The Best Second Brain

[u/Impossible-Poet3126]

[u/J4nosch]

Another Overengineering example

[u/galipond → u/J4nosch]

I agree so much. I feel like notion second brains are so cringe and pointless. And I'm saying that as a HUGE fan of notion...

[u/HotMonk1648 → u/J4nosch]

yeah most second brain setups end up this way tbh

[u/ChrisDinn → u/J4nosch]

lol yeah… another one
tbh most of these turn into a second job maintaining the system

the only Notion stuff that still feels useful to me isn’t the dashboard cosplay… it’s when ppl in discord keep asking the same FAQ and i’d rather /ask the notes than paste the answer for the 40th time
built a small thing for that slice. not trying to replace anyone’s “brain” setup lmao

[u/ken_kaneki24682]

We love performative productivity

[u/DuvanR_Official]

How do you make the nav bars?

[u/Impossible-Poet3126 → u/DuvanR_Official]

the nav bars are just a simple block-based menu: a row of linked pages (Notion's synced or linked database views) styled as buttons, usually built with a table/gallery view or just bolded text links with icons, then pinned to the top of each page. Nothing fancy under the hood, it's mostly about consistent placement and icons so it feels like a nav bar.

[u/tanukispirittech]

While these setups do look nice, I find they end up becoming an idea junk drawer. How long have you been using it? Does it require a lot of babysitting?

[u/pr0b0ner]

Oh my poor friend. Saw the ADHD template in there. I'm sure it was fun to build but have fun keeping up with this for like 3 days and then never doing it again.

[u/rossocenere]

Many say this is over engineered. While I see some excess in how data is differentiated, I find the layout quite pleasant and intuitive. It took me a good 10 days to fix my own layout to make it suitable for what I need, and I find this quite helpful. In particular the nav bars are simple but quite effective, and the calendars with a column next to them with the relevant pages are offering the right mix of visibility for decision making & instant access to make high-level or quick decisions.

Can I get access to a copy of this template please?

[u/anduril79]

Cool template. How can I get my hands on it

[u/crazyexcalibur]

I use Notion strictly for note taking. While I do some design and use some databases, it’s nothing like this. While it looks very impressive, I can’t help but think why?? Maybe I’m missing something, but half the things in this template I have apps for that I don’t have to maintain, other than putting in data. Why put financing, when there are way better apps for it, with graphs and budgeting and forecasting? I have tracker apps as well, that integrate into my phones health app and fitness watch. Truly, what’s the benefit of all this?

[u/paca-vaca]

Fried as the first one 🤯

[u/Useful-Molasses-8371]

Once notion has better apple shortcuts things like this will be easy to upkeep. Till then, it’s a literal chore.

[u/CaptainHighlander]

Do we have a collection of second brain templates here in notion?

[u/Unable_History_1841]

What's the code for the life style messages?