when it comes to our personal productivity, measurement has always been incredibly challenging. Knowledge work especially is extremely inconsistent from person to person, or even from one project to another.

Every measure of quality in work output is so subjective, that the only meaningful evaluations tend to be performance reviews based on the opinions of the people we work with.

4-stage process for knowledge management, known as CODE

Capture: Saving valuable information from the internet and the world around you
Organize: Breaking that information into small chunks and preparing them for later use
Distill: Extracting the pieces of knowledge most relevant to your current goals
Express: Turning your knowledge into creative output that has an impact on others

Level 1: Storing Information

mostly for one-time, practical tasks like keeping a grocery list, notes from a meeting or phone call, or saving bookmarks from websites. You may even occasionally save notes from sources you consume

Level 2: Managing Knowledge

your notes begin to work as a thought partner, reminding you of things you’d completely forgotten and surfacing unexpected connections between ideas. The emphasis shifts from capturing more information, to putting to use the knowledge you already have.

Level 3: Enabling Action

You become more discerning and selective about the information you consume, strongly preferring only the highest quality, most substantive sources that directly relate to the goals you are working toward.

The benefits of your system extend beyond your personal goals and begin to impact the people around you. You make your most valuable knowledge available to others in concrete form, such as through a website, blog, social media feed, podcast, or product.

Level 4: Personal Knowledge Mastery

Your knowledge works as a system greater than the sum of its parts, pulling in new material almost of its own will and effortlessly sorting and distilling it to support your long-term projects and goals. There is a constant output from your Second Brain into the external world

You know that you are not only accumulating a priceless store of intellectual capital, but an encyclopedia of tacit and experiential knowledge that is unique to you.

Your notes track patterns in your thinking and learning over time, helping you understand your own evolution and direct it intentionally.