HOW TO
BOOST YOUR
PRODUCTIVITY

We're talking personal knowledge management (or PKM) - a surefire way to improve your productivity.

Is your phone an essential tool you rely on or an addictive device you’re desperate to put down? If you’re anything like me, the answer is probably both. Since our digital devices aren’t going anywhere soon, perhaps the way out of this 21st century conundrum lies not in using them less, but using them better.

Weird as this may sound, it may help to think of our devices as parts of ourselves. Philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers argue that any object we use to help us think or remember can be seen not just as a tool, but as part of our “extended mind”. Ancient civilizations extended their minds by scratching symbols on clay tablets. Today, with our supercharged access to information through modern technology, the possibilities should be infinite!

So how do we make the most of this incredible upgrade? It all starts with writing notes… lots of them. This is the first step in the increasingly popular field of personal knowledge management. Systems like Tiago Forte’s Building A Second Brain and the Zettelkasten method can help us handle the torrent of information we’re faced with every day, hold on to the important parts, and use them effectively to inspire creativity.