Projects
Work with an outcome to finish.
- Sparktale
- Wellness Coach
- Prepare the garden for winter
A frost checklist belongs with the winter preparation project.
Personal
A place for what I learn
My second brain holds product work alongside reading notes and plans for the garden. Here is the structure you can borrow, and what I am reading now.
How I organize my second brain
I use Tiago Forte's PARA method: Projects, Areas, Resources and Archive. Each has a different job.
A note, an article, a podcast ideaWhere will I use it?
Areas
Responsibilities I keep tending.
- Reading
- Professional growth
- Gardening
Plant care records stay useful across seasons.
Resources
Material I may draw on later.
- Articles and blog posts
- Podcast notes
- Book notes
An article on soil care can help with a future project.
Archive
Finished or inactive material.
Keep the history when a project ends, and move it out of the daily view.
From saved to useful
I use a page-saving extension to capture material. To try this structure, take one saved article, add why it matters, and put it beside the work it could help.
A note can move when its use changes. Start with one project you already have.
Reading
On my reading pile
A small selection, updated Oct '26.
For work
Reading now
The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick
Customer discoveryNext up
Escaping the Build Trap
Melissa Perri
Product strategy
For leisure
Reading now
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Classic fictionJust finished
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Classic fiction
More professional books I have read, by category
Books I have finished. The category tells you the subject; the Forte books above are my recommendation for organizing knowledge.
Product and experimentation
- Inspired Marty Cagan
- Empowered Marty Cagan
- The Lean Startup Eric Ries
- Zero to One Peter Thiel
- Hooked Nir Eyal
- Rework Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Working with people
- Radical Candor Kim Scott
- Turn the Ship Around! L. David Marquet
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things Ben Horowitz
- What You Do Is Who You Are Ben Horowitz
- Never Split the Difference Chris Voss
- How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie
Behavior and habits
- Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman
- Atomic Habits James Clear
- The Power of Habit Charles Duhigg
- Smarter Faster Better Charles Duhigg
- Nudge Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
- Influence Robert Cialdini