Second Brain Management System for Creatives

I have just emerged from my past; I felt like I was on pause for so many years! Now, it's present tense, and I want to move forward. I want to embrace this hypervigilant, hypersensitive, hypercreative, hyperthinking, hyper-everything self that I am. I aspire to become authentic.

Before taking this class, I completed a three-year therapy program for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), depression, and burnout. I am proud of this accomplishment. In the process, I learned that I likely have ADHD, which explains a lot about my experiences. When mixed with my ongoing generalized anxiety, phobias, and low self-esteem, it creates a cocktail of confusion, fear, and shame. Although I've learned to manage my personality traits, I still need to find ways to cope with all of this while embracing life and taking action despite my fears and shame. I feel exhausted all the time, and I struggle to find the energy to leave my house, even though I truly want to.

This is why I chose the Creativity Management Specialization in the first place: I hope to find effective solutions to help me structure, organize, and manage my life, time, and energy more efficiently. My goal is to become the person I want to be, make my own decisions, choose my path, and align with my core values.

I now realize that this specialization could also enable me to help others organize their own lives. I’ve discovered that organization doesn’t have to be dull, and it's surprisingly energizing. Finances don’t need to be presented in an unattractive spreadsheet. Gamifying what is typically boring in a way that is easy for me to track and manage is incredibly motivating!

Without further ado, let's start the process of creating my second brain management system.

- Notion (Desktop, Mobile App and Mobile widget)
- Google Workspace (Calendar, Gmail, Drive)
- Spotify integration
- YouTube integration
- Adobe Illustrator to create the icons
- Giphy / Tenor
- Favicon
- Freeform
- MacBook Pro and iPhone 12 Pro
- My brain 😉

Usually, when I take a course, I like to learn new things, but I dislike doing the work. I would watch all the videos and not do the related exercises, or I would try making one, realizing it would take a long time, and then abandon the entire course.

To this behaviour, I said to myself: NO MORE!

So, I did what needed to be done, taking agonizingly short baby steps, because, supposedly, that's how it works! Urgh! I hated to take the time, but I did. I found the strength to wake up earlier each day and do an hour of work before heading to the office for my day job. At first, it was exhausting. But then, I started to become hyper-focused on this course, probably because boring things are made more creative and less dreadful. After a few days, it became frustrating to have to stop to go to the office. I began to see the benefits of managing my life more creatively, and everything else became less significant and unimportant.

By completing all the homeworks, I attempted to approach them as a combination of what the teachers were doing and what I intend to do with the results of the task afterwards in my custom system. I didn't know at this stage of the process what the purpose of the system would be or how to manage it, so I followed the leaders throughout the course.

See the attached screenshots of my homeworks, created in Notion.

**Please note that I'm bilingual in French and English, so my system is primarily in French with some English content.**

After taking the course, the first thing I wanted to work on was the iconography and visual identity of my second brain. I aimed to create something that truly represents myself and motivates me to use it every day in all aspects of my life.

I started by reflecting on what I find beautiful and what attracts me. I examined the core values I had listed in the course homework and tried to understand my identity from a graphic design perspective. This is not an easy task, especially when I’m still discovering who I really am.

I decided to create a glitchy effect on the icons, using color codes inspired by the old TV error screen. I tilted the icons randomly to add movement and diagonals, without making them look too chaotic.

Then, I had a revelation: what if everything in this Notion space is related to 90s childhood games? This idea led me to realize that both I and every other human being are like puzzles. Right now, I am still finding the pieces I need to feel complete. Some puzzles have missing pieces that will never be found, serving as a reminder of lost memories. Other pieces may be hidden in another box, and with some patience, I could eventually find them.

This sparked the idea that everything related to my personality will center around puzzles, while my projects will be represented as a chess game, where the king symbolizes the goal and the pawns represent the tasks. This concept inspired me to develop my second brain in a fun and engaging way.

I also appreciated the teacher's suggestion of creating a GIF database so I can use them sparingly, allowing me to enjoy a laugh without getting distracted by too many at once.

I’ve attached some screenshots of my visual chart in progress.

I wanted the menu to be breathing with lots of space between each letter of a word. I also want to reduce the navigation menu's length and width as much as possible by having the main pages regroup the subpages underneath. I also wanted to be able to easily view my database templates to duplicate and drag them into the appropriate section.

So, I've used the previously made visual identity and organized the following:

- Boussole, meaning 'compass' in French, this page is about me, my core values, objectives, priorities, and anything else related to the aspects that make me who I am. This page serves as a reminder of my true self, helping me stay authentic in my life decisions and stay connected to my goals.

- Cerveau: meaning 'brain' in French, this page is for my chaotic ideas. It's a brain dump where I can also sort and prepare to get moved into a brief, a project, a task, etc.

- Finances: This is where I will take care of my finances while not having to always look at horrible spreadsheets that scares the shit out of me.

- Routine: This page contains all my recurring tasks.

- Chartes: Meaning 'charts' in French, his page contains the visual chart, but will eventually also include the editorial chart and any other charts to maintain coherence throughout the Notion Space. It could also be helpful if I expand my work into other tools, I could also use charts to link things properly, and both ways.

- Projets: Meaning 'projects' in French, this is where all my projects nest.

- Briefs: This page contains all my project briefs, allowing me to view them in one place, even though each brief is related to its specific project.

- Databases: This is where I create my database templates, which can be duplicated and integrated into other pages.

I know this will evolve, but for now, the attached screenshots show what it currently looks like.

Once I knew what I wanted to integrate into my Notion Space, I started creating placeholders on each page to understand how many database templates I needed to develop.

Then, I designed them with the intention of keeping them as flexible as possible, so they will always have the same essential fields, regardless of where they are integrated in the space, while allowing for modification or addition of others, depending on their purpose and context.

Please see the attached screenshots to help you understand where I am going.

Also, please note that I closed the toggles to hide my personal information.

Within each database type, I created templates to easily create new ones and locate critical information for projects, tasks, goals, and other purposes.

Each project is divided into main stages and has its database, which contains all project tasks.

Each stage of the project has its database linked to the main one. It also has an integrated GIF that appears only when the toggle is open.

Each stage has its sections and subsections, and within them, a database containing task templates.

In my Compass, I have also added a Goal database, divided into two views, one for personal goals and one for professional goals.

During the course, we worked on several tools to help manage creativity, time, energy and focus. I've chosen a few to integrate into my workflow so I can optimize my life for the better without overwhelming myself with tons of tools and notifications.

Gmail
One tool is the Zero Inbox technique, which I already use at my day job; however, it's a good idea to apply it to personal emails as well. I admit that I didn't take the time to do my email cleanup, but I will add this goal to my personal goals database and plan it for the following weeks. Whenever I create a freelancer email address, I will use the Zero Inbox technique from the start.

I'd like to mention that I've also linked my Gmail to my Notion space, allowing me to view my inbox directly within Notion.

Gsheet
The course on financial management was really helpful for me in reducing anxiety around my money (or lack thereof). By using this Google Sheets tool and the Finances page in Notion, I will be able to track my finances and manage my debt payments. It won't be easy, but with a plan and lots of achievable baby steps, I'm confident I will get through this and be able to start saving money to support my full-time freelance career.

Google Calendar
I linked my Calendar with Notion, so I can look into it from there.

Freeform
Eizenhower Matrix
Because creating is a form of learning, I made my version of this matrix. I integrated it into my templates, allowing me to better evaluate and prioritize any new elements that come my way.

Stress Performance Matrix
I also recreated this matrix and added it to my templates. I believe this matrix will help me manage my energy and focus levels, allowing me to finally complete a project without needing a supervisor, a teacher, a family member or a friend to guide me.

I tested it with a simple personal project that's neither high-priority nor complex, so I can ensure the base is solid.

I made a few errors, deleted databases linked to other pages, and lost hours of customization time, but at least I learned what not to do.

I adjusted a few properties here and there, modified some icons that weren't looking good in tiny format, and made other last-minute adjustments.

For the rest, I think it will evolve as I do. I think I will adapt to this new way of organizing my life, and the way life is best organized will also adapt to my personality, needs, and core.

And here we are!

I'm sharing this project with you, hoping it will inspire other students and spark discussions about gamifying tasks and life projects.

I'm also hoping that the teachers will see it and share their thoughts with me. Hehe!

Long live creativity in a structured yet flexible way!

Looking forward to reading your comments! ☺️