for a particular use-case. There has to be a workable solution to move all this data to another app or apps, particularly if I am putting my whole life in it. For that reason I am using Bear instead of Apple Notes (which is otherwise ok). If you can show me how I could move all this Notion stuff to other apps when I want to, then I am in. Otherwise not, doesn't matter how good it is today, There is plenty of history demonstrating how much things can change tomorrow.
Hello! Quick question(s): how would you optimize this system as an incoming college student? For example, would you recommend each class be encapsuled a project? It honestly looks super cool, but I want to learn a bit more before committing to the investment. In any case, thanks for putting the video out there :)
Hey Daniel! We're working on a guide all about adapting Ultimate Brain for school/college, but the short answer is that I would indeed use a Project for each class, and I'd tag it as ongoing. If I were a student again, I would also probably make some customizations. I'd create a special Class template in the Projects database, and inside that I'd probably make a more robust Notes view much like the one in the Area template. I'd want to tag notes as Reading notes, Lecture notes, etc. Hope that helps! P.S. - I do offer 30-day refunds, and our support forum is stellar. So there's no risk to your wallet if you decide to give it a try 😄
This setup is awesome. Did you think about including habit tracking? I know you did a video about it, i feel habits line up closely with goals. My challenge with gtd is that i have a crazy amount of things happening at any given time; I'm a project manager and have to work on 5-7 projects at a time; I'm a dad, i went back to college.. things get messy, prioritizing is key, and gtd isn't great at that after the processing stage. I developed a mix of systems to manage things (including gtd), and i think your template with some edits will let me centralize things once for all. Instead of "areas" i called them "core areas" or centers, inspired by some of Stephen Covey's ideas. I know not "paying attention" to a center (family, career, personal care, school, and less glorious ones like maintenance (finance, house, etc.)) for a while will bring havoc. Anyways, awesome work!
I would love to integrate habit tracking, but unfortunately Notion's just not great for it! If you've seen my habit tracker template (ua-cam.com/video/uyj3JDhE8HE/v-deo.html) you'll know it's very simple and not database driven. The reasons for that: 1. Tracking long-term in a single database isn't elegant. You either need to use days as your rows, which means each habit is a property. If you have a lot, your table gets really big and you have to scroll it horizontally. Or you use habits as rows, and then days are properties... which becomes unworkable fast. 2. Notion isn't good at streak counting. As I learn more about formulas, I might figure out a way to hack it without resorting to an external API. But dedicated habit tracking apps have the luxury of hidden programming loops that can easily figure out a streak, calculate weekly/monthly tracking stats, etc.
Thanks for the great effort. Purchased the template to support your work. I have a similar, less efficient, setup with a goals database as an overarching structure, where I have projects and areas that are pushing a specific goal forwarded listed on the Goal page. However, I think what you define as a goal is a more realistic and easily broken down as what I have, which is a more of life goal than a short to medium term goal.
Oh My God! Recently I've been learning about CODE PARA & how can I use them in my Notion and you, in this video, have answered all of the questions that pop up in my head while I'm doing the process!! Thank you so much💚
Hey Thomas, First of all thanks for the work that you do with Notion! Im finally getting my head around your UB, One Question for you or others? Areas? Could these be simply used in a business sense as companies that you do work for? Thanks in advance.
Hey all! I'm incredibly excited to finally share this complete second-brain system I've been building in Notion. If you'd like to get it as a template that you can start using right away, go to thomasjfrank.com/brain/ (and use code UBLAUNCH to get 50% off)!
In addition to the template itself, you'll also get a full beginner's guide (w/ written, video, and interactive tutorials), help docs, and access to an active support community where you can get your questions answered.
I've also improved my own copy of this template with some really cool automations, and I'm working on video tutorials for those, including:
- Adding new tasks to the task inbox with Siri
- Automatic speech-to-text-to-Notion using Otter
- Integrating ReadWise into my second brain so I can sync highlights from Kindle books, podcasts, tweets, and more
If you have automation ideas or topic requests, let me know!
Im wondering if i where to integrate a "shopping list" and a "wishlist" and maybe a "gnatt diagram (projects)", how would you go about that?
Epic video man!
Hey Thomas i just purchased the template and im super excited to use it, im having some issues creating a Circle.So account im not sure whats happening with they’re site but it keeps crashing, wanted to make sure you’re aware.
Need Help, Yesterday I bought "Ultimate Brain for Notion" and I don't get mail or anything that can get it to -> an active support community
@Thomas Frank Explains
I wish this guy made every tutorial on youtube. If all tutorials were this well explained and produced youtube would be the best learning tool on the planet.
I bought this 24 hours ago and have already implemented this into my life and just wanted to mention that if (When lol) i "Make it", this is the main reason! Thank you Thomas, such an amazing resource to have everything in one app instead of here and there. Worth every penny for anyone thinking about getting this or not, just do it! "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and i will spend the first four sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln.
the template didn't really help you did it.
I love how you break down and explain everything in super simple terms.
I bought the Ultimate Brain at launch and it's pretty nifty. Be prepared to sit aside some time and plan your workflow and start getting everything in to it.
Im currently using creators companion and was dying to see how second brain looked like!
Thomas you’re doing an amazing service to humanity, if I ever achieve my dreams it will be partly thanks to your work (I work on multiple projects regarding sales and content creation).
How amazing is this. I purchased Thomas' Second Brain a couple of months ago and I have been slowly building mine to fit me and my family. I wanted more info on Pulled Resources, so I went to the transcript on UA-cam and searched 'Pulled' and I'm straight in. Love this!
Man, I was struggling designing a CS course,
and you and notion POPED in my head :)
All the best insh'Allah my friend :)
I usually do not write lots of comments, but we have to support people who deliver good content and products. I purchased the ultimate brain template and it delivers what has been promised. A lot of hard work and experience behind it. Ultimate brain is a sophisticated and detailed template and very well aligned with Second Brain model. With this promo code it is a no brainer i think. You save a lot of time and effort with using it. The tutorials and how-to videos are very detailed, you get the support you need to get familiar with the template. I highly recommend it. Thanks to Thomas for his hard work and dedication.
This system you've made is foundationaly (new adverb?) transformative. I hope you're making a good living and getting enjoyment out of this, because this is the kind of work that elevates and changes lives. I've never been satisfied by any task/life management tools before. This system you've built not only exceeds all I've needed; it also is acting as a teacher itself. I've been taking weeks to digest it. Thanks Thomas.
Really appreciate you explaining the new system you built in depth! Buying this today- I love anything I can learn on productivity, task and time management, and organizing your life. Your channel has helped me to get extremely organized and handle being the project manager of a big office while not stressing and managing my health as well. I cannot tell you how much of a godsend your channel is - thank you!!
Hey Kortney, did you end up setting it up? How is it
Yes I am wondering as well, how was it?
If you have big aspirations this channel is more leverage than any broker will give you
I just got this template after deciding for so long, and I am very excited to start using it. I have so many thoughts and projects, and I couldn't make myself use a single project management apps longterm, but having Thomas have such a library of knowledge, support and community I can feel that this is a life changing decision. Thank you, Frank!
Psst... his first name is Thomas. :)
Liana can I contact you please
@@KelleyChambers-h9q (thank u fixed it, better late than never)
Are you still using it? Would you recommend?
I always learn a lot watching these videos. Having lived through the blackberry, PDA, access, Evernote, and now Notion eras, the one question that always pops up is how do I retrieve all of my data when the resource goes away. I have not had success exporting data from Notion. Maybe you could do a tutorial on that.
Yeah that would be very helpful. I have the same issue with that
That's why should be better to reproduce all this system with more stable applications like excel or access
I think there’s a lot to be said for the old school ‘spreadsheets’
@@Glenn67345 this isn't really the aim of Thomas Frank
To export everything, go into your Settings & Members. Under Workspace / Settings scroll down to Export Content and click the export button. Select Markup and CSV and it will zip all content up and download it. Extract the zip file to have every note in markup language text files and images. To export an individual page press the three dots in the upper right and export it. PDFs seems to work best on individual pages or a few pages at a time. I hope this helps.
I have to chime in here and say that @Thomas Frank’s Ultimate Second Brain Notion template is 100% worth the investment and is not only fairly priced, but a steal for the value it brings. I was struggling to build my own Second Brain and this template is actually the ULTIMATE second brain. It will completely change your life. Well done Thomas 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼
It’s cheap af and top notch
You didnt find it to be overly complex? I've been thinking about it, but it seems like a lot of management to keep it up to date, thought ofc I'm currently losing more than in life management, hence considering the template
I haven’t ever really had anything to say but I’m a long time fan man it’s crazy to see how far your channel has come
Thank you and your team
What a high quality, well produced video - amazing work!
I love how you just light up when talking about the databases in your upgraded PARA system :D I'm not halfway through and this video is already awesome! Great work, thanks!
Wow dude, very impressive. I just started using Notion and this blows my mind. Thank you so much!
I really like what you have created here. I really want to, want to use Notion. I actually set up all of August Bradley’s PPV system then only used it for a couple of weeks. I still have a large digital filing cabinet in Evernote, full of things like household/bank docs, images of special greetings cards and my craft inventory etc. About three months ago I started using Obsidian and I’m still enjoying that. I have come to the conclusion that I am a gardener who likes to maintain a building with a library on the side.
Hello Susan. What are your thought of using obsidian?
Currently, I really struggle with staying on track with everything.
I spend a lot of time reading internet resources and gathering inspiration for projects, which I generally enjoy, but it leads nowhere really because they all end up scattered across browser bookmarks, downloaded files and saved posts on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Reddit, never to be easily found and accessed again.
I get lots of ideas, but if I do write them down somewhere, it's on some loose paper, a notepad, in my existing notes app or a voice memo.
It's even worse for projects: most of them exist only as tasks in my head, which overwhelms me while I have no overview, which is generally the problem with all the previously mentioned items.
This seems like it's just the solution I'm looking for, thank you very much for putting it all together!
Brilliant template exactly what I was looking for - thank you Thomas- just bought the template. I really liked how you combined the PARA, GTD and Notion to create this life organization/productivity system. Less stuff clouding in your brain- more space and calm for more ideas and action. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Man how could I contact you
Thomas your template and organization of the complete second-brain system is the ultimate. I had used your previous system and liked it; however, this surpasses that system and is well done. Yes, to every about the price in that it is fair. I could not wait to get started with it, and another yes in setting aside some time to get your information transferred over from the previous system and organized.
I am very thankful for it!!
James can i get in contact with you
I've been trying notion for some time but never felt like it was for me. I think it's because I wasn't able to build a good enough system that would encourage me to stick to it.
This is an incredible template. Well worth the investment!
Dude, this is amazing... I'm just starting with notion and learning from how you have laid out your system... thank you for providing this info. This video is pure gold!
Very impressive template! Also impressed you answered all questions in comments that is rare for UA-camrs who have become successful wishing you all the best! I'm looking forward to building my own system and this is great inspo. I was intimidated by Notion but love the freedom and aesthetics of it and now I'm excited to make my own. Thank you so much Thomas!
As some already mentioned the probability that someone would use the whole system for their life is far from reality but from my point of view Thomas has some great incentives for productivity and structure in life. For me two main things: Quickcapture / Braindump and the personal setting of goals.
The braindump concept was my “aha moment.” I’ve alway struggled with thoughts popping into my head and the immediate need to act on them, but now I can take everything that pops in my head and just write it down for me to process or sort through later. Not sure why it took me so long to understand such a simple concept but it has been life changing!
After using One Note for a couple decades and bouncing around task management apps (OmniFocus being great until I swapped back from Mac ecosystem to PC) Notion is a breath of fresh air. Now that I have your 2nd brain system, I’m looking forward to customizing it to my own needs along with lessons learned from watching of your videos. Thanks for doing the hard work to show us the way.
OneNote came out in 2012 so for a decade is more correct :)
Edit: my bad, it came out in 2001 so I stand corrected!
@Andres I. I had no idea, thanks for correcting me! Now I’m pissed I didn’t discover it much earlier 🤣
Woooow think is my first video I've seen from you and I'm really impressed with this. I am trying to up my game on organising/collecting my notes and actions in all areas of my life and I think I will start using Notion + buying Ultimate Brain.
I'm so happy. I have the template and am setting this up. Thank you for all the work that went into this. Lifechanger!!
More fun to watch than Netflix! I came out of a BASB cohort with some of the same thoughts about organizing in Notion. It's always cool to see other people's take on things, especially when it comes to Notion. 🙂
The truth is your system is very solid, I am creating my own system and I think I am going to borrow several things from yours, it is undoubtedly the best I have seen, perhaps saturated for my taste but very solid.
Thank You so much brother!
Just found out about Notion & I know is a life saver but I need some intel haha.
Got so many projects starting in pararell I def need it.
Take care.
God Bless You.
I caved and bought your template today, and WHOA dude, I love how you made this. Hopefully my scatterbrained days have come to an end.🎉
Great template, man. Really amazing. But I have some questions about:
1. How do you manage the things about your Business inside of this? Is it like an Area or your business is inside "another brain system"?
2. If the business think is inside of this same system, how do you integrate a new employee in this system? Do you give access to all things in there?
3. I have a branding/design studio here in Brazil and in my current notion system, my clients are like areas, because they will contain projects, resources and tasks, how do I manage to do not mix everything and lose control of it?
Again, thanks for all the great content.
Just wondering if this includes a global tag database and the readwise integration?
It does have a global tag database! In Ultimate Brain, it's called Areas/Resources, since I use Tiago Forte's PARA method for organizing everything. So you can create Resources, which function as tags.
As for Readwise, we do include a tutorial on how to integrate Readwise's database into Ultimate Brain. Unfortunately, there's no way to integrate it automatically because Readwise creates a database in Notion for its exports and doesn't allow you to customize it.
Very soon, my team and I will be launching a powerful web clipper for Notion called Flylighter, which you'll be able to use to very easily capture highlights, annotations, and more to any Notion database - including the ones in UB: flylighter.com/
Hope this helps! Feel free to email any additional questions to thomas@collegeinfogeek.com - UA-cam isn't always the best at notifying me of replies!
This tutorial was much needed! Thank you so much for this! Been waiting for you to upload 💕
Hello kya Aapke pass ye templates hai kya agar honga toh please copy karke share karo please reply
Just bought your Ultimate Brain in Notion.
After using Notion for some time now i think its good to use your product to prevent me of getting stuck in the technical details. (Thats something i experiance more and more)
Thank you!
Dutch Electrical Engineer
Game. Changer. I've been overwhlemed with the huge amount of options that are out there with Notion and knowledge management, this single handedly solves this overwhelm - so worth the money!
Thank you so much Jay! I’m so glad you’ve found the template useful.
Would it be ok if I displayed this comment on the Ultimate Brain landing page?
@@ThomasFrankExplains Of course, go for it ma man!
Have been endlessly trying to set up "Second Brain". This might be my final search :") THANKS ALOT
I love the change of perspective with areas/resources I’m always trouble a bit in that area with the formal BASB approach, but now magically makes totally sense to me! :D
Man can I get in contact with you
do you plan to update the "ultimate brain" template using the newly "tasks and projects" notion feature? In case, if we buy the template now, will we get the new version when available?
Super cool to see the whole system put together! I have to say though that I feel skeptical that anyone actually would use a system like this consistently for an extended period of time. Seems like it would be fun to put this all together but at the end of the day your first brain is actually pretty good at doing most of this unconsciously and the friction of trying to capture your life in this level of detail just makes it unenjoyable and ultimately unsustainable once your initial enthusiasm fades away. I appreciate the high quality video and thorough explanations though. 👍 Also full disclosure I only watched the first 28 minutes.
I've thought exactly the same, it becomes so difficult that you need more time to keep the system up to date rather than doing the actual work.
Are you kidding? 😊 I’m so stoked about this!!!! My whole life just took a turn from complete overwhelm to totally simplified!You have no idea how much this seriously gives me oppoertunity. I’m watching this on repeat. I am forever grateful. Thank you so much Thomas!
@@AddieMcD great to hear this!! thx
@@AddieMcD did you end up setting it up?😊
@@ozjames yeah, I’m still getting it all together but I use it every day. Honestly way more intricate than i thought, but thats a good thing bc there is so much opportunity.
Great work, Thomas! I fell in love with Notion just recently, especially with the AI, and your recent video helped a lot. Then one thing led to another, here I am, excited to see what I can do with this template, cheers!
How long did it take you to adopt this system, structure everything on Notion and get so use to it, that you spend less time managing and more time doing... Also, how much time do you spend managing/maintaining it each day?
Waiting for this since eternity 🤣❤️
Thanks for your patience 😁 This thing was a monster to build
About your diagram at 16:50, I see the following guiding principles to synthesize: every element placed within the Notion System...
1) ...should be intendend to support goals achievement (life aspirations, annual goals, monthly goals, weekly plans...).
2) ...should be categorized as part of 1 area of life (keeps the hierarchy consistent/MECE) but maybe 2-3 (increased flexibility/non MECE).
3) ...will inevitably have 2 functions: execution management (tasks and projects) and knowledge management (notes, lists, files, links, resources)
At the end of the day, that's it. What will change with lots of flexibility will be the pages that consolidate a view, for example:
(i) per area of life, its projects, tasks, and knowledge associated
(ii) per project, with their corresponding area of lie
(iii) per timeline, with corresponding areas and projects
...
The databases will potentially be the same - one for all tasks, one for all knowledge - which could/should be filtered in custom views.
About the purple notes at 16:50,
Projects should be always assigned to an area of life and a goal, otherwise it's not important enough to be executed. A project indeed can emerge without a goal, but once you decidre to commit to it, you should update goals.
Tasks are too small and it's fine to not be linked to a goal, but should be linked to an area of life.
Goals should be always associated with an area of life, otherwise you defined a goal that doesn't help you fulfilling the areas that are important, e.g.: professional, financial, health & wellness, relationships, spiritual.
The rest of the notes make a lot of sense to me, even the original diagram, despite I see a different mental model behind it.
Love you brother. Having a great session learning from your video whilst building my own Notion & advancing on my personal branding in pararell :) Take care. Will follow on socials & stay in touch. I'm new to this "niche" & already feel like home just with your channel. Bless.
I couldn't buy this fast enough! I have been wanting something like this since I started using Notion, too! Thank you! :)
Thanks so much Whit!
Thomas Frank Explains some people may want to try the product before spending that kind of money. Even at 50% off. In reality I would pay 200 for a great app that made my life easier but without being able to test it first, its like a leap of faith. Maybe a temporary trail in the future. I don’t know if that would even work with Notion.
This is awesome! Do you have any advice for hand written notes? I love to hand write notes on my ipad but there's currently no good solution (that I know of) to do that with Notion.
Handwrite your notes and snap a picture, then organize the picture like you want from your phone. I do this, and you could just take a snapshot and save. Having notion on your computer, browser, phone and ipad helps. I still use my hand writte journal. 💌
Notion doesn't have good tools for handwriting notes, so what I've done in the past is handwrite in Notability (iPad app), and then exported my notes as an image into Notion. If you use paper, you can use your phone camera to import a picture into Notion.
I'm also looking into ways to automate this workflow!
I had the same issue with my Galaxy Note, taking notes on my phone and not being able to directly find them on my Notion Daily task page was such an annoying thing.
My solution was to directly share the written note to the Notion app in a specific handwritten database (PhoneNotes in my case) and then create a database copy (Todays PhoneNotes) on the daily task page using the following filter, ( isCreatedToday = checked ) while "isCreatedToday" is a property in the PhoneNotes with the following formula : (formatDate(prop("Created"), "L") == formatDate(now(), "L")) ? true : false .
Hope this helps
What an excellent resource!! (And you sound great as always)
I really enjoyed this and learned from it. I'm building my own Second Brain and this video really got me fired up.
I keep coming back to your channel for tips and tricks.
If I get stuck, building my own, I will most probably buy yours ;-)
You're great! You have put so much effort in building ultimate brain. Thank you for this
This Notion setup is sick but man is it overwhelming 😅
Amazing video!
Really helped me expand my Notion System
I can't believe I just watched the whole 45-minute video and actively took notes like I was studying in class - a super interesting class in fact! That says a lot about Thomas's explanation ability 💪 Thanks so much for all the effort you and your team have put into this template and video 😄
Btw, congrats on the wedding! Seeing that is like finding an Easter egg in your video haha 🎉
I have a question though: I learnt the method of linking the task database and the database for project/ area/ resources/ (whatever non-actionable field) from your Task manager built from scratch video, but I always have this problem: When I input a new random task, I always have to dig for the right project to link with the task (since sometimes I have so many projects going on at the same time that I can't remember the project's name right away). Also when you input the linked project for the task, the project list is always organized in the most random way possible, making the searching process even longer.
Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with that? I hope that my explaining is clear 🥲
Yep, this is an issue that Notion knows about and is working on! The Relation picker has had a weird sort order ever since I started using Notion.
This isn't a perfect fix, but one thing you can do is embed a view of your Projects DB next to your inbox (or somewhere on the same page), sorted alphabetically, so you can easily reference it and type the name of the project you're looking for.
Hope that helps!
In accounting we use the logic of a Dewey Decimal system in order to fix this issue, as you can imagine an Accountant may have many clients in their career but with a system like the Dewey system you can easily work with many entries in a list.
I'm really impressed, but I have several questions:
- Is there a way to capture ideas/tasks fast enough in your pc? When I'm in a meeting or reading an email, I need to capture some ideas. What I usually do is press the appropriate hotkey and type whatever I'm thinking about, and they go to my ticktick inbox.
- Is it possible to convert a fleeting note to a task.
- When you are managing your tasks in your calendar view, is it always in month view?
- Is it possible to merge your calendar with exchange or google calendar in order to time block, for instance?
Any plans to update Second Brain to use buttons for adding new items with complex relationships and default items?
I purchased this a few days ago. I consider myself pretty computer proficient and have been going through the tutorials slowly. Have to be honest that it's confusing the daylights out of me. This is not a template for someone just starting out with Notion; this is for more advanced users. Trying to do enter a simple recurring task and put it into Areas/Projects is an extremely confusing process. Going to try to just design my own Second Brain template.
this is super exciting. Thanks Thomas!
Thanks, very well planned. Excited to work on the template.
Bro... Amazing to see all of the great things you've accomplished since we used to chat in Fizzle back in the day. So impressive! Very happy for you.
Reading some of the comments there are work arounds to use notion. However the downside instead of getting things done or staying organized or building a second brain will require you to have a lot of time on your hands to constantly make adjustments!
Notion is incredible. The only one thing I'm waiting for (I hope they will add it soon) is the opportunity to use pen with tablet.
I would love that too! My dream scenario is that they buy Notability and incorporate their pen stroke-smoothing algorithm into Notion.
@@ThomasFrankExplains yesss
Difference between Areas & Resources:
Areas: Actionable stuff like tweets, threads etc you will post on Twitter, DM section - actionable stuff only.
Resource: Tweets swipe file which you aren't going to post but keep it as a 2nd brain for tweets inspiration.
Holy shit, this is exactly what I've been looking for for years. Take my money!
Got halfway through the video and was like 'imma just buy the system to save my time and sanity' hahhahaha such a dope system will solve a ton of business issues.
Hi Thomas ! Your template seems to be the perfect tool to manage both my projects and my personal life. The thing is, I'm French. Is there any translation on the template? Even though I speak English fluently, I'd rather have my everyday to-do in my own language.
Just got this template. My first try at really taking productivity super seriously. Thanks Thomas.
You've got this!
This is amazing! So hyped to try it out!
Thank you so much for this, it has completely revolutionised how I use Notion.
This is great. Thanks so much for sharing! Question on Note Taking and if there's a way to dynamically pull in Tasks. Here is an example.
I have databases for Areas, Projects, Tasks, and Notes. I may create new Projects and Tasks associated with those new projects before creating a Note. When I finally do create Notes for that new project, it would be AMAZING if I could have that template with a table view that automatically pulls in the tasks I’ve already created for that project. For example (1) new Project A is created (2) new tasks for Project A are created and tagged to Project A, and then (3) I create a new Note that when that Note is tagged to Project A all of the Tasks created in step 2 populate automatically (template has Task view table embedded) - without having to manually adjust a filter in the table view to Project A. The same would apply when I create notes for new Project B - no manual selection for the filters, just automatically pulls these through. Is this even possible in Notion?
Omg, I’ve been looking for something like this for so long!
Question... I bought the Ultimate two years ago. I've recently read some posts in which people were using Airtable AND Notion. I don't get it. Wouldn't we be better off simply using one or the other - or are the features different enough that we'd gain from using them as two components of one system - specifically for content creation?
Thank you, I should get more use of the template and increase my overall Notion skill set with this.
Hello, how would you rate this feature after a year? Did it break the workflow of you and changed the tools like second brain? Thanks
I already buy an ultimate brain in 2022 and i cant access the links now in 2023. Please help.
I need a 3rd brain to map out what is going on in this 2nd brain. Meanwhile my first brain can’t focus long enough to watch the full video
Hey Thomas! I love this second brain so much. Will you be making a 2023 update to the Ultimate Brain with all of notion's new features and updates? If yes when will it be coming?
Two friends have recommended this to me. I have tried it before but failed but I'm thinking about giving it one more shot.
This is amazing and intimidating. Especially coming from a musician 👏
This is awesome. I'm just getting started with Notion and this Second Brain Journey. I'm debating how I structure things. Should I have separate "notions" for work and personal? If just one should "Work" be it's own area? What about sub areas for both work and personal? Thoughts?
This is what video i need for notion. Thank you
Is the GTD video out already?
One question I have is, can a given recource be shared with other people?
For instance, could i share a note or a project with someone else? Either in a "read only" view or in a "you can edit this" view?
Just one thing I want to add. I love the template, thank you so much, but I am missing sub-projects inside of a general project
I'm really excited to dig into this 🔥🔥🔥
Just as everyone is migrating away from Notion, you do this?? The algo sent me this via some Ali Abdal/Thiago Forte stuff. They seem to use 5-6 applications for the SB between them.
Btw, I’d love some recorded footage w/narration of you using your system…sometimes repeated real life examples are easier for me to grok than extensive explanations with hypotheticals.
That's definitely in the works! I'm working on a ton of new tutorial videos, but I'll have a practical use example video on either this channel or my main channel soon :)
@@ThomasFrankExplains Much appreciated. I am SO excited at the prospect of only using one app.
Man, this is gold
My problem with Notion is export. ANY great app could suffer future change that then makes it unusable for a particular use-case. There has to be a workable solution to move all this data to another app or apps, particularly if I am putting my whole life in it. For that reason I am using Bear instead of Apple Notes (which is otherwise ok). If you can show me how I could move all this Notion stuff to other apps when I want to, then I am in. Otherwise not, doesn't matter how good it is today, There is plenty of history demonstrating how much things can change tomorrow.
Hello! Quick question(s): how would you optimize this system as an incoming college student? For example, would you recommend each class be encapsuled a project? It honestly looks super cool, but I want to learn a bit more before committing to the investment. In any case, thanks for putting the video out there :)
Hey Daniel!
We're working on a guide all about adapting Ultimate Brain for school/college, but the short answer is that I would indeed use a Project for each class, and I'd tag it as ongoing.
If I were a student again, I would also probably make some customizations. I'd create a special Class template in the Projects database, and inside that I'd probably make a more robust Notes view much like the one in the Area template. I'd want to tag notes as Reading notes, Lecture notes, etc.
Hope that helps!
P.S. - I do offer 30-day refunds, and our support forum is stellar. So there's no risk to your wallet if you decide to give it a try 😄
@@ThomasFrankExplains Thanks! I just got around to purchasing the template, so I'll be looking out for the UB for college guide!
@@danielvergara6069 hey ! it would be a great help if you tell what changes you made in ultimate brain
Excellent video!
This setup is awesome. Did you think about including habit tracking? I know you did a video about it, i feel habits line up closely with goals.
My challenge with gtd is that i have a crazy amount of things happening at any given time; I'm a project manager and have to work on 5-7 projects at a time; I'm a dad, i went back to college.. things get messy, prioritizing is key, and gtd isn't great at that after the processing stage. I developed a mix of systems to manage things (including gtd), and i think your template with some edits will let me centralize things once for all. Instead of "areas" i called them "core areas" or centers, inspired by some of Stephen Covey's ideas. I know not "paying attention" to a center (family, career, personal care, school, and less glorious ones like maintenance (finance, house, etc.)) for a while will bring havoc.
Anyways, awesome work!
I would love to integrate habit tracking, but unfortunately Notion's just not great for it! If you've seen my habit tracker template (ua-cam.com/video/uyj3JDhE8HE/v-deo.html) you'll know it's very simple and not database driven.
The reasons for that:
1. Tracking long-term in a single database isn't elegant. You either need to use days as your rows, which means each habit is a property. If you have a lot, your table gets really big and you have to scroll it horizontally. Or you use habits as rows, and then days are properties... which becomes unworkable fast.
2. Notion isn't good at streak counting. As I learn more about formulas, I might figure out a way to hack it without resorting to an external API. But dedicated habit tracking apps have the luxury of hidden programming loops that can easily figure out a streak, calculate weekly/monthly tracking stats, etc.
@@ThomasFrankExplains thanks for the insight :) keep up that great work 😄👍👍👍
HI! Could I use this template to manage my university life?
Thanks for the great effort. Purchased the template to support your work. I have a similar, less efficient, setup with a goals database as an overarching structure, where I have projects and areas that are pushing a specific goal forwarded listed on the Goal page. However, I think what you define as a goal is a more realistic and easily broken down as what I have, which is a more of life goal than a short to medium term goal.
Oh My God! Recently I've been learning about CODE PARA & how can I use them in my Notion and you, in this video, have answered all of the questions that pop up in my head while I'm doing the process!! Thank you so much💚
sama sama bang
Is this only a one-time payment?
Exactly what I needed. You are a genius, sir.
Hey Thomas, First of all thanks for the work that you do with Notion! Im finally getting my head around your UB, One Question for you or others? Areas? Could these be simply used in a business sense as companies that you do work for?
Thanks in advance.
one word...AMAZING!