What I Read in July 2022
My schedule this month got a lot tighter so I wasn’t able to read as much as I would’ve liked to.
But I thought the few things I read were interesting. Check them out below.
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The Short List of My July Books
- Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
- [Currently reading] The Godfather by Mario Puzo
- [Currently reading] Getting Things Done by David Allen
More Details on My July Books
1. Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
Have you ever felt overwhelmed about how much there is to remember? We’ve got birthdays, gifts to buy, and movies to watch to keep up with. Then there’s the food we want to try, places to visit, and things to follow up on with different people. It’s a lot.
The flood of information we have to juggle is why author Tiago Forte found it necessary it build a tool to help. That tool is called a “Second Brain.” It follows productivity consultant David Allen’s belief about our minds: it’s for having ideas, not holding them.
Your Second Brain is essentially a comprehensive note-taking system. The book provides a rationale behind the system and how to start building your own.
This book helped me build my own working productivity system. While it still isn’t perfect, it’s good enough to reduce some levels of anxiety in my daily life.
If you feel overwhelmed about all the things you need to remember, I recommend giving this book a look.
2. [Currently reading] The Godfather by Mario Puzo
I wanted to read a good fiction book. The idea to read this came to me when someone mentioned it at work. I thought I’d give it a go and, well, here are my thoughts so far.
I’m really enjoying it. Although I’m intimidated by the sheer length of the book, the story so far is easy to follow and really got me hooked. I haven’t felt this excited about reading a book since reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It also helps that I can see the movie in my head while I’m reading it.
I’m not even sure what else is there for me to say about this. I mean, it’s The Godfather, one of the most famous stories told in modern pop culture.
3. [Currently reading] Getting Things Done by David Allen
As much as I don’t really enjoy multi-reading, I thought I’d pick up Getting Things Done by David Allen more as a skimmable instruction manual while I build my personal productivity system. I also think it’s a great compliment to Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte.
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a popular system for people in the productivity sphere. It follows only five steps: capture, clarify, organize, review, and engage.
The simple system is based on Allen’s philosophy that a cluttered mind isn’t good for doing anything. He advocates having a “mind like water” which means ideas, thoughts, and tasks emerge from your mind and flow onto your system, making way for more things to emerge and flow.
So far I’ve been finding the book helpful. If you want a way to, well, get things done, then you should check this book out.
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