011 - How I Consume & Digest Information

I wanted to take this time to let you in on my somewhat extensive note taking system for how I digest content and information. 

For the common person, I probably do things that are abnormal but it’s also not a super high-powered system. I wanted to let you in on my simple tasks with the system, which is primarily run through Google Docs. 

We are flooded with info and this system of sorts allows me to stay organized and revisit important lessons whenever I’d like. 

The modern day reading list and information gathering includes more than just books.

Books, online articles, podcasts, videos and more all make up content that we can digest and learn from. This is all about consuming that information and putting it somewhere in an organized fashion, setting you up successfully to revisit that at a later date. 

When I Read Books

Truthfully, I usually have a few books on my bookshelf at a time. And 98% of all books I read will be non-fiction and designed to better myself. 

Whenever I open a book, I always have a pen and a highlighter near me. I use the highlighter to signify the main points throughout the book and a pen to provide a more thorough thought from me. 

If there’s a paragraph or line that really hits home, I’ll fold the corner of the book so I’ll always know that’s a page to revisit. 

Once I complete the book, I’ll head over to my computer where I have a variety of Google Docs set up. One of those is a document titled ‘Book Notes’ that is a comprehensive view of book summaries and quotes. I’ll go through the entire book and transcribe anything I highlighted or wrote down and put that into the document. 

After doing that for a books over the years, I now have a nice library of fantastic books with digestible lessons at my fingertips. 

Online Articles

Online articles are probably where I get the vast amount of knowledge these days. While books can provide a depth that’s hard to replicate, articles allow me to stay up-to-date with several different industries. 

I’ll admit it. I’m a tabber. 

While I have my main browser window on Google Chrome compromised of email, docs, social accounts, etc -- I also have another browser window where I will place any article of interests in there. 

I find these articles from a number of places, but overwhelmingly they are from email newsletters and Twitter. 

To maximize time, I actually rarely read those articles when I see them. Instead, I put them all together in one place and wait until I can spend some quality time. Then, I might spend 30 minutes - an hour to read dozens of articles. 

I also use a Chrome extension called OneTab to organize these, as well. It’s a really phenomenal tool that allows you to combine all tabs in one window into one page. 

Similar to how I digest info from books -- I will borrow thoughts and copy/paste them into another Google Doc of mine: ‘Random Notes’. This is currently a 200+ page document that compiles my thoughts, learnings from various industries, leadership lessons, etc. 

I have these broken down by category and use the Table of Contents feature of Google Docs so it’s very easy to find what I’m looking for and to keep this organized. 

Document Setup

After going through how I digest the info I receive from books, articles, etc. here’s a breakdown of my document set up. 

These are all documents that I have within my Google Drive:

• My Book Notes

  • A library of notes from all the books I have read - at least in the last five years. Notes are from what I highlight or write down when I’m reading the book. 

• Random Notes / Lessons

  • This is currently a 200+ page document that compiles my thoughts, learnings from various industries, leadership lessons, etc. For me - this is broken down through My Career, Leadership, Digital, Brand Growth, Meditation, College Sports and more. 

• My Principles

  • I believe it is SO beneficial to write down philosophies, principles, etc. And the thing is, these change frequently. I have this document to shape who I am, where I want to be and more. Some of the sections I have laid out here are:

    • My long-term vision

    • Who I Am

    • My Personal Philosophy

    • My Work Philosophy 

    • One-Phrase Principles

• Favorite Tweets / Drafts 

  • Instead of using the actual Twitter Drafts feature, I have written down hundreds of tweets and put in this document that I can use from time-to-time. Sometimes I get the feeling to get some content out there but can’t think of something off the top of my head. So, I go into my trusty document and find some words of wisdom. 

Tools

Pocket - click here
Google Docs 
OneTab - click here
Extensive folder system within Computer (then put on external hard drive)
- ‘To Read’ on Desktop as an ‘on deck circle’ for me to relay info into the appropriate folder 

There you have it! Thanks for reading.

Do you have go-tos on how you digest information? I’d love to see your workflows. 👇