Content Management - Part 3

We’re building on the last 2 newsletters about dealing with content intake and doing it in a manner that let’s you “dip in the stream” without trying to drink from a firehose.

This week will wrap things up with some ways to make the process your own and add value, to yourself, from the content that you do consume.

If you missed the previous week’s info, you can find it here:

• Part 1 - Info intake and management

• Part 2 - Tools of the trade

Adding Value For Ourselves

I’m a fan of the way Tiago Forte has talked about “just in time” management of information, so far as it applies to reviewing and adding to your notes - whether that’s actually reviewing them, bolding the most relevant sections, or something else.

I’ve also found that scheduling some regular time to tend the “mind garden” has been a big value add for me. This isn’t complicated and the link in the previous sentence is a short video that explains in more detail; the general idea is that once a week I sit down for 30-ish minutes and review new notes and highlights in my inbox, dealing with the ones that interest me.

That’s when I add some notes, maybe bold the really important stuff that sticks out after having already seen it before, and adding some tags or connections that come to mind.

It’s also a good time to delete or archive things that aren’t relevant to me.

Taking a few minutes per week cleaning things up and reinforcing connections has lots of benefits that accrue over time - another area this helps is with learning or even just reading about areas outside your specialty (discussed in this interview with Tiago) which can boost your overall knowledge and learning.

This Week’s Favorite

Give Yourself Flexibility

Don’t sweat it if you have an imperfect system.

We all do.

Mine is changing and tools come and go.

I don’t change them often, but if something is measurably better or provides a missing component then I’ll update my content intake and note system.

That’s not to say that I’m constantly swapping things in and out - just don’t be afraid to change it as needed and realize that it’s an evolving, changing system.

One last word on this:

Take the parts from my system, other people’s, from different articles or videos, and make it your own over time. Sometimes the best way to get going is to use someone else’s process - and then add or subtract to make it your own over time.

Extra Extra

• Older, but still good, article from Sam Altman about how to be successful. Some of them are good reminders, and some might be controversial. I found it to be a good read and saved several of the items for later review.

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