If there’s one super power I’ve developed over the past year, it’s taking notes in a way that gets exponentially more powerful over time.

I’ve combined Zettelkasten, How to Take Smart Notes, Second Brain, and Getting Things Done into a method that works for me.

In this episode you’ll learn:

* The Zettelkasten Method popularized by How to Take Smart Notes

* The Second Brain method

* How to combine these two systems with the best features of each

* Some guiding principles to make your note system work for you and focus on learning, being productive, and helping you

My Method

* Inbox

* Captured notes go here to be processed

* Permanent Notes

* Atomic ideas in a single note

* Reference Notes

* Notes in my own words from things I consume, organized by medium

* Projects

* MOCs for projects I am working on.

* MOCs are an index into a project

* Next Actions list - a few tasks that are next or in progress

* Later list - any task or idea I want to do (should do / maybe do list)

* Journal

* Brain dumps organized by date, reviewed for tasks or ideas that get processed

Resources

* How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens

* Getting Started with Zettelkasten

* Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

* PARA Method

* Getting Things Done by David Allen

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

Simplicity + Consistency = Compounding Wealth

But it’s hard to stay consistent when you’re a human.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* The simple formula to investing wealth

* How to stay consistent by automating and ignoring

* What to do if you feel like being more active

* Why being consistent is so hard in the markets but how that’s all you need to do

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

Full-Time Employees can indirectly grow their careers and by creating content Part-Time.

Even if the content has nothing to do with your industry.

Part-Time creators are free to explore, learn, and enjoy without the pressure of making money.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* My struggles with finding a niche

* Why Part-Time Creators don’t need to worry about a niche

* Four Reasons Why Full-Time Employees Should be Part-Time Creators

* Writing improves your thinking

* Learning in public forces you to learn deeper

* Online content is a magnet for like minded folks

* Build confidence to share your ideas

* What advantages Part-Time Creators have over Full-Time Creators

* 3 steps to get started

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

Change is hard.

But it’s necessary.

In this Data Engineering episode, you'll learn:

* Hive tracks data as folders, Iceberg tracks data as files

* How this key distinction enables Iceberg with powerful metadata operations

* What a data lakehouse is in Data Engineering

* Iceberg’s schema evolution, partition evolution, and better query pruning

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

Today’s episode is a personal story about the night I met my wife.

It’s a story I might use in a month at a Moth storytelling event.

This is the first time I told it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

You’ll never be that ideal version of yourself.

You’ll never be able to do everything you want.

Our time is finite, this is a good thing.

We can be free to accept ourselves today and focus on what we feel is important.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* About the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

* 4000 weeks is the finite time we have in this world

* We never get to that idealized version of ourselves

* Embrace we can’t do everything, accept where we are today

* How to use your leisure time for it’s own sake

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

You know it’s a problem.

But everyone else is the same way, so you ignore it.

Turn your automatic habit into something that works for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* How our culture today makes it hard to notice the problem of phone addiction

* Instead of breaking the habit, how to transform it into something useful

* How I use my phone to augment my life and avoid losing time

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

I’m joined today by my daughter Sophia.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear:

* 5 jokes straight from Sophia’s brain

* The hardest part about Kindergarten

* Who her favorite stuffed animal is

* What she wants for her birthday

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

I want my kids to fail.

Making mistakes, experiencing defeat - these are things I want them to embrace. To go head first into.

Life is a series of challenges. You will encounter setbacks.

If you’re too afraid to take risk and try something new, you will end up stuck doing the same things in your comfort bubble until you die.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* How failing is a thing to be desired

* The difference between a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset

* Why effort should be celebrated

* That I’m a terrible singer

* To embrace the beginner’s mindset

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com

You should quit.

The biggest mistake you can make is staying stuck in a place you don’t actually want to be.

Quitting is hard because it’s a recognition that one path isn’t working.

Not quitting is the slow, grind of failure that never gets acknowledged.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* How it took me a decade of trading to find something better

* Why you should be open to new dreams and interests

* Give yourself time to pursue dream but a deadline to reassess progress

* The strongest signal to quit is looking at what you care to learn more about

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bitsofchris.com