Matt: /* Books */

2026-09-03T15:34:44Z

Books

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This page contains info about books I have read and want to remember. Each book can have its own page for notes, important ideas, quotations, and connections to other things I have learned.

=== Books ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Book
!Author
!Year
!Subject
!My rating
|-
|[[Building a Second Brain]]
|Tiago Forte
|2022
|Personal knowledge management
|★★★★★
|-
|[[How to Take Smart Notes]]
|Sönke Ahrens
|2017
|Note-taking and knowledge management
|★★★★☆
|-
|[[Atomic Habits]]
|James Clear
|2018
|Habits and behavior change
|★★★★☆
|-
|[[The Extended Mind]]
|Annie Murphy Paul
|2021
|Cognition and learning
|★★★★☆
|-
|[[Getting Things Done]]
|David Allen
|2001
|Productivity and task management
|★★★★★
|-
|[[Goals!]]
|Brian Tracy
|2003
|Goal setting
|★★★★☆
|-
|[[The New Diary]]
|Tristine Rainer
|1978
|Journaling and personal reflection
|★★★★☆
|-
|[[The Bullet Journal Method]]
|Ryder Carroll
|2018
|Journaling to externalize our thinking
|★★★★☆
|}

=== Favorites ===
Books from this list that have been especially useful or influential:

* [[Building a Second Brain]] – Changed how I think about organizing information outside of my brain.
* [[How to Take Smart Notes]] – Introduced me to the Zettelkasten approach and the value of connecting notes rather than simply collecting them.
* [[The Extended Mind]] – Explores the idea that thinking does not happen exclusively inside the brain and can be supported by our environment, tools, and other people.

=== Ideas that connect these books ===
Several recurring ideas appear across these books:

* Externalizing information – [[Building a Second Brain]], [[How to Take Smart Notes]], [[The Extended Mind]], and [[Getting Things Done]] all explore ways of moving information out of our heads and into external systems.
* Small actions compound over time – [[Atomic Habits]] emphasizes how repeated small behaviors can produce significant long-term changes.
* Goals and action – [[Goals!]], [[Atomic Habits]], and [[Getting Things Done]] approach the relationship between desired outcomes and everyday actions from different perspectives.
* Reflection – [[The New Diary]] demonstrates how writing can be used not simply to record events but also to think, reflect, and develop ideas.
* Connecting ideas – [[How to Take Smart Notes]] and [[Building a Second Brain]] emphasize capturing useful information and making it available for future thinking and creation.

=== Books I want to revisit ===
* [[Building a Second Brain]]
* [[How to Take Smart Notes]]
* [[The Extended Mind]]

=== Related pages ===
* [[Books I want to read]]
* [[Online learning programs]]
* [[Things I want to learn more about]]

Books I have read - Revision history

Matt: /* Books */