Nikos Panaousis is an MBA student based in New York City. He likes to spend his free time writing and taking notes in his analog Zettelkasten.

When he's not reading or writing, he's walking in nature or going to the gym.

Check out his website here and his X (Twitter) here.

Brain Tour

After spending years in the world of personal productivity and knowledge management, he has derived his own system, which is a combination of analog Zettelkasten tools and digital interfaces (still Zettelkasten-centric, but in a digital format) that together maximize his productivity and creative output. 

For his tasks he uses Things 3 and to store large files Google Drive.

When he works digitally, he utilizes plain-text files with The Archive application, created by the authors of Zettelkasten.de. It serves as his digital Zettelkasten version and is mostly a research repository of scientific connections and ideas. 

Because he considers himself a writer, every method and system at his disposal is constructed as a productivity tool rather than an archival tool.

How would you use your 2nd Brain to plan a trip to Japan?

This is a very interesting question because, unlike Tiago Forte, my 2nd Brain is structured to provide random insights rather than centered around the ability to recover information accurately. Having said that, this is how I would tackle this trip and its associated tasks. 

First, I would navigate to my analog Zettelkasten's index section and search for key terms associated with "travel," "Japan," "road trips," and "journey." These key terms are generally interconnected within the Zettelkasten with links and they provide information on how to make the best out of new novel settings. For example, following the key term "travel" takes me to an area that discusses the concept of novelty and how to use new settings as sources of creativity and inspiration. 

After consulting my Zettelkasten, I would get some note cards out and collect notes about places that I would like to visit. Behind each note card about each place, I have room to elaborate on the history and importance of the location. I would also create additional note cards with notes and insights about the socio-cultural climate in Japan (and link these notes to other areas that deal with social dynamics in my Zettelkasten). 

In the end, after researching the trip's intricacies, I would simply open up my Things 3 application and create travel-related to-dos (e.g., passport, clothing, technology, cameras, etc.).

Q&A

What is your number one tip for building a 2nd Brain from the ground up?

Just start and trust the process. You will only waste your time and constrain yourself when you spend time ahead of time preempting every single problem and coming up with answers for problems that haven't arisen yet. Solutions will reveal themselves when you need them.

Why are you building your 2nd Brain?

Two reasons: (1) to create a powerful conversation partner that fosters creativity and aids in the creation of texts, and (2) to establish an integrated thinking environment that helps me make sense of my internal as well as external reality.

How did you customize your 2nd Brain?

I follow a minimalist approach; therefore, I choose simple analog tools and fundamental software that doesn't allow much customization. I believe that the focus should be on the knowledge work and not the tool. Tools are replaceable.

What features in one of your 2nd Brain apps have you found most beneficial?

Bi-directional linking. Although it is important to note that linking, by itself, is not useful if you do not provide contextual enrichment in the links.

What was your biggest challenge while creating your 2nd Brain?

The biggest challenge was trusting the process. After you learn the foundational Zettelkasten texts, you have all the information necessary to create a functional extended mind, but, in the beginning, I often caught myself tinkering with the tool rather than the work.

How do you manage to keep your 2nd Brain up-to-date?

I live by the following words: Thinking in writing. As a consequence, as long as I am thinking, I will be writing, thus my 2nd Brain will always be up-to-date.